Has anyone replaced their own clutch?

[ezobens]

Hello,
I have a 99' Solara SE V-6 and the original clutch is starting to slip after 172K miles (original clutch). Has anyone replaced the clutch THEMSELVES vs going to a shop? I have the factory service manual and it talks about dropping the sub-frame, wanting my first born etc. There HAS to be an easier way?!

Anybody that has attempted it and has some tips or tricks on how to do this without taking the whole car apart would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thank you in advance,
Elm

[akora12]

That's pretty incredible. I've never heard of a clutch lasting that long...

[Gangis]

Yeah, you must have driven it like a grandma, lol. I'm an auto and know nothing about replacing the clutch, though.

[Midias]

That's pretty incredible. I've never heard of a clutch lasting that long...

I drive hard and have 150,000 on mine still feels solid

[jrzymuscle23]

Maybe I'm not as mechanically inclined- but I'd rather pay $850 and have a professional do it..

[Midias]

Maybe I'm not as mechanically inclined- but I'd rather pay $850 and have a professional do it..

I did it on my old accord once and paid to have it don once. When I did it it was 250 in parts and about 17 hrs of labor (ye I know my first time it was hard get off my back.) When I had it done a shop charged me 400 in labor and I paid 250 for part in the end I decided it was worth it.

[Eye8Pussies]

if you want to do it yourself, the only real (and safe) way is by pulling the engine/tranny out the top

there's no way to just "slide" the tranny aside and slip in a clutch and align it on the v6


long story short- unless you have the tools, space, guts, and experience from doing an engine swap/tranny swap (which this basically would be the same as), it's best to take it to a pro with a lift who can drop the subframe and do it the easy way

[bronzemaxell]

there's no way to just "slide" the tranny aside and slip in a clutch and align it on the v6

i did the clutch two years ago on a V6 Solara, by "slide" the tranny aside,
the clutch master kit comes with the plastic guide that you slide in allow you to align with the flexplate before mating the tranny back to engine.

basically take off everything on its way to access the tranny including battery, intake box, starter, shifter cable, slave cylinder, tranny mount, dirt shield, both axles, there is enough room to separate and slide tranny out sideway, while jack up and hold the engine at oil pan. and another jack to hold the tranny. the tranny is around 100+ lbs, not too heavy to move around in engine bay.

it is doable this way for 99 Solara V6, but factory service manual probably sugguest dropping the subframe, or lift up the engine.

[Solorange]

Ive been wondering this myself, looks like a job I dont even feel like taking on. Too much time. Unfortunately I dont have a trusted mechanic since I just moved so I will be paying the dealership when the time comes. Oh well I got 120k on my car and its still bites hard! Hopefully I can get it to last another 50k!

[Eye8Pussies]

bronzemaxell- good for you man. When doing my swap, I took a look and I still don't think that I would go through the hassle of just sliding the tranny over- that, and I still don't believe that there's enough room (for me- I don't like to scratch my hands, lol).

[bronzemaxell]

ok, just to clarify, actually when i slided the tranny side way, there was plenty of room to work on the flexplate, clutch, clutch fork/throwout bearing, whatever the technical term is. it is very hard to vision there is enough room if you don't jackup the engine, because the car frame is on its way, about same height as the tranny, but once you remove the tranny mount, jackup the engine with a wood stud at oil pan and let the tranny raise above the frame , there is enough room to slide to the side this way.

[Solorange]

Interesting... Still too much work for me lol. Id have to take vacation time to get the work done

[ezobens]

Whew.. I'm glad someone else has attempted it!

I'd rather spend a few weekends of my own time and know everything that was done (and done correctly) vs paying someone $800 (or whatever) that really has no vested interest in my car one way or another.
I'm not scared of the work involved, I do all the work on my cars except for bodywork or alignments so clutch replacement is more or less an effort in patience.
I know the factory tends to recommend the most foolproof (and labor intensive) method for these things but 9 times out of 10, someone has found an easier way to cheat the system.

All I need to know is that with the trans slid to the side, did you need to remove the LH only or both LH and RH half-shafts to do it?
Also, it there enough room for me to remove the flywheel for resurfacing?

Thanks again!
I will be doing this over the winter so I'll post pics during the process.
Elm

[DatSRBoi]

I have a friend with a toyota with over 240K miles and the clutch is still strong. Thats with a boosted motor. (My original motor on my project car when removed had 250K miles too I think and the clutch was strong still too.)

My new car I am bring home has 150K miles and the clutch is strong.

Its all the driver.

[SolaraT]

I would leave it up to the pros.