Hello,

I'm considering replacing the clutch and flywheel on a friend's RX-8 on my back in the garage. I've done some reading on here and the only thing I didn't see was what tool you guys were using to torque the flywheel nut? Something like 300+ ft/lbs.? Haven't seen a torque wrench go that high. Are you blasting it on with an impact and thread locker or what?

Getting it off shouldn't be a problem and I'll have to have him pay for the flywheel holder and pilot bearing puller.

The rest of the job looks simple compared to what I'm used to dealing with (see sig).

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

You could use an extension on the torque wrench as a multiplier too if you know how to do that.

If you use a 1/2" torque wrench and give it a good hit with some blue thread locker it should be OK as well...not rocket science

The flywheel holder tool is a great help...pilot bearing puller works great..but you could likely use a regular slide hammer type puller and get it out

 

Easy way to torque The flywheel bolt.

Find a torque wrench that can go 150 lbs, which should be fairly cheap and common.

torque it to 150 lbs

then get a marker and write 2 marks at 2 of the apex on the flywheel bolt @ the flywheel, Then find whatever you can to turn the flywheel bolt from the first apex you mark to the next one that u marked, when you are done, the bolt will be torque at exactly 350 lbs.

 

Just wanted to update and say thanks to you guys for the advice. I got the job done in a litte over 7 hours. Changed out the clutch kit (including pilot bearing with modified Harbor Freight puller), flywheel, and put a new catalytic converter on to address his P0420 Catalyst inefficiency code.

Drives great and sounds awesome with whatever exhaust he has on there, I think it's a greddy catback.

Had a couple more questions, just for my own curiosity's sake:

When I changed out the flywheel, I noticed the new one was shorter, is that common?

It was direct from the Mazda dealer.

Why are these clutch kits so damn expensive? ($750-$1000) Is there something special about them? Or is it just supply and demand? Looked like a normal basic clutch to me.


Is the P0420 code common at all? Rather, is catalytic converter castrate deterioration common? I ask because he says no one has ever gutted the cat in his exhaust, and this is what I found (on the right):


Also, his traction light is on all the time. Common?

I've grown to like these cars. Lacking on the power a bit, but they look nice and seem to be built well. Thanks again guys.

 

1" drive, 1200 lb-ft, homey doesn't play the f' around

 

Is that a small engine attached to an anvil? lol

My 1/2" does 11xx ft/lbs. (breakaway). It's what I used in conjunction with hanging off the end of a torque wrench.

 

If you paid $750.00-$1,000.00 for a clutch get then you got hosed and yeah cat converters don't fair so well in rotaries, especially when they are not maintained well.

 

You could have bought an Exedy OE replacement clutch for around $300, they are the manufacturer for the OE clutch

 

yeah, gas powered from Harbor Freight, was just joking

 

Ahh, well he already had the clutch, it was a Daiken so probably the $300 one you're talking about. But when I was looking for prices on it, that's what the stores were giving me.

 

Back in the 80's, I got a gear reduction tool specifically made to remove that nut. It has a 10 to 1 gear ratio and was made by some long gone rotary shop in LaLaland.
Ray of BHR saw it once and talked about copying it. That was 5-6 yrs ago. I guess it wasn't worth it.

 

u got hosed on the clutch kit, it should cost less than 400, and im talking about exact oem kind(made by daikin aka exedy)

u bought a new stock flywheel??? u can resurface the old one for 40-50 bux and works like new

 

RX8: Flywheels: Flywheel Nut Wrench Tool -

i've got one of those, i'm 150lbs, 3 foot bar...

 

Have you had one resurfaced? I recently put new clutch flywheel and counter weight and put them in. After installing I noticed a bad vibration. I asked few other people and of course they can't just help me have to talk crap and tell me to buy a better clutch kit. Well that would be great if I had the money. So now I am considering going back to stick flywheel and using new pressure plate and clutch disk.

 

I don't think necroing this unrelated thread was the best place to post your question, but I had my flywheel resurfaced and no issues.

 

what do you mean by apex, by the way this is what I needed thanks for knowing

 

Torque the bolt down to 150 lbs using a torque wrench. After doing that, do the following:

The hex has 6 points on it. Mark the flywheel at two adjacent points. Then mark the hex itself at the first point. Keep reefing on it until mark on the nut has made it to the next mark on the flywheel.

If you have spatial perception issues and can't remember which direction the bolt is going to go, mark three adjacent points on the flywheel and then mark the middle point on hex. Whichever way it goes, you'll still know what 1/6 of a turn is.

 

Sorry to revive a dead thread but was hoping someone knew how to stop the flywheel from spinning bought a heavy duty 350ftlb torque wrench, but now I can torque the flywheel cause it just spins with the motor, used a ryobi impact driver to get it to roughly 300, not sure how to torque it higher. Is there a tool I need to keep the flywheel from spinning?

 

There is a tool that you can purchase to hold the flywheel in place..., but something like this works well also.

And torque is just angular force. So, you can approximate 360ftlbs by...applying 60lb force at the end of a 6ft lever, i.e. 6ft x 60lbs = 360ftlbs.

 

funny, I removed several factory-installed Renesis engine flywheel nuts and reinstalled them with the same 18V 1/2” impact wrench from back in the 2005 circa. They have much more powerful ones now. I just put some medium grade threadlock on the nut threads to keep it from ever backing off, yet still readily removable with an impact wrench.