Well the stock clutch finally couldn’t take the power anymore and finally went up in smoke wide open throttle on the back straight away, I thought I had blew an oil line ontop of something hot by the amount of smoke coming out the back.


So I plan to swap the clutch out by myself, got some questions.

1st: should I get the flywheel machined, leave the flywheel in there if it’s fine, swap it out with a lightweight flywheel (will this cause pre-mature wear and reliability issues?) I want the have the most reliable set-up, could care less about performance here.

2nd: What tools/equipment will I need absolutely need? Don’t say something like floor jack, I mean like specialty tools ect..

3rd: What company/brands work which ones should I stay away from.

4th: out of 1 to 10 how hard should this be doing it in my garage? Am I crazy thing it's going to be easy? I've done motor rebuilds in the past this should be a cakewalk right?

5th: what is the best manual to read and look at for this area?

thanks in advance Mazda brothers.

 

There are a number of good threads on clutch swap. Biggest problem is lining the damn thing up. The plastic tools are a pain, I just lightly attached 2 bolts, then used the transmission itself on a jack, then tightened the bolts. If you use the plastic tool, cut off the end so it seats completely and drill a hole in the back to keep the vacuum behind it (from the grease and seal) from sucking one of the damn rollers bearings out and jamming up the works half an inch from done.

Beware that the new Exedy clutch needs some shims to position the pressure plate correctly. They look a lot like washers.

Definitely go with the light flywheel. I got the ACT one (with counterweight) from BHR. Charles also gave me a lot of support on getting the shims right. You need a big socket and a way to rent and electric impact wrench to easily get the flywheel off. Or, the socket and a long bar. Again, check the DIY's. The impact wrench was great, and I was not putting a lot of lateral load on a car on jack stands.

 

Oh yeah, I have a full line of air tool's, all impacts sizes, sockets the works.
I was just hoping there wasn’t some specialty tools that I might not have.



Any Word on these XTR clutch kits????

XTR Stage 4 Rigid Copper Ceramic Miba Clutch Kit 2004 2008 Mazda RX8 1 3L 13BMSP | eBay

Comes with everything I need...

 

Single best thing I did when doing my clutch replacement in my driveway was pretty much after the fact, but still a lifesaver. Grab a transmission bellhousing bolt once you have it out, run to the hardware store and get 2 or 3 bolts of the same size and thread pitch (M10x1.25 I think) but much longer. At least 2 inches longer if you can.

Then, when you are mounting the transmission back up, feed these bolts through the bellhousing on opposite bolt holds into the engine block. Just thread them in a bit, no need to torque them down. This will hold the transmission in line while you get the gears lined up and work the transmission to the block (you still need something underneath to support the weight). Once the transmission is far enough on to start threading the real bolts, you can start those and remove the long ones and use the correct bolts in their place.

I fought with my transmission for about 4 hours before doing this, and then it only took me 10 minutes to make the connection and get the bellhousing solid against the block.

The biggest challenges are:
1) Wrestling the weight with limited room
2) Getting the transmission lined up during re-installation
3) Torquing the PPF bolts the RIGHT torque and in the RIGHT order.

With air tools the last one won't be a problem I expect. It's a decent problem in freezing temps with only 18 inches of ground clearance to work with and no power tools.

 

Good deal! Did you read a repair manual? witch one? I printed off the one from rotary heads, and it's pretty straight forward with its break downs, nothing too in-depth, it could be better. At-least all the torque specs are given for everything

 

Just used site:rx8club.com <search term> for everything

 

1st: should I get the flywheel machined, leave the flywheel in there if it’s fine, swap it out with a lightweight flywheel (will this cause pre-mature wear and reliability issues?) I want the have the most reliable set-up, could care less about performance here.

If you have the money go with a light weight flywheel and exedy OEM replacment (are you N/A,turbo, or SC if N/A go with OEM replacment.)

2nd: What tools/equipment will I need absolutely need? Don’t say something like floor jack, I mean like specialty tools ect..

A fly wheel puller check racing beat dot com

3rd: What company/brands work which ones should I stay away from.

anything but wayyy cheap stuff it will break so no ebay special stuff.

4th: out of 1 to 10 how hard should this be doing it in my garage? Am I crazy thing it's going to be easy? I've done motor rebuilds in the past this should be a cakewalk right?

8/10 its not easy unless you have a lift and power tools.

5th: what is the best manual to read and look at for this area?

there should be one here search DIY clutch intstall

 

1. If reliability is ur major concern, resurface the stock steek flywheel and get a brand new exedy clutch oe or stage1;will do. Stage 1 is actuakly cheaper.

2. No special tools, but it will be alot better.if u have someone to help u. You dont need to flywheel puller AT.ALLPERIOD. to remove the flywheel without it falling on your face and kill u, after u loosen the flywheel nut, put it back on no need to tighten it just a few turns would be fine. Then u grab a softblow hammer and start hitting the.side.of.the flywheel. After a few hits the flywheel will try to pop out, but as long as your flywheel nut is there, it will not fly out.

3.

Exedy

4. 8/10 , if u have to ask ..

.5.service manual, or just search on youtube.videos, all flywheel remove/install are about.the same.anyway

 

Thanks allot Mazda brothers!!!

I've done motor rebuilds, but this will be my first clutch job, i'm pretty stoked.

I've read and re-read everything on this site about DIY clutch about 20 times.
I printed off the rotory heads manul and read that a bunch of times.
I shall start the project tomorrow!

and Exedy it is, even know my local tuner shop has an OS Giken R3A Triple Plate Clutch kit that looks sooo sick, but tottaly overkill for my N/A monster

 

im sure if you can rebuild an engine, you can replace a clutch and flywheel

 

If you do not have a soft blow hammer, put a 2x4 on it and hit it with a small sledge.

 

AHAH nothing like pulling the starter out and a big black pile of fibrous dust that comes along with it!

That clutch was the definition of cooked.

 

At least you could pull your starter. Read up on my fiasco if you ever get bored: https://www.rx8club.com/trouble-shoo...emoval-224849/






Yes, that is the starter nose inside the bellhousing.

And this is where the metal came from:

 

JESUS! You battled with that thing! What a war! Atleast you came out on top.

 

Mine turned to dust, there is no friction plate material left, just that inner metal ring with the springs THATS IT!!

 

Make sure you have the right tools to get the bolts off the top of the bell housing. I needed a couple of extensions with angle joints to get up there and use a socket with a hex not 12 notches because if you round those nuts your screwed.
Good luck it took me around 12 hours on my own (other than the wife raising the jack so I could get the transmission lined up) and with a few runs to the hardware store on my bike ;-)

 

The secret to the difficult top bolts are about 3 feet of extensions with a swivel.....and come at them from way back on the passenger side of the tranny....other than that the rest is fairly easy

On a lift with a tranny jack and air tools about an hour......on the ground the hard way 4 or so

The stock flywheel isn't really resurfacable if it is scored..better to get a new one or an aftermarket one or you could end up with disengagement problems

 

No rush to get her done, racing season is over.


I was listing to an interesting interview with owner of RE Amemiya Isami Amemiya, well actually reading the sub-titles, and he was talking about wanting to leave the stock flywheel and stock pulleys for maximum reliability and durability, you’re looking at pre-mature wear and possible failure with lightweight components in this area, but if you do go lightweight the performance gains are undeniable. And he also added, that if you go lightweight in the back you have to go lightweight in the front, and vice versa something about eccentric shaft loads and such...

 

Info being referred to: ATI - Crankshaft Dampers 101

Not really a problem for us since we have so little reciprocating weight. Its the difference between the ends though, and even with a lightweight flywheel, it's still the heavier end, you are actually balancing it better. Don't forget the weight of the rest of the drivetrain.

Going from 21lb flywheel to a 10lb flywheel on my miata was an incredible difference in engine smoothness.

 

hey RIWWP,

I just read through your thread. Wow, that was one crazy situation you had going there.

I'm curious, what was the first thing you noticed when the clutch 'went'? I'm asking because of the way in the pics your clutch looks like it was missing a chunk of material from one specific corner.

 

Prior to the failure, there was no indication at all. Normal clutch grip, though i am not hard on my clutches anyway so i might have just been under the lowering grip threshhold.

When it failed, it was coming down an on-ramp, 8-9k rpm, not quite full throttle, i clutched in for the shift and felt an impact on clutch in, before even moving the shifter. I knew immediately that the clutch went, tested the shifter and clutch pedal, and nothing was normal. A quick decision to pull over while i had a chance to do so safely. Had to get it towed.

My theory is that the prior clutch engagement finally cracked it, but the pressure plate held it together until i clutched in when it started disintegrating.

 

/\

that's crazy.

Why is it that stuff always fails when you are actually driving carefully