Anyone have the steps to installing an aftermarket flywheel? How complicated is doing this yourself?

I had one but these donkeys deleted it.

I need this also soon.....

You'll need to take out your transmission.

you'll need to take out more than that.

We should have a DIY on this. I will work on writing this and try to note details both coming off and going back on. Please pardon the progress and help me out by noting mistakes. this is all from memory, so I am sure there will be some. I will add your help with reference, if you would like.


First, you are going to need all the standard tools (http:///#) (sockets, deep sockets, extensions, swivels...) A detailed description of most of this DIY is also in the service manual.
You are also going to need a 54mm socket and breaker bar, a transmission jack (you can convert a standard aligator jack with a 2x4 and some big cable ties. I will detail this later.)

Jack up the car on all four corners with jackstands. For those that do this all the time, it is not that big a deal, but this is serious bidnez. You will have a ton and a half of unforgiving metal over your very fragile head. SO IF YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING AT THIS POINT I RECOMMEND YOU BACK OFF. That said the best way to jack the car is to chock the back wheels (http:///#) (and ebrake and in gear) then find a little knub of metal just behind the big plastic deflector in the front of the car. It is raised with a hole in the middle and is on a major crossmember. Place the head of your jack on there and start jacking. It helps to drive up on 2x4s to facilitate this. Once it is to the desired height, set the jackstands just about 3 inches back from the back edge of the front wheel (http:///#) well. Jacking the back is a little easier. Set the jack head on the dif. and raise it up. Set the rear stands. I had to eventually jack the car more than 3' in the front, but others have not had to. That is at the point where you are actually taking off the flywheel so we will wait for that.

Prop the hood and take off the battery neg. terminal. (I wrapped it in a latex glove and let it hang.) Take the engine cover off just to let in some light.

Under the Car:

Take off the tunnel crossmembers (12mm bolts; you will note that you only have to remove the bolts on the right hand side and just loosen the LHS as the LHS bolt holes are slotted. Thanks Mazda (http:///#)!) and loosen the support member from the manifold to the tranny. Take off the bolts from this support on the tranny side and swing the support out of the way. You dont have to take it off.

Remove the starter. 14 mm bolts hold it on. One is really long and has a nut hidden towards the engine. I recommend taking the whole starter off and not just let it hang. You can let it hang if you are doing this on a lift, but it will just get in the way on jacks. To remove the wire, there are two 10mm bolts if I recall (http:///#), one of them is under a little plastic thingy. Remove these and chuck the starter aside.

You can also take off the slave clutch cylinder. This is way up on the transmission on the LHS and the tip of it goes through a hole in the top of the throwout fork that exits the top of the bell housing. It is held on with two 12 or 14 mm bolts. There is also a 12mm bolt that holds a hose hanger attached to the clutch cylinder. These are all tight fits. It helps to have the new low profile craftsman ratchets here. Let the clutch cylinder hang.

While you are up there, start disconnecting the wire hangers that are plastic barb fittings shoved in holes in the very top of the bell housing. These hold a wire that runs down the spine of the tranny. If you dont disconnect these you CANT drop the tranny. I tried. It dont work! There are three I think and you have to break them. I could see no other way. You can hook them back with cable ties. The wire terminates in a loom just under forward the shifter (http:///#). There are two black connectors and two white connectors for some tranny specific sensors (neutral and reverse I think). I dont think you have to mark them but I did with colored cable ties. then disconnect them. It is hard to do. You have to squeeze them as I recall (#).

Unhook the oxy sensor connector so that the wire hangs free (located on the right side of the tranny.) Also disconnect the wire hanger at this possition (10mm bolt) Unbolt the cat from the manifold (use PB Blaster for the front, I broke a bolt here and had to make repairs) and at the cat back. You might have to actually take off the posts at the rear of the cat. Use a 13mm deep socket. Undo the rubber hanger. Get some Kastar Exhaust Hanger Removal Pliers from handsontools. It will make your life easy. Drop the cat (well dont drop it) and scoot it out of the way. Next take off that plastic heat sheild with the foil on it (four 12mm bolts).

BACK IN THE CAR:

Get in the car and remove the shift knob (http:///#). Open the center console (http:///#), and carefully pry open the little hole cover. from there you can lift off the cover. I have heard that this is a very easy place to FUBAR. Plastic tabs break and all. I did not have this problem, but I generally move carefully after understanding the situation by careful study. Once the console cover is up, you will notice wires, esp. if you have the nav system. I recommend that you carefully unlatch the wire looms. I also recommend that you open the ashtray and pull it out. I dont remember exactly but if you remove the ash tray you will save serious time on the next step (there are screws involved here, I just dont remember where)

Now you have to get those white plastic wire holders off the bolt studs. I think there are two or three. I used a tiny screwdriver to hold the little internal latch back and pried them off. A razor also works here, but is permanent. Unbolt the 10mm bolts and remove the shift insulator. Carefully pull off the second insulator (all black rubber as I recall). Unbolt the shift lever (http:///#) cover (three bolts) and take out the shifter (http:///#). I recommend replaceing the stock shifter (#) with the Richard Paul short shifter here.

Back under the car:

To fashion a transmission jack, take a 2x4 and cut about a half meter piece. On each end, as close to the edge that you can, drill two holes with a 3/8 bit. Make them at a slant so that the holes are wider on one side. Drill a 3/8 hole in the middle about 1/3 of the way from the end. Total of 5 holes. Pull the cotter pin on one of your jacks (you should have two or more; what were you thinking?) that holds the cup at the head. Set the cup aside. Run a carrage bolt through the middle hole of your 2x4 and bolt it to the hole on the head of your jack. Use washers. Now slide two cable ties through the four holes at the end of the 2x4. These are not your standard cable ties. These are the big ass meter long cable ties. You can get them at Home Depot. Have this ready and at hand.

Now, The powerplant frame (PPF). It is really heavy and is held up by 9-19mm bolts at more than 100 ft lbs. Be prepared to use some muscle. Use a 1/2 inch drive breaker with a deep 19 mm socket. Oh, get a 1x4 piece of wood and shove it behind the dif. This will prevent the dif (which is heavy and attached to the drive shaft (http:///#)) from swivleing forward. Place your transmission jack under the transmission, to take up some weight, but dont tighten the straps yet. Loosen all four bolts from the front side and remove three. Leave the PPF hanging on the last. Remove all the bolts on the back. . Make sure your face is not directly under the PPF; it is shit heavy and will crush your head like a watermelon if you are not ready for it. Have a jack underneath it to help. You will have to really wiggle it to get it to release. I mean wiggle with all your strength while holding that piece of wood behind the dif. It will come free. Once it is free in the back, take off the last bolt in the front and drop it. Move it out of the way. (you can replace it with a lighter one from SRmotorsports and Richard Paul was making a Ti one.)

Next is the drive shaft (http:///#). Four bolts hold it to the dif (14mm) You will have to put one or two into position by rotating the back wheel (http:///#) then lock the e-brake. Crank off a bolt or two then get out from under the car, unlock the ebrake, rotate the tire about 1/3 of a turn, lock the ebrake then get back under and crank off more bolts. Be careful with the drive shaft. If you have the sport package the shaft is wound carbon fiber. If you scratch it, you might want to consider a new one. Pull the drive shaft out of the rear of the tranny. Depending on how the car is tilted you may get a bit of viscous transmission oil out of the rear seal. This is normal as the drive shaft engagement gear holds the fluid in. Watch how much you loose. More than a two handfulls and you will want to top off (BTW kitty litter works great to absorb all oils) There is a SST (special service too) to plug the rear seal. I dont know where you get one. You may also be able to fashion a plug yourself. Dont loose your sock in there or you will be all over the forums like that bimmer owner that stuffed his sock in the oil filler hole. Search for that, It is a good read.

I think we can drop the tranny now.

There are 5-14 mm bolts holding your bell housing to the engine. Three are easy to get. Two are hard. You can find the easy ones, but dont undo them until you do the top ones. The two at the top that are hard are right up at the apex of the bell housing. i used two extentions and two swivels to get to them. You may find an easier way. Let me know. Take the top bolts all the way out, then strap your transmission jack tight and loosen the rest of the bolts. If everything is off, you should be able to slide the transmission back and down. Be careful because your shift lever hole will bump up against the frame hole and drop crumbs into your tranny. Watch for fluid leak.

i have the instructions for the mazdaspeed flywheel at work somewhere if you want me to scan them in?

I am planning to do a clutch soon, so I would definitely use this as well.

It ain't finished yet but does anyone want to offer edits. Post or PM me.

I am thinking about tackling this job myself, too. Looks like about $100 in special tools (54-mm socket, flywheel lock, etc.) plus a tranny jack

carbonRX8: you mentioned that you needed to jack the front end up about 3'. Is this pretty typical? Anyone else have a comment on this? I don't have a lift, so this is an important number (need to check how tall my tallest jackstands are...)

Perhaps a naive question, but do you need to actually pull the transmission completely from the car (e.g., unbolt from the rear diff), or can you leave the back end hooked up and just swing the front down? Or is there not enough motion in the rear joint/can't get the front out of the way? Or once you have gotten it this far, you might as well go the rest of the way?

TIA

To answer your last question first, you do have to pull the tranny. I had a 280z that you could change the clutch without removing the transmission (just dropping it while still linked to the diff), but on this car the ppf prevents you from doing what you are suggesting.

you only have to jack up the car a bunch if you are using a breaker bar to remove the 54mm flywheel nut. If you use a high torque impact wrench, you will not have to boost the car so high.

Good luck and thanks for reminding me to finish this write up.

Oh and you dont have to spend so much on tools. You could go to harbor freight and pick everything you need for half what you said.

What do you qualify as "high torque"? I have a 1/2" IR that's suppose to be good to around 750 lb-ft, but I'm not sure I'm going to find a 54-mm 1/2" drive impact socket, or how I would put it back on close to the correct torque (other than the "my 200# hanging off a 2-ft bar = 400 lb-ft" method).

Thanks for your notes. I have a couple weeks until I will have a large enough window of opportunity to do this, so I have time to think about it still...

Use a 3 quarter drive wrench. 1/2 wont do. 540 ft lbs break-free should be the minimum. When you put it back on, I would recommend you do it by hand. Get a 3 foot breaker bar and put what you estimate to be >100 lbs of force on the end of it. That will equate to 300 ft lbs at the nut. If you are not an everyday mech, budget 2 days to do this. (16 hours)

(Sorry I didnt read your whole post until now. I think you have all the right ideas. Good luck)

Stopped by my local Harbor Freight (I've only known them as a catalog retailer, and honestly never knew they had stores), but no 54-mm socket. Largest in metric was about 30-mm. 54-mm is one big socket!

Stopped by my local Harbor Freight (I've only known them as a catalog retailer, and honestly never knew they had stores), but no 54-mm socket. Largest in metric was about 30-mm. 54-mm is one big socket!
Check out MazdaTrix.com. I think they have the socket and large breaker bar.

I have the 54mm socket and the flywheel puller, I can shipped these for $30 if anyone needs it, just recirculate into the forum members when needed.

I have the 54mm flywheel nut wrench (breaker bar), the flywheel stopper bar, and the clutch alignment tool. I'm willing to rent these out. PM me.

Well, off to a so-so start with this project. The tranny jack adapter I have for my jack doesn't fit (so I need to make an adapter). And I broke a bolt on the cat and have spent the last hour trying to drill it out. Grrrr...

How obvious is it to assembly the balancer with the new flywheel?

For the tranny jack adaptor, I just cut a 2x4 and drilled a hole through the middle of it and slid a carrage bolt through the hole into the jack (with the cup removed.) then I drilled two holes near the end of the 2x4. I bought REALLY big zip ties (48 inch long 3/8 inch wide) at Home Depot and put one on each end of the board through both holes (feed the zip tie though the top down, then up through the other hole. Zip tie the tranny to the board. Worked great.

Interestingly I also broke a bolt on the cat and had to drill it out. It was one of my first threads.

How obvious is it to assembly the balancer with the new flywheel? I am not sure what you mean. THe counter weight and the fly? The counter weight is likely separate and goes onto the tapered end of the eccentric shaft. Only goes on one way. Fly bolts to this with the friction plate facing rear. Only one way to go. Makre sure you bolt the fly to the counter weight buy SLOWLY increasing the torque to each nut and going in a star-like pattern (like lugs.) Same goes for your pressure plate. 2 or 3 rounds of tightening is sufficent for the fly.

Yeah, I built a tranny adapter from a 2x6 that works. The tranny is out and I was able to get the flywheel nut off with my 1/2" impact (an IR 2131: the most powerful 1/2" ever sold!) in about 2 seconds.

Just can't get the flywheel to pop off now. I've got my entire weight hanging off my 3' breaker bar, attached to a puller, but it just won't budge.

Must be lunch time! Then off to find a cheater and a bigger hammer.

THe counter weight and the fly?
Sorry...my first rotary...I still speak mostly piston engine.

The counter weight is likely separate and goes onto the tapered end of the eccentric shaft. Only goes on one way. Fly bolts to this with the friction plate facing rear. Only one way to go. Makre sure you bolt the fly to the counter weight buy SLOWLY increasing the torque to each nut and going in a star-like pattern (like lugs.) Same goes for your pressure plate. 2 or 3 rounds of tightening is sufficent for the fly.

I didn't realize the flywheel was keyed to the eccentric shaft (I thought it might be splined or something else). The keyway does make it much easier to figure it out. If I had taken a closer look at the counterweight, it woudl have been more obvious.

The purpose of replacing the flywheel is obviously to reduce rotational inertia. Now that I have pulled the whole thing apart, it would appear that significant additional savings could be made in the clutch and pressure plate. Does anyone know whether any of the aftermarket clutches or pressure plates are lighter than the stock ones? The clutch/pressure plate must weigh as much as the flywheel/counterweight. I wasn't going to replace mine as I only have about 13k miles on the car, but now that I have it all apart...

I am assuming that you got the fly off? You need to pull it off with a flywheel puller or make one yourself. i have one from Racing beat (only for the stock fly.) It is two metal plates, one with a hole in it and they are connected with a bunch of bolts. Basically you tighten them together after attaching one plate to the fly, the other plate pushes on the end of the e-shaft and, BAM!!!, the fly comes off.

Yes, the pressure plate is pretty heavy. My research says that nothing under $1800 (more like $2500) will get you significant (>1.5#) weight savings. (with a multi disk carbon-carbon clutch pack.)

Yeah, the flywheel is off. I had a puller on it, and had it loaded up as much as I could with a 3-foot breaker bar. I was banging on the flywheel with a 1/2" socket wrench. I finally went in an grabbed a 3# hammer, which only needed 1 blow to pop it loose.

Time to play "What's wrong with this picture?"

Oh oh, time for an easyout. :Freak_ani

I am thinking about tackling this job myself, too. Looks like about $100 in special tools (54-mm socket, flywheel lock, etc.) plus a tranny jack

carbonRX8: you mentioned that you needed to jack the front end up about 3'. Is this pretty typical? Anyone else have a comment on this? I don't have a lift, so this is an important number (need to check how tall my tallest jackstands are...)

Perhaps a naive question, but do you need to actually pull the transmission completely from the car (e.g., unbolt from the rear diff), or can you leave the back end hooked up and just swing the front down? Or is there not enough motion in the rear joint/can't get the front out of the way? Or once you have gotten it this far, you might as well go the rest of the way?

TIA

You can use a Craftsman 2-1/8" socket from Sears for $27.99 (http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00947789000P?keyword=2-1%2F8) to substitute the 54mm to remove the flywheel locknut and borrow a Timing Gear Puller from Autozone for free (http://www.autozone.com/in_our_stores/loan_a_tool/pullers_specialized/timing_gear.htm) to remove the flywheel.

If you impact the flywheel nut off/on you don't need a breaker. CAUTION: LEAVE THE LOCKNUT ON WHEN REMOVING THE FLYWHEEL WITH THE PULLER OR RISK SERIOUS INJURY WHEN THE FLYWHEEL POPS OFF.

Time to play "What's wrong with this picture?"At what torque (#) did it snap? That is good information to know. The spec is around 40 ft lbs. I would expect they would stretch at 50 and break by 60

How did you get it out? (if you did)

I had the wrench set to 30 (it's one of the clicker types). After it snapped I couldn't believe it and double checked it and it was at 30.

After I got done yelling, I pulled the tranny back out and was able to get a small pair of ViceGrips on it and back it out (it came out easily). The hole goes all the way through the engine block (its not a blind hole), so I am at a loss as to why the bolt broke (unless my wrench is WAY off).

I'm somewhat reluctant to reuse any of the rest of the old bolts. Will probably get a whole new set at Mazda on Monday.

I completely agree.

Get some Kastar Exhaust Hanger Removal Pliers from handsontools. It will make your life easy.

Amen! This was the best tool investment I have made in a looong time. Way better than using a set of ChannelLocks. I think I paid $25 with shipping from sjdiscounttools.com, and they sent them FedEx.

I'm somewhat reluctant to reuse any of the rest of the old bolts. Will probably get a whole new set at Mazda on Monday.

Went to Suburban Mazda in Troy (MI) today, and the parts counter could not find a part number for these bolts (they were not in any of their pictures). We checked both the engine and transmission drawings on the computer. I also checked all 3 of my shop manuals (Mazda general, Mazda engine and Mazda transmission), but they are not putting part numbers in these any more (I think our 1992 Miata one has part numbers in it). Does anyone have an idea what the number might be or where else to look?

Well, they are a metric bolt with a specific pitch count. You could just go get some SAE 5 or 8 bolts (these might also have something like "8.8" or "10.9" written on the head; has to do with the tensile strength of the bolt) in the proper size. They are likely to be M10 or so with 1.25 pitch but you should check to make sure.

After checking, I am almost positive that they are M10 bolts with 1.25 pitch; however, I am not sure what the JIS standard nominclature for bolt quality is. Whatever you get, get higher quality automotive bolts. What would be equivalent to SAE 5 to 8, (I would go for 5 or 6 as they are about 25% weaker than 8. That way, you minimize the chance of damaging the threads in your block if you over torque. If you over torque bolts that are stronger than the threads in your block, you have to retap your block (sorry, rotor housing.))

Went to Suburban Mazda in Troy (MI) today, and the parts counter could not find a part number for these bolts (they were not in any of their pictures). We checked both the engine and transmission drawings on the computer. I also checked all 3 of my shop manuals (Mazda general, Mazda engine and Mazda transmission), but they are not putting part numbers in these any more (I think our 1992 Miata one has part numbers in it). Does anyone have an idea what the number might be or where else to look?
See the attached image. Aren't the 4 bolts identified as #99796-1055 the bolts you need? If so, those are standard bolts and the parts person should have no problem getting those.

See the attached image. Aren't the 4 bolts identified as #99796-1055 the bolts you need? If so, those are standard bolts and the parts person should have no problem getting those.

I went back to Mazda today and poured over the drawings with the service manager, and on a whim tried the clutch drawing you showed. There are actually 5 bolts; 4 of the 99796-1055 and one of the 99796-1090. So I was able to cancel my previous order and get these on order. Parts should be here Friday, which will make my wife happy if I can get the car out of her parking spot in the garage.

Good! Sometimes they need a little help. :hahano:

See the attached image. Aren't the 4 bolts identified as #99796-1055 the bolts you need? If so, those are standard bolts and the parts person should have no problem getting those.

BTW: where did you get this drawing from? It's not in the service manual. Do you work for Mazda?

That came from the parts manual. No, I don't work for Mazda. See your PM.

After checking, I am almost positive that they are M10 bolts with 1.25 pitch; however, I am not sure what the JIS standard nominclature for bolt quality is. Whatever you get, get higher quality automotive bolts. What would be equivalent to SAE 5 to 8, (I would go for 5 or 6 as they are about 25% weaker than 8. That way, you minimize the chance of damaging the threads in your block if you over torque. If you over torque bolts that are stronger than the threads in your block, you have to retap your block (sorry, rotor housing.))

With the shouldering on the bolt, I decided to go back to Mazda and pay the $6 each for new ones. Home Depot certainly had them for less, but it's not that big of an expense for a part I don't want to have to mess around with again.

The replacement bolts from Mazda are marked 8.8, which I believe is equivalent to grade 5 SAE hardware. I doubt the rotor housing is anything other than un-tempered steel (tempering usually distorts the shape of an object, while also making it more difficult to machine back into spec). In all the bolts I have broken off in my life (usually in engines), most are harder than the object they are being inserted into (an exception being nuts, which are usually a grade harder than the bolt).

More pictures from my "experience" can be found at:

Flywheel Install (http://www.gerhardstein.net/rx8/flywheelshifter/flywheelshifter.html)

Some notes:

1) The bolt at the top of the bell housing can be best seen with your head near the rear of the tranny looking forward. I could not find a place with my head up near the front of the tranny that I could see it. I needed about 24" of socket extension plus a swivel to reach it, as well as the one just below it. In this position, it is relatively easy to get at.

2) Yes, you do need to disconnect the battery. The starter motor has an integral solenoid, which means that the (+) terminal on the battery comes directly to the starter and is always hot. So when you pull the starter motor, you will have a hot battery cable just hanging there looking for trouble.

3) If possible, keep the car level on the jackstands (front and rear about the same height off the ground). This will reduce fluid loss from the tranny. It will also make the tranny sit on the jack better (esp. if you make your own tranny jack), which will make it easier to slip back into the engine later. With a home-made tranny jack, a rolled or folded towel at one end can be used to compensate for any angle between the jack and the tranny.

4) Wrap the driveshaft in a towel and tape the towel on. There are many opportunities to scratch it, such as it rolling on the floor or torquing it back to the diff. Don't forget to remove the towel later.

5) When you put the PPF back in, note the special procedure in the Workshop Manual to set the preload on it. This involves measuring the distance between the bottom of the PPF and the bottom of the front cross-member BEFORE torqing the bolts and taking the jack off the tranny, as well as after. I almost missed this, and was off quite a bit (almost an inch).

6) I tried to put the PPF on upside down. It will almost fit this way, but the exhaust hanger will hang up on the exhaust and the drive shaft. The exhaust hanger should go on the driver's side when remounting.

7) When removing the PPF, if you can get one end loose (e.g., the tranny end), you can wiggle the stuck end (e.g., the differential end) free much easier.

8) You WILL need a puller to get the flywheel off the engine. And a big hammer. It's on a keyed taper, which you wouldn't think could stick together so well, but boy does it ever. Make sure you leave the flywheel nut on (but out at the end of the eccentric shaft threads) when pulling so the flywheel doesn't pop off and hit you in the head when it finally comes loose. Same goes with getting the PPF loose (keep the nuts on part way until you have the whole thing loose), so you don't get an unexpected present suddenly in your lap.

9) A 2 1/8" socket is 53.975 mm and fits fine. I could not find a 54 mm socket for less than $100. I have a 2 1/8" socket + flywheel puller + flywheel stopper available cheap to the first requester. Stuff is in Detroit.

10) If you break off an exhaust bolt, buy a cobalt drill bit to drill it out. You will need a lot of drill bits, or a bench grinder to resharpen the one bit (hint: the grinder will cost you much less than the bits).


Overall, a fun project with a noticable change in the car. Took about 16 hours, without dealing with the two broken bolts. Not a project for beginners.

I would like to try this cuz I have alot of space in my backyard

but I find that if I need to get all the tools thats I need for this project, its gonna run me at least a hundred bucks if not more.

So I will just leave it to the people in the shop.

Which bolts do you guys recommend replacing besides the 4 of 99796-1055 and 99796-1090 ? Any Gaskets or anything ? I think it would be better if I can use all new bolts.

You don't need to replace the bolts unless one breaks, so don't worry about them. I appear to have been unlucky in this regard.

Typically if you pull the tranny to do a flywheel, you might as well replace the clutch (which I didn't do since I only had a few thousand miles on mine) and the clutch throwout and pilot bearing. These are special-order parts for most Mazda dealerships, so plan ahead.

Let me Bump this Thread ... bump.

One question, how heavy is the Transmission itself ?

Im trying to get a Transmission Jack Adapter, is 400 lbs good enough ?

the two on top aren't as hard to get to as they are to put them back on 'rolleyes'

the tranny is one heavy mother if I might add.

g/l with the install! it's a lot of fun, seriously.

look how much fun i had.


note in the third photo that I had an impact. not to mention a well knowledgeable friend who helped me out a lot (has a half-bridge ported fd, built it from the ground up).
107049

107050

107051

I have an impact too, without it I dont think I want to do it.

Well I dont think the Tranny weight more than 400 lbs, dont you think ?

Edited (Correction, 400lbs)

I just have a Garage grade Jack and 4 3-ton Jackstand, Is it going to be high enough for me to move the tranny out ?

I ordered it -_-

Lets just hope that I wont be killed if it just snap off.

This sounds like something I might pay someone else to do. Any guesstimations on install costs at a reputable shop?

i might have to have a shop install mine also, even though i hate it cause i dont trust anyone with my car, and i wouldnt want them to screw anything up. gotta find a good shop

Let me Bump this Thread ... bump.

One question, how heavy is the Transmission itself ?

Im trying to get a Transmission Jack Adapter, is 400 lbs good enough ?


It weighs less than 150lbs.........unless the shipping CO that shipped mine are total idiots and shipped it for way less than they should have:):

You can use a Craftsman 2-1/8" socket from Sears for $27.99 (http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00947789000P?keyword=2-1%2F8) to substitute the 54mm to remove the flywheel locknut and borrow a Timing Gear Puller from Autozone for free (http://www.autozone.com/in_our_stores/loan_a_tool/pullers_specialized/timing_gear.htm) to remove the flywheel.

If you impact the flywheel nut off/on you don't need a breaker. CAUTION: LEAVE THE LOCKNUT ON WHEN REMOVING THE FLYWHEEL WITH THE PULLER OR RISK SERIOUS INJURY WHEN THE FLYWHEEL POPS OFF.

Old thread comes to life !

Shit I got a 54MM impact socket on the internet, it saids 3/4 inch drive but it came @ 1in .... so it wont fit my impact :(

Can the Craftsman Socket you mention really work ? its 12 pt tho. I thought the big Flywheel nut is 6 pt ?

I think you can find the 54mm socket at lowe's also.

The problem is the closest Lowes to me is like almost an hour drive >_<

If the Sears/Craftsman works I can go get it, its just like 5 minutes drive from my home. but 12 pt .... Is our Flywheel nut 6 or 12 ? or will the 12 fit ?

12 should fit.

Whats your impact gun rated at?

I remember mine was on so tight I had to give my gun like 110 psi.

Reverse force is rated at 400 lbs ... dunno if its too low

Forward is about 350 lbs I think

.....and to think I do these swaps with no air tools.......:rolleyes:

Shut up !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate you being so skillful, I hate myself being a noob !!!!!!

Well, maybe after my 1st time, I will get a better idea on how to change it so I dont need to use as much air tools.

but come on Charles, air tools makes removing it 10 times faster. tell me thats not true :P

I just did a complete engine swap with no air tools...I have a compressor and impact tools...but I find them clumsy and mostly a PIA.

They come in handy for a few things...but usually I just use ratchets and wrenches :)

just finished my install, need to bleed the SC a little more and adjust the pedal, but so far so good, prolite flywheel, ACT HDMM clutch kit, SS braided clutch line. took about 8hrs for the total install, on the floor with jackstands. The trans is only like 100lbs, I was able to muscle it up and down with the assistance of a floor jack for the alignment, but I have done this on a lot of different cars, nothing new to me. the 12pt craftsmen 2 1/8 socket works perfectly.

how did you get the top two bolts from the trans off?

Shut up !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate you being so skillful, I hate myself being a noob !!!!!!

Well, maybe after my 1st time, I will get a better idea on how to change it so I dont need to use as much air tools.

but come on Charles, air tools makes removing it 10 times faster. tell me thats not true :P

The only thing i would want an air tool for is the flywheel nut because i would be doing it on the floor and not much leverage with a breaker bar thats 36" long when you are 10" off the ground....

how did you get the top two bolts from the trans off?

lol, had about 4 feet of 1/2inch drive extentions, so I could have clearance past the trans to turn the 1/2" ratchet....I have alot of tools, lol. With that many extensions there was enough play that it almost acted like a swivel but torque transfer was a lot more solid, so taking the bolts off was a breeze.

I just did a complete engine swap with no air tools...I have a compressor and impact tools...but I find them clumsy and mostly a PIA.

They come in handy for a few things...but usually I just use ratchets and wrenches :)

use a impact wrench to break the flywheel nut off, and thread the new one on (on my impact wrench, it has 4 settings, 1 is the hardest and 4 is so light I can hold the socket with my hand and it lightly hammers), other than that, hand tools are the way to go, unless you like breaking bolts

For those who don't have a puller or want to pop that flywheel off in a matter of seconds after you get the nut off the flywheel. If your like me your replacing that flywheel I could care less about it. Go to the outside edge of the flywheel..what a small sledge hammer or just the head. Start off with a small tap and just tap a little harder if you hit 5 times and no pop turn the motor and do it on the otherside. I made a puller and the impact didn't pull it...then I pulled the breaker bar and torqued as hard as I could...and never got anywhere. After thinking about it was afraid to hit it to hard but realized it don't make much on the outside edge and the flywheel falls off.

Question.

About how strong should a guy be to be able to get the flywheel nut off with the Racing Beat tool? Or rather, how much strength is needed? It is 540ft/lb right, so if the car is up on jackstands, hanging/pulling on the breaker bar...would that be enough? Would a mallet banging on the bar be better? I really don't have access to air tools, nor do I want to spend money when I can do the job with the specialty tool.

Also, about how safe is it to attempt the nut removal when the car is up on jacks stands? I'm just worried that the constant pulling yanking banging etc on the breaker bar could make the car slip and kill me.

Thanks

^I got the nut off with the Racing Beat tool.
Be prepared to have the car raised HIGH on jack stands (over 24" if possible) because the bar is really long.
We had to bend the bar a little bit to make it a little "shorter" and more room to turn it.
Because of this, I've had the end of the Racing Beat tool (the 54mm hex) cut and welded with a 1/2" attachment for a large breaker bar that can more easily fit under a car on jack stands.
And don't worry about doing this work on jack stands as long as they are good, large, sturdy stands.

For me I made my own tool that had a handle that was about the same length as the breaker bar. I just stuck a foot on the one bar and pulled on the other. It wasn't that hard.... I just start applying strength little by little... I'd say it took about 75% strength since I was slowly applying the pressure.

it's always best with a PIT

I've searched, and have read many threads on the subject. So this post is just out impulsive wannabe really really sure security matters.

Using 4ton jackstands, four of them, where is the THE MOST secure and stable locations for safety's sake. I will be using Kragen Powerbuilt stands.

I've searched, and have read many threads on the subject. So this post is just out impulsive wannabe really really sure security matters.

Using 4ton jackstands, four of them, where is the THE MOST secure and stable locations for safety's sake. I will be using Kragen Powerbuilt stands.


As far as that...that's up to you it's not that bad...just find a spot you feel comfortable with....As far as your flywheel....

Loosen that nut and then just hit the outside edge of the flywheel with a hammer any size...and you don't even have to hit it hard.

The shaft is tappered...which means it gets bigger as it goes on...so a hit on the outside and it comes right off.. It will save you so much time and won't damage or hurt anything.

Damn getting to the point where my car has been up on stands for four days not being able to finish the job because of work/rain. First heavy rain this very night, power was knocked out for a while.

Stuck with he transmission, only attempted once and couldn't get it. I'm having trouble getting the input shaft back into the spline of the clutch. Then I had to undo the pressure plate to check out the disc.

Noticed two things, that I could see tiny marks on the disc teeth where I had just missed the mark with the input shaft. Also, my pilot bearing seal is ripped up on one side, and I think this is what caused the bad alignment disc wise.

Just got a new seal today and will change those out, hope to fix this error.

Make sure the engine is supported too.
Without the transmission attached, the engine will lean back and make it difficult to align.
I use a jack and wooden block to raise the back end of the engine up so its not leaning.

Also if the spline isn't going in, verify the clutch disc is properly aligned.
The past couple clutches I did I noticed the alignment tool didn't keep the disc centered and the tool tilted downward.
I had to lift the end of the alignment tool slightly while I tightened the pressure plate bolts.

Ya, noticed that my alignment tool bent downwards also. Will try the jacing the engine tip, when it stops raining.

dumb question, and i have searched but didnt find a clear answer...

im shopping for a new clutch kit and while the clutch is being replaced might as well as relpace the flywheel with a lighter one. My only question is about the counterweight, because all the aftermarket flywheels say that i need a counter weight. can i reuse the OEM one or do i have to buy a new one...? never had to replace a clutch til now so im kinda uneducated in this area.