DIY Clutch Replacement

[mickburkesnr]

I had this 3 times. Just so happens on the 3rd time I got it on without too much of a problem.

Like @oldcodger has suggested, you would be well to suspend the gearbox and engine and use the trolley jack to help manipulate it. On my 3rd attempt I used an engine crane, the first two times I used a scaffolding pole and ratchet straps.

The key, I think is to make sure your engine is level, and that the gearbox is level too. That's the first part. The second - and you may need a helper now - is that you could/should have a breaker bar on the crankshaft on the other side of the engine, and rotate that while you wiggle the gearbox. This will move the clutch and pressure plate, and while you do that you should wiggle or twist the gearbox. Once it aligns it'll just fall in together.

But really do be careful about getting too carried away with it and having your hand in between the engine and gearbox. It hurts!

I would also suggest against trying to draw the gearbox in using the bolts. You should only do that once the shaft has made it in to the clutch/pressure plate.

[oldcodger]

 

Better to use your jack to raise it and something to suspend it by so you can better wiggle the shaft/box in .

Just take weight off the jack, while keeping it there in case anything slips.

Rather that buy something could you hire one for the day or get someone to give to an extra helping hand ?

As you are now only needing to support the gearbox you could perhaps rig up some timber and chain across the top of the engine bay

 

Heres an alternative way if Arnie is around ! 

see this at 10.30 in 

   -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqZQ_3jf1-g

[Kazteel]

Well, I got the car situated and I'm hoping it right, but the clutch feels ultra light, the pedal practically has no resistance to it in the sense like the old one did, and it grabs almost immediately after beginning to let off the clutch from the floor position, and holy smokes is grabs hard lol.

[oldcodger]

44 minutes ago, Kazteel said:

Well, I got the car situated and I'm hoping it right, but the clutch feels ultra light, the pedal practically has no resistance to it in the sense like the old one did, and it grabs almost immediately after beginning to let off the clutch from the floor position, and holy smokes is grabs hard lol.

Yes, it feels so different you wonder if its ok !  but you will soon get used to it and enjoy the lightness.

Glad you got it all back together ok

[Kazteel]

2 hours ago, oldcodger said:

Yes, it feels so different you wonder if its ok !  but you will soon get used to it and enjoy the lightness.

Glad you got it all back together ok

Thanks OC, your words of encouragement are the best! 

[Kazteel]

Hey OC, when you get the chance, I'm having a little bit of a problem, I just want to quickly ask you about it. Ill probably end up making another new thread if you havnt replied by the time I wake up. Talk to you soon!

[oldcodger]

2 hours ago, Kazteel said:

Hey OC, when you get the chance, I'm having a little bit of a problem, I just want to quickly ask you about it. Ill probably end up making another new thread if you havnt replied by the time I wake up. Talk to you soon!

Hi,

Usually not far way so might be able to help, as well as the other members.

[Kazteel]

Well, let me ask this, does the computer need to relearn the timing and such since its been disconnected from the Battery for almost 2 weeks? Because I'm getting a super bad misfire now, the misfire is super noticeable during idle and barely noticeable through acceleration. I hooked up my scanner to it and its throwing 5 codes, P0300 for a random misfire, then P0301 through P0304 each code representing each cylinder misfiring. Any thoughts on this? I've looked up these issues with other Corollas and some said that it could be that the Battery is bad, or vacuum leak or fuel filter/pump. I checked to make sure all hoses were connected and no holes in them, I'm gonna take the Battery to get tested next week, and I wouldnt think it would be the fuel filter/pump because if it was, it would be some super harsh bogging down when I accelerate and since theres none of that and only a slight misfire during acceleration. Any tips or tricks to try and nail down this problem? Mind you it was NOT misfiring before I did the clutch. However since I didnt have some sort of way to suspend the gearbox so I could get it back in, I took it to a nearby mechanic and he claims it wasnt anything he did (He's probably lying to try and have me bring it back for more money.) But yeah. Any ideas there OC?

[oldcodger]

Hi,

The first point about re-learning, yes, if the Battery has been disconnected for some time ( though not sure exactly how long) the ECU drops into learning mode and the symptoms are very uneven running during the warm up period, more so when you allow the revs to drop to tickover, it may even cut out if you do not keep pressing the gas pedal.

However a 20 min run is all thats really needed for it to have returned to normal running, so doubt that is now your problem.

How old is the Battery, you can check it yourself quiet easily with a cheap voltmeter,  plenty of ytubes on doing that, though a garage can do more thorough discharge tests.

eg Battery voltage check when left unused for 20 mins and then when running at around 2000 rpm  .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJr7OB23Hw

Does it start the car easily ?  do the headlights seem bright  when running ? if so would think its ok as long as the  above battery test seem ok.

My suspicion would be that you have inadvertently disturbed a sensor, injector , throttle  or ignition connector / wiring  etc, so plenty to check .

Not sure on your model, but the fuel pump and filter are in the petrol tank on ours, so worth checking the underbody  pipes in case you trapped one of them when jacking /supporting the car.

Edit,  you did reconnect all the Earth straps  correctly to the chassis and engine/gearbox,

hth

 

 

 

 

[Kazteel]

9 minutes ago, oldcodger said:

Hi,

The first point about re-learning, yes, if the battery has been disconnected for some time ( though not sure exactly how long) the ECU drops into learning mode and the symptoms are very uneven running during the warm up period, more so when you allow the revs to drop to tickover, it may even cut out if you do not keep pressing the gas pedal.

However a 20 min run is all thats really needed for it to have returned to normal running, so doubt that is now your problem.

How old is the battery, you can check it yourself quiet easily with a cheap voltmeter,  plenty of ytubes on doing that, though a garage can do more thorough discharge tests.

eg battery voltage check when left unused for 20 mins and then when running at around 2000 rpm  .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJr7OB23Hw

Does it start the car easily ?  do the headlights seem bright  when running ? if so would think its ok as long as the  above battery test seem ok.

My suspicion would be that you have inadvertently disturbed a sensor, injector , throttle  or ignition connector / wiring  etc, so plenty to check .

Not sure on your model, but the fuel pump and filter are in the petrol tank on ours, so worth checking the underbody  pipes in case you trapped one of them when jacking /supporting the car.

Edit,  you did reconnect all the Earth straps  correctly to the chassis and engine/gearbox,

hth

Yeah, I looked at everything and the earth straps are all there, I dont have the foggiest idea whats going on tbh, I think I'm just gonna take this problem to the dealership and find out what they tell me it is and how much they want to charge for it. Theres wayyyyy too many things to check with my limited 1 day off from work. So yeah. I'm still gonna go have the Battery tested to make sure its good, then Imma head to the dealership just for them to tell me whats wrong

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Well I would spend a little while checking the basic things  - all the wiring connectors around the air filter , like the MAF sensors etc,  disconnect their plugs and inspect them to ensure they are all clean and no wire has been pulled out like your reversing switch.

Have you removed the plastic engine cover to check there is nothing wrong around the actual ignition coils.

The Crankshaft position sensor is way up on the engine block near to the gearbox casing, so all the banging /movement thats been done around that area tryingto get the box back in might just have been enough to knock it or another sensor out. ( electrically)

Doubt a mechanic would deliberately create such a fault as they can be such a pain to correct , even for them.

Again a cheapo multimeter and doing those two basic tests  will give a good indication if the Battery is ok and if the alternator is giving out the correct voltage, if its not, that could also cause all sorts of problems. 

Have you got a charger and been able to give the Battery a good recharge, if its more than 5 years old might be worth replacing anyway.

[Kazteel]

23 hours ago, oldcodger said:

Hi,

Well I would spend a little while checking the basic things  - all the wiring connectors around the air filter , like the MAF sensors etc,  disconnect their plugs and inspect them to ensure they are all clean and no wire has been pulled out like your reversing switch.

Have you removed the plastic engine cover to check there is nothing wrong around the actual ignition coils.

The Crankshaft position sensor is way up on the engine block near to the gearbox casing, so all the banging /movement thats been done around that area tryingto get the box back in might just have been enough to knock it or another sensor out. ( electrically)

Doubt a mechanic would deliberately create such a fault as they can be such a pain to correct , even for them.

Again a cheapo multimeter and doing those two basic tests  will give a good indication if the battery is ok and if the alternator is giving out the correct voltage, if its not, that could also cause all sorts of problems. 

Have you got a charger and been able to give the battery a good recharge, if its more than 5 years old might be worth replacing anyway.

Battery is going on 3 years old, I'm going to take it in to the advance near my house, they do free Battery testing, I'm gonna get it tested and see whats up with it, sadly atm i do not have a multimeter lol. Lame I know. I did go over the engine with the cover off, I inspected all of the coil on spark plug covers, no cracks or anything like that, however I did notice that the spark plugs threads looked like they were oil fouled, but the actual plug itself looked bone dry, kinda of concerning like the o rings were bad or something. I dont know. Im gonna be having that checked out as well. Just not so sure where to go from here if the Battery indeed shows that its in fine working condition. I checked all the hoses and such and re-seated the ones i could get to. However, I do hear what I think to be a hissing noise, but I couldnt find the source of it. maybe a line got cut or something and is causing a vacuum leak?

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Would think its unlikely to be the Battery at 3 years old, unless it was some very cheap on or you give them a lot of hard work.

That reminds me, will have to order a gasket cover as last time i renewed the plugs there was a bit of oil in the bottom of one hole, though not interfering with the electrics.

The hissing noise,  if thats after you has switched off the engine , then its probably the carbon evaporator box near to the air filter,  it cleans up the petrol fumes etc.

[Kazteel]

On 6/20/2019 at 12:04 PM, oldcodger said:

Hi,

Would think its unlikely to be the battery at 3 years old, unless it was some very cheap on or you give them a lot of hard work.

That reminds me, will have to order a gasket cover as last time i renewed the plugs there was a bit of oil in the bottom of one hole, though not interfering with the electrics.

The hissing noise,  if thats after you has switched off the engine , then its probably the carbon evaporator box near to the air filter,  it cleans up the petrol fumes etc.

So, I'm still getting the misfire a week later, its only at idle though, during rev it sounds fine. No hiccups or sputters except in idle. I did a compression test, all cylinders ranged from 120-130 psi, so we have good compression around the board. I highly HIGHLY doubt all 4 coil on spark plugs would go bad all at the same time. So I'm gonna rule out spark, which means what we have left is fire, which by the looks up it from the spark plugs and the compression tester end came out with oil on them. So I'm guessing maybe a bad valve cover gasket? What do you think OC? Do you think there could be enough oil getting into the combustion chamber to bog down the idle but not during the rev up?

[oldcodger]

2 hours ago, Kazteel said:

So, I'm still getting the misfire a week later, its only at idle though, during rev it sounds fine. No hiccups or sputters except in idle. I did a compression test, all cylinders ranged from 120-130 psi, so we have good compression around the board. I highly HIGHLY doubt all 4 coil on spark plugs would go bad all at the same time. So I'm gonna rule out spark, which means what we have left is fire, which by the looks up it from the spark plugs and the compression tester end came out with Oil on them. So I'm guessing maybe a bad valve cover gasket? What do you think OC? Do you think there could be enough Oil getting into the combustion chamber to bog down the idle but not during the rev up?

Hi,

Did you have the Battery checked out by a Battery place or garage or done a basic voltage test on the battery/alternator ?  Plenty of basic multimeters around for a few $

You say the compression tester came out will oil on them, but if oil from the rocker cover gasket has leaked into the spark plug well then it will pick some up on its threads.

Once the plug is in place then no oil from that area will get into the combustion chamber.

More to the point, what were the colour of the spark plugs when you took them out ?  Compare against these images - https://www.mg-cars.org.uk/imgytr/sparkplug.shtml

To check the sparks more, again for a few $ you can buy some  HT lead testers that allow you to see the spark itself, so you might see some missing at tickover ?

Assume your car has 4 separate ignition packs, so it might be worth buying one and trying on each cylinder in turn to rule them out ?

Another possibility is the air intake valve,  could something / dirt have lodged against it when you had the air filter box removed ?

Not too difficult to clean, sprays cans available for that exact job.

What might be a quicker and cheaper way is to have Toyota or a garage run their diagnostic units on it to establish the fault ?

[Kazteel]

The spark plugs looked like normal ones in the sense of the filament and the metal above the plug itself but the threads had a good amount of oil around them. and yes the spark plugs are coil on spark plugs meaning each one has an ignition pack on it. But for all 4 to go out at the same time is almost unheard of. if the new gasket doesnt work and testing each cylinder with a new coil on spark plug doesnt work, I'll check for the intake valve and see if anything is lodged in there, if all else fails, I'll take it to the toyota dealership and have them take a look at it.