clutch replacement/rear main seal

[masterbm]

Friends,

Well, the time has come. Given how I got ewedscre by the local echanicsme recently, dad and I started our own clutch replacement project today. Thanks to Wayne Dempsy, Pelican Parts, and the manual, things were cooking along pretty good. . .

. . .until. . .

Removing the muffler has us at a stopping point. The clamps closest to the muffler have, no surprise I guess, rusted pretty tight to the bolts. Actually, it's the nuts rusted to the bolts, but whatever.

Anybody got some good tips on how to get those bolts and clamps off? Should I just buy a Dremmel or other cutting device, cut and replace? Is there another way? I'll take whatever help I can get.

Thanks as always! At least it's fun working on cars with my dad!

masterbm

[N41EF]

If PB Blaster or someother penatrant isn't doing it, cut them off and replace with new. When I do jobs like that if any bolts nuts whatever look suspect I drop them in a labeled baggie and replace them. It's better to make one trip to Tractor Supply or the auto parts place and get all the new stuff at once.

Cutting with a dremel would take a while. If there is room an angle grinder, and if the end of the bolt is looking right at you I've also drilled the bolt straight through the nut and removed it that way. You might also try a nut splitter which clamps the nut from the side and literaly splits the nut off the bolt.

[txhokie4life]

If PB Blaster or someother penatrant isn't doing it, cut them off and replace with new. When I do jobs like that if any bolts nuts whatever look suspect I drop them in a labeled baggie and replace them. It's better to make one trip to Tractor Supply or the auto parts place and get all the new stuff at once.

Cutting with a dremel would take a while. If there is room an angle grinder, and if the end of the bolt is looking right at you I've also drilled the bolt straight through the nut and removed it that way. You might also try a nut splitter which clamps the nut from the side and literaly splits the nut off the bolt.

You can drop the assembly from the headers back

Then you can decide whether you want to split the exhaust

Otherwise you can drill out the bolts

If u r in there strongly consider one of the IMS upgrades

Mike

[rbrack]

I'm actually in the middle of a clutch replacement project myself. I just dropped the transmission last night! The hardest part when removing the exhaust is taking off the back bumper. It should be much easier with 2 people; I am working by myself. I used an impact with 6-point sockets, and even the rustiest bolts (after being sprayed with PB Blaster) came off or sheared off. Exhaust bolts, in general, have a tendency to rust quickly, so the best thing to do is either cut them or drill them and replace with new.

[masterbm]

All,

Thanks for the help. Sounds like the thing to do is just cut those things right out. Will do.

masterbm

[txhokie4life]

If PB Blaster or someother penatrant isn't doing it, cut them off and replace with new. When I do jobs like that if any bolts nuts whatever look suspect I drop them in a labeled baggie and replace them. It's better to make one trip to Tractor Supply or the auto parts place and get all the new stuff at once.

Cutting with a dremel would take a while. If there is room an angle grinder, and if the end of the bolt is looking right at you I've also drilled the bolt straight through the nut and removed it that way. You might also try a nut splitter which clamps the nut from the side and literaly splits the nut off the bolt.

You can drop the assembly from the headers back

Then you can decide whether you want to split the exhaust

Otherwise you can drill out the bolts, which is made easier with the whole assembly out.

If u r in there strongly consider one of the IMS upgrades

Mike

[masterbm]

If PB Blaster or someother penatrant isn't doing it, cut them off and replace with new. When I do jobs like that if any bolts nuts whatever look suspect I drop them in a labeled baggie and replace them. It's better to make one trip to Tractor Supply or the auto parts place and get all the new stuff at once.

Cutting with a dremel would take a while. If there is room an angle grinder, and if the end of the bolt is looking right at you I've also drilled the bolt straight through the nut and removed it that way. You might also try a nut splitter which clamps the nut from the side and literaly splits the nut off the bolt.

You can drop the assembly from the headers back

Then you can decide whether you want to split the exhaust

Otherwise you can drill out the bolts, which is made easier with the whole assembly out.

If u r in there strongly consider one of the IMS upgrades

Mike

Yeah, so any problem if I just pull out the whole system from basically where it looks like the manifold connects with the 3 bolts through that triangle-shaped part that leads to the cats? Can I just leave all 4 O2 sensors connected to the pipes, unplugging them from the electrical connection? Will that screw up emissions setting in my computer and trigger a non-functioning engine or a bunch of CEL's? Anything else super scary about this idea? Those 3 bolts are just in much, much better shape than any of the clamps or the bolts on the clamps, and I'd have the added advantage of getting the exhaust system out of the way for when I drop the tranny.

B

[Dr.Strangepork]

I ran into this same issue while doing the IMS bearing. I just unbolted the headers and dropped the whole exhaust.

Now's a good time to take off the rear bumper like I did, it makes accessing the transmission and back of the engine much easier (assuming you're using jack stands, not a lift).

Also, you pretty much have to go with the dealer to replace those clamps...the sleeve style clamps are $30 or so each but there's really no alternative (trust me I tried to find one). I think the band clamp style ones are $14 or so.

There's a few other tips in my IMS article regarding transmission removal that aren't covered in the PP article:

http://boxsterguide.blogspot.com/

including:

1. you'll need a short 12 point socket to get one of the bell housing bolts off.

2. the axle flange and pressure plate bolts are made of industrial grade cream cheese (or seem to be anyway). be careful not to strip them.

3. you'll have to get at the top bell housing bolts from the top of the engine bay and will have to remove the intake tube to do so.

4. if you have an S model (i.e., have aG86 transmission) Wayne's dimensions of the bell housing bolts in the ABCDEFGH chart he made are not correct. made me second guess my labeling.

Edited October 5, 2010 by Dr.Strangepork

[masterbm]

Friends,

So far so good. . .cut bolts off the flanges connecting the exhaust system to the header, rest of everything came right out. Next stop: removing bolts connecting transmission to engine. I've got a piece of cardboard diagrammed to make sure I get the right bolts in the right place. . .gotta go get a 10 mm triple square head.

As is the curse of the budding mechanic, I spend more time driving to the hardware store than fixing my car!

Also, I've seen various solutions for rear main seal replacement "special tools." Anybody got ideas that are easier than constructing the "Lowe's conduit pipe" version, (which is a great idea, but I don't have a router or the other woodworking tools to do it)?

masterbm

[N41EF]

Maybe someone has the conduit part that they would be willing to loan out? I know some of the VW guys do things like that.

[kbrandsma]

Friends,

So far so good. . .cut bolts off the flanges connecting the exhaust system to the header, rest of everything came right out. Next stop: removing bolts connecting transmission to engine. I've got a piece of cardboard diagrammed to make sure I get the right bolts in the right place. . .gotta go get a 10 mm triple square head.

As is the curse of the budding mechanic, I spend more time driving to the hardware store than fixing my car!

Also, I've seen various solutions for rear main seal replacement "special tools." Anybody got ideas that are easier than constructing the "Lowe's conduit pipe" version, (which is a great idea, but I don't have a router or the other woodworking tools to do it)?

masterbm

I have one. I had it made. I also have a short 10mm triple square you can use. The Porsche Tool however, determines the tolerance in the opening to help see if a new RMS will keep. My RMS wasn't leaking bad so I figured it wasn't to far out of center (eccentric) and it wasn't going to be an issue for me. Worked for me.

Let me know.

Edited October 13, 2010 by kbrandsma

[masterbm]

All,

Thanks to kbrandsma who was gracious enough to send me his triple square (and RMS tool), I got off what I think are all the bolts connecting the transaxle to the engine.

In doing this project, I've found a number of surprises:

1. somebody had used a plastic tie to keep one of the shifter cables in place. Interesting. . .

2. I'M MISSING SOME BOLTS THAT FASTEN THE TRANSAXLE TO THE ENGINE. Holy God. . .Specifically, there seem to be no passenger side M10 nut (the one on the bottom, corresponding to letter H on Pelican's article: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/37-TRANS-Drop/37-TRANS-Drop.htm) and no passenger side M12 nut (the next one up from the missing M10, corresponding to letter G). Scary.

Unfortunately, work has stopped at this point because I can't seem to disengage the transaxle from the engine. Is it possible that I'm missing something, like another bolt in this '99 boxster? I've got the engine supported by a jackstand, the tranny supported by a floor jack, and I've yanked and wiggled as much as I dare, and pretty much all I'm doing is wiggling the engine along with.

Any tips?

masterbm

[masterbm]

All,

SUCCESS!!! The trick was the final, hidden, forward facing bolt at the very bottom of the transaxle. I just wasn't looking right. Came off like a champ, tranny came out like a champ, pressure plate and clutch came right off. I rounded out my T50 torx trying to get the flywheel bolts off. Guess it's back to the store to get another bit. If that doesn't work, anybody got any tips for getting the 8 torx bolts off?

B

[Dr.Strangepork]

All,

SUCCESS!!! The trick was the final, hidden, forward facing bolt at the very bottom of the transaxle. I just wasn't looking right. Came off like a champ, tranny came out like a champ, pressure plate and clutch came right off. I rounded out my T50 torx trying to get the flywheel bolts off. Guess it's back to the store to get another bit. If that doesn't work, anybody got any tips for getting the 8 torx bolts off?

B

That's really odd that it messed up such a large bit. I just used an impact gun+torx bit to remove mine, came right off. Make sure it's seated right, maybe tap it into the bolt head so that it's nice and snug.

[masterbm]

SUCCESS!!! Autozone gave me a new bit, seemed of better quality. Flywheel is off, RMS in full view! Will try to tackle that this weekend. Then, reassembly and I'm off!!! Good because wife's getting tired of driving my a$$ around.

B

[jthailer]

Have you thought about replacing the IMS bearing while you are in there? Or at least checking the bearing?

[kbrandsma]

Have you thought about replacing the IMS bearing while you are in there? Or at least checking the bearing?

+1 on the IMS Bearing

[masterbm]

Update on what has become an albatross of a project:

Be careful installing your new RMS: as we pushed it it, resistance around the flange caused the thin plastic to curl up and fold in on itself. Not good. Thank God my dad saw it, because we'd have been back under there in a few days wondering why my oil leak was much, much worse. Unfortunately, we had to put a hole in the new seal in order to get it out, and there was just no way to satisfactorily fix the fold in the seal without taking it out.

#$@#!@!#@#!!!!

The good news is that the fine people at Pelican Parts have probably got plenty of rear main seals to sell me. I'm seriously considering getting 2, in case we screw up again.

The saga continues. . .

B

[Dr.Strangepork]

Update on what has become an albatross of a project:

[por986]

I will be right behind you very soon ;) I have two on order just in case I screw up the first. hahaha

[masterbm]

Great albatross, Dr. SP!

OK, RMS is on, looked good. New clutch and plate are on, no trouble. Tranny is tough to get back on, though. . .we've got 2 bolts threaded loosely, but can't seem to get the tranny any closer to the engine, despite lots of tugging and wrestling. Probably still 3/4 inch of a gap, and it just won't go on easy.

Is this normal? It came off pretty easy. Shouldn't it go on easy if I've got it lined up right? Maybe I should take it out and re-approximate it. . .

Any tips?

B

[harryrcb]

Great albatross, Dr. SP!

OK, RMS is on, looked good. New clutch and plate are on, no trouble. Tranny is tough to get back on, though. . .we've got 2 bolts threaded loosely, but can't seem to get the tranny any closer to the engine, despite lots of tugging and wrestling. Probably still 3/4 inch of a gap, and it just won't go on easy.

Is this normal? It came off pretty easy. Shouldn't it go on easy if I've got it lined up right? Maybe I should take it out and re-approximate it. . .

Any tips?

B

Not really , I mean it is a little tempermental, with the right amount of wiggling it should pop right on, how far away from the engine block is it? there are 2 guides that it has to fit over and they are tight and most importantly did you lign up the clutch disk with the pilot bearing using a tool? if not get yourself the plastic tool that lines it up , it only costs $10 from Pelican. if the disk is not properly lined up, it will NOT go on.

[clickman]

Keep it coming, masterbm. This sounds like what I would go thru if I was to try this project. I'm livin' it with ya!

But I really think you shoulda done the IMS while you were in there...

[Dr.Strangepork]

Tranny is tough to get back on, though. . .we've got 2 bolts threaded loosely, but can't seem to get the tranny any closer to the engine, despite lots of tugging and wrestling. Probably still 3/4 inch of a gap, and it just won't go on easy.

Is this normal? It came off pretty easy. Shouldn't it go on easy if I've got it lined up right? Maybe I should take it out and re-approximate it. . .

Any tips?

Mine took a lot of moving around to finally get it on...you just have to get it at the perfect level with the jack and the perfect angle for the input shaft to slide into the pilot bearing, it's somewhat tricky.

Once you slide it on you have to mess with the level some more to completely close the gap between the engine and trans as well. It'll have an uneven gap top to bottom until you find the sweet spot and I probably wouldn't try and pull it closer with the bolts.

[clickman]

What's happening, masterbm? All done and back on the road?