DIY Clutch Replacement

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by reeves

Well regardless, that bolt is holding the tranny on at the same 37 lb-ft as the others so I'm not too worried

No it isn't. It's not holding anything because the head is not engaged so there's no clamping force. I would not drive my car like that except very gingerly to a shop to get it squared away.

[reeves]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

No it isn't. It's not holding anything because the head is not engaged so there's no clamping force. I would not drive my car like that except very gingerly to a shop to get it squared away.

It's too late for that haha
I've been driving not-so-gingerly the past few days. I could only drive 'normally' for the first ~200 miles to break in the clutch before I had to let loose.

It still feels/drives/shifts fine.. I'll have to check under the car sometime soon to see if the tranny is still clamped on tight to the engine.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by reeves

It's too late for that haha

I've been driving not-so-gingerly the past few days. I could only drive 'normally' for the first ~200 miles to break in the clutch before I had to let loose.



It still feels/drives/shifts fine.. I'll have to check under the car sometime soon to see if the tranny is still clamped on tight to the engine.

Good luck! I hope it works out!

[ermax]

If you got all new bolts I could see maybe getting some old ones mixed in with the new and ended up putting a starter bolt (they are much longer) in that hole. You may have gotten 37lbs-ft on it but that’s because it’s bottomed out in the hole and not actually torqued on the head like it should. The tranny was engineered to have ALL those bolts for a reason. It’s not going to fall off but I could see the extra load on the other bolts causing them to back out at some point. I would remove that bolt and compare the length with your old bolts and if it’s longer then you found your problem. If it isn’t longer then you have something stuck in that hole or you managed to cross thread that bolt (which would be really hard if not impossible).

[reeves]

I rechecked it this past weekend, and turns out the starter bolt is longer than the others.
Got the right bolt in there now.

[reeves]

I jotted down some notes for myself to remember next time (several years from now hopefully) I have to do this again. Just thought I'd post the notes in case it helps anyone else.

* Toyota parts are usually cheaper, and in some cases it's significantly so. Toyota sells the OEM clutch for $102, Subaru sells it for $169. I bit the bullet and bought the Subaru one because I didn't want to wait 1 extra day to get my clutch installed. They had a few in stock, Toyota had to order theirs.


* I don't know how you're supposed to get this rubber covering off without ripping or tearing it. I just tore mine off completely (and I mangled my lock pin doing it).








* If you plan to take apart the center console in the interior, the USB Tray is a pain to get out. There's 3 tabs on the top & bottom that you have to pry loose before pulling it out.





* I used a 30mm hex to plug up the spline hole where the driveshaft goes. I wrapped teflon tape around an extension and stuck that into the socket to keep tranny fluid from spilling out. A little still managed to leak out so it's good to stuff some shop towel or rags around the socket to soak up any drips.






* It was too much trouble for me to try and keep the engine from rotating as I tightened the flywheel bolts, so I just used a impact gun. I used the ARP bolts just in case since they're supposedly stronger.






* A transmission jack makes this job a ton easier whether you're by yourself or working with someone. Cough up the extra $60 or so to buy the 800-lb version vs the 450-lb version. It's much easier to jack up & tilt the tranny.

You won't be able to slide the tranny out from under your car with this jack however, unless your car is 3 ft or higher off the ground, this jack just isn't low enough. You can always lift the tranny off the jack and drag it on the floor to get it out from under the car.



* When trying to put the tranny back onto the engine, I jacked the rear of the car slightly higher so I wouldn't have to push the tranny as much to slide it back up against the engine. You'll need 2 floor jacks to do this though (along with the trannsmission jack), as the first floor jack will be needed to hold up the engine.



* There's a narrow gap between the engine & transmission (at the bottom) where you can see the teeth of the flywheel. I don't know if there's supposed to be something covering this gap, but nothing was covering mine. So I used a big flathead screwdriver and push the teeth to rotate the flywheel/engine while trying to slide the trannsmission back on. The [transmission] spline should go in without too much effort if the spline is lined up correctly with the center of the clutch/flywheel. This is where having a transmission jack that can tilt comes in handy. I had the whole car tilted slightly downward towards the front too.

If you do force the transmission in too hard, your center clutch teeth/gooves will get crushed and look like the left picture (right picture is how it should look), and your clutch won't disengage properly.






* 13 lb-ft is good enough for the clutch line bolt. Don't over-torque it, or else....





But if you did do what I did, here's the replacement bolt #112925161:


https://parts.subaru.com/p/Subaru__/...112925161.html


- - -

[Ivegotamain2]

Regarding transmission fitment - I have the bottom two studs lined in (not fully), but can't seem to push the transmission in further. I'm stuck at about 1 inch from full fitment.

Do i use the bolts to drive it in from here? They're within range. Or should the transmission fit in perfectly flat?

I've been rotating the flywheel and splines to try to get it to line up and getting little progress.

[Grisha]

Hi everyone,
I’m getting ready to do this DIY as my release bearing is going bad.
I have 72k on my ‘13 FRS. Question: should i replace the flywheel (OEM, wouldn’t be a lightweight) along with Exedy OEM Clutch kit, or have it resurfaced? I’m a second owner and baby my clutch. Thanks!

[ermax]

Originally Posted by Grisha

Hi everyone,
I’m getting ready to do this DIY as my release bearing is going bad.
I have 72k on my ‘13 FRS. Question: should i replace the flywheel (OEM, wouldn’t be a lightweight) along with Exedy OEM Clutch kit, or have it resurfaced? I’m a second owner and baby my clutch. Thanks!

I did mine at ~84k and only replaced the TOB and a beat the crap out of my clutch/tranny. I’ve literally never worn out a clutch (on any car). I typically just break them.

If I did it over I would have gotten the Exedy kit with LWFW simply for the LWFW and install the clutch just as a bonus.

[ermax]

Originally Posted by Ivegotamain2

Regarding transmission fitment - I have the bottom two studs lined in (not fully), but can't seem to push the transmission in further. I'm stuck at about 1 inch from full fitment.

Do i use the bolts to drive it in from here? They're within range. Or should the transmission fit in perfectly flat?

I've been rotating the flywheel and splines to try to get it to line up and getting little progress.

Probably a little late here. I missed this post I guess. First thing DO NOT FORCE IT WITH THE BOLTS. This car doesn’t use dowel pins that take force to press in so if everything is right the tranny should slip right on. Did you replace your clutch or just the TOB? If you did the clutch then it’s possible the disk isn’t aligned well enough. The biggest issue is the angle of the engine. With the tranny off it tips forward. You have to jack the front of the engine to get it level. If you jack too much or too little it will bind up and not slide on easily.

[Grisha]

I spent about an hour last night trying to jerk the tranny out, it is sitting on 2 lower studs and I cannot seem to slide it out.

I disconnected the shifter from the bottom by removing a cotter pin, just one, inside the boot. Is there something else that I'm supposed to remove, that won't let me get the tranny out?

Thank you!

[ermax]

Originally Posted by Grisha

I spent about an hour last night trying to jerk the tranny out, it is sitting on 2 lower studs and I cannot seem to slide it out.

I disconnected the shifter from the bottom by removing a cotter pin, just one, inside the boot. Is there something else that I'm supposed to remove, that won't let me get the tranny out?

Thank you!

Did you remove the pins on the sides too (marked with red arrows bellow)? Also, did you jack the front of the engine to prevent it from tipping forward? If the engine tips forward the tranny binds on the lower studs. Play around with jacking it more or less to change the angle of the engine. If you get it just right it should slide right off.

[Grisha]

Originally Posted by ermax

Did you remove the pins on the sides too (marked with red arrows bellow)? Also, did you jack the front of the engine to prevent it from tipping forward? If the engine tips forward the tranny binds on the lower studs. Play around with jacking it more or less to change the angle of the engine. If you get it just right it should slide right off.

I can't thank you enough for your fast reply!
I removed the pin marked green, then moved up the clips marked red (so they're sticking up now), but didn't touch the pin marked blue. Is that the one I'm forgetting?

[ermax]

Originally Posted by Grisha

I can't thank you enough for your fast reply!
I removed the pin marked green, then moved up the clips marked red (so they're sticking up now), but didn't touch the pin marked blue. Is that the one I'm forgetting?

No you don't need to mess with the one in blue. I took this picture from another thread. The pins in red need to be flipped up and then pulled out. That whole aluminum part comes loose once those pins are removed.