So I'm about to replace my clutch, I just ordered an aftermarket one online, but just for the heck of it I went to a Honda dealership to see how much an OEM setup would cost... I asked how much it would cost to replace a clutch, they quoted me an amount. I asked if that included the flywheel, and the tech told me that they "pretty much never do anything to the flywheel, just the clutch" So I asked how much would it be for a flywheel, he had to look that up seperately as well as labor costs for both the clutch and flywhel.

The question is this: I've heard mostly everyone say that you should/need to replace the flywheel when replacing the clutch. Since the tech looked confused when I asked him, I've been wondering how important it actually is. The tech also said that most of the techs never use an alignment tool as well when changing the clutch.

Is this standard procedure among honda dealerships to not change the flywheel when the clutch is replaced? How necessary is it really? I've heard things such as "s2000 flywheels aren't supposed to be resurfaced" which I think is probably as well as "whenever you replace a clutch you need to replace or resurface and balance the flywheel so everything fits and grabs properly...

Any gurus have any light to shed for me?

 

I've helped replace the clutch in two S2000's. Neither needed a new flywheel, there was not any measurable wear or hot spots that we could see. We did rough the surface with a pneumatic sander to make sure the new OEM friction disk with grab well. Today both clutch jobs have at least 50k miles with no problems. Both owners installed the ACT pressure plate with higher clamping force and said they really liked the revised setup.

As for not resurfacing the flywheel, Honda does state not to resurface the flywheel in the Service Manual.