cdelena

I am surprised and disappointed that my Star clutch went from 'never slip' to worthless slipping overnight.

Am pondering doing the install myself just because the shops I trust want so much money for the labor and shop charges (~$600 with tax). I think I am capable although it has been ten years since I swapped a clutch. I have a manual and a decent set of tools.

Does anyone have any advice, especially regarding procedure and 'must have' specialty tools, etc.?

I am also unsure about what to buy since my aggressive driving seems to be hard on clutches. I don't drag race or launch the car, but I guess shifts up and down at the greater than 8K take the toll. I would like some longevity to go with performance.

Appreciate any experienced advice.

cbender

CDelena,

I can only speak from what I've been told, not what I've done, but my understanding is that a clutch installation is no trivial affair with our cars and requires either pulling the engine or dropping everything from the transmission backward. Do you have a lift at home?

That may be one of the reasons why the quotes you're getting are so high. I'm told that Honda's labor schedule for a clutch replacement allows about 7 hours. I've gotten quotes ranging from $300 (from a mechanic I know and trust who *does* have a lift in his home garage) to $750+ for a local aftermarket shop I trust.

After shopping around, I'm having my Clutchmaster Stage 3/Toda flywheel installed by my local Honda dealer, whom I like, particularly b/c they only allow their best mechanic to fuss with my car -- one of the perks of minor celebrityhood that comes from having a turbo! He's allowed to do a limited amount of work outside of the normal dealership billing channels. His rate for such work is $40 per hour, so the total bill ought to be in the low $300s.

As for the choices, I decided to go with the Clutchmaster Stage 3, after some warnings about using a puck-style clutch on our cars and based on recommendations I got from other S2K owners and from Speedcraft. There are a few threads which might be worth reading on the subject, including: https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...?threadid=82209

Good luck!

xviper

According to the Helm manual, the engine is bolted to a cradle. This cradle has bolts (6 I think) that need to be back out about 3-4" and the whole engine is then lowered onto the bolts in their new position.
"Jenner" made a comment in one of his posts not long ago that his mechanic took a "short cut" on the clutch job. Something about NOT lowering the engine entirely but only tilting the back of it only just enough to reach the top 3 tranny bolts. This is the sole reason that the engine must be lowered and why all that stuff has to be disconnected. If one could lower only the rear of the engine, I think much less stuff needs to be disconnected. Perhaps even only the exhaust pipe needs to be disconnected at the front of the cat and the propeller shaft from the back of the tranny.
I'm considering doing this job myself someday and I look forward to seeing from your work if any of the "short cuts" will make the job much simpler.
Good luck!

cbender

CDelena, I plan to hang out at my local Honda dealer while the install is being done (a day's worth of time for a lot of gratis learning). I'll watch to see how it's done, so perhaps I can comment on XViper's report on Jenner's idea. I'd heard this can be done, as well, but it might have been from one of Jenner's posts, so XViper and I might be quoting from the same source... :-)

Elistan

Yet another reason I'm glad I haven't installed my STAR stage 3 clutch. I've talked with Randy to see if he can exchange it with a stage 2 - it's a re-worked OEM clutch, so it's not the puck style. I haven't heard anything about Clutchmaster, though.

In any case Chris, do you know of any of the local Honda mechanics? One of them might be willing to work a deal for you doing it on their own time.

krazik

Chris,

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you.

Talk to The Reverend, he has done it. Taking out tranny out is tedious as you have to disconnect most of the stuff from the engine (header, accessories, etc). But you can do it yourself with a set of taller jack stands. I think you need to get the car up ~2-3ft. The higher you can get the car the eaiser.

I have to do it myself to get the Star PP out. Not looking forward to it.

As for a replacement? I'm just gonna run an MY02 OEM PP and Clutch as those who I know that have it are very happy with them

-Ry

cmnsnse

I've been playing around with the springs in the OEM discs, so it turns out I have changed my clutch more than 7 times, the latest I got down to just 4 hours. That's with just jack stands, small tranny jack, and finally learning what to do when.

Ill start under the hood by doing these in this order:
Tools: 12mm,10mm,14mm combo wrenches, 10mm,12mm,14mm sockets
14mm flex socket, 24"12" extensions, ratchet wrenches, a long handle makes it real easy to
loosen the tensioner. +/ - screwdrivers, torque wrenches, clutch alignment tool. Flashlight.

1 Remove air box, 10mm heads / Battery terminals 10mm stubby wrench
2 Accessory belt, 14mm head on a breaker bar for the tensioner
3 Heat shield on manifold, 12mm heads (I say heads because the threads are stated in manual)
4 Battery heat shield, 10mm Last bolt just loosens
5 Alternator top bolt out, loosen lower, 14mm
6 A/C pump bolts loosen 2x 14mm on top, remove forward most top bolt, disconnect wire from under car later
7 Disconnect two sensor plugs on head by the firewall
8 Disconnect vacuum hose (the one shown in manual at rear of head ((suction valve))
9 Mark steering joint, and remove 10mm bolt at front (other bolt loosened later)Make sure steering wheel is locked straight.
10 Swing alternator out a bit to get to upper starter bolt, 14mm remove but leave bolt resting on alternator,
YOU WILL WANT A 14mm FLEX SOCKET . . . + about 24" of extension, I recommend using duct tape so you wont drop the socket amid all the hoses and wires. You get at this bolt from an angle, and directly between the throttle body and alternator.
11 Disconnect power steering connectors, one big and one small (electrical)
12 Loosen exhaust manifold bolts at head 12mm (Keep Snug)
13 Remove 14mm bolt at rear of intake manifold, wiring harness support bar
14 Raise car, I recommend at least 24" clearance at body jack points. I managed to get here in 18 min.

When under car you will want these
10mm combo wrench, I use a gearwrench
12mm,14mm,17mm combo wrenches
12mm deep,12mm,14mm, 17mm socket, 6mm hex socket (short as possible)
24" and 12" extensions you'll need at least 36" for the top tranny bolts
Small crook needle nose pliers for removing plastic snap in wire holders
Ratchets, 3/8" and 1/2" drive with 1/2 to 3/8 adapter
Impact wrench with 17mm, 19mm deep sockets or short extension.

1 Remove splash shield
2 Remove front engine bump stop (I just leave mine off now)
3 Loosen rear steering joint bolt and slide joint back to disconnect, 10mm
4 Disconnect A/C wire and remove remaining bolts from pump (3)
5 Remove cable ground wire to engine block
6 Remove 14mm bolt on lower wiring harness support bar
7 Remove clutch slave cyl. 12mm open end wrench
8 Disconnect 02 sensor connectors, and tranny wiring harness
9 Remove cat. conv. use the deep 12mm socket and box end 12 wrench for the front two, 14mm combo for the rear
10 Loosen 3 lower driveshaft bolts(on each end), 6mm hex, if you cant get the wrench in there, remember the
shaft slides on cv joints. Parking brake should be on.
11 Remove 14mm bolts on exhaust manifold support, remove manifold. When your're up top again to remove
the manifold nuts, release the parking brake, and remove the shifter knob/lever. 10mm heads
12 Remove 19mm subframe bolts (The middle ones that come out)
13 Turn driveshaft 180*
14 Remove bolts that connect shifter box to tranny tunnel, 10mm
15 Loosen lower tranny to engine bolts, 14mm/17mm
16 Put the brake back on, then loosen the other 3 driveshaft bolts (each end) Mark driveshaft if it is not yet, and remove.

Now its time to support the subframe, I just use a 24" 2x4 on a jack placed under the front beam and the oil pan.
when supported, back out the front subframe bolts 3" (19mm) and the rear subframe bolts 3" (17mm)
When the subframe comes down a bit you can see exactly how for to back out the bolts by looking at the gap in the
threads.

With the subframe lowered and supported by the bolts you can now get to the top tranny bolts. (17mm)
Support the tranny and remove the 3 tranny crossbeam bolts at rear, remember to pull out the release fork
so the tranny will come all the way off the engine.

For the clutch you will need 12 point sockets, 10mm for the pressure plate, and 17mm for the flywheel.
I'll undo the PP bolts just by hand in a crisscross pattern, they aren't that tight. For the flywheel bolts,
I'll zip out those with a low power impact wrench so I don't need a flywheel holder. If you have a Toda
flywheel, you can use a 14mm deep socket through those holes to hold the FW. If not you can use a big
screwdriver or prybar to hold the starter teeth on the FW. When putting the tranny back in, remember to
have to alignment pins in place, and that perfect alignment between tranny/engine is just as important
as a clutch alignment tool. It will slip right on

When putting the cat back in, it will be good to leave the exhaust man. loose, sometimes it's a tight fit with
aftermarket cat-back systems.

The plastic white ring around the inner shift boot comes out a special way, you will see little arrows that
point to where the barbs are. Take a small but long flat head screwdriver and insert just inside the ring
through the hole in the rubber boot while lifting on the boot at the same time.

I have found that the clutch change has a negligible effect on the front end alignment.

Remember this is my quick way of pulling my tranny, I may have left something out, so double check with
the manual before starting. So there you have it, and I'm going out in a few to do it again . . .

OH yeah, none of my clutch discs have exhibited any undue wear, just a bit of scorching - so you may be better off with an OEM disc and a heavy duty PP. Im working on the noise thing, with interesting results.

ItalianBucwheat

Wow...cmn...that was the briefest most comprehensive description...you should write for a technical mag or something....Good job...i am marking this page with my usually easy search method....honey roasted peanuts.

cmnsnse

[QUOTE]Originally posted by xviper
[B]According to the Helm manual, the engine is bolted to a cradle.

xviper

No offense taken. I was merely relating info garnered from another thread.
Your write-up is MOST appreciated and may save many of us who may try this countless headaches. This your post will be printed out for future reference. Many thanks.