How hard to change the clutch?

My friends got a 91 legacy wagon 2wd...clutch is gone...or at least thats what it seems he said he would have to rev up higher to get it to engage and then one day it just stopped all together. He also might be getting rid of the car in a month or 2 and i might just buy it from him for a couple hundred bucks.

 

Everything else seemed pretty good...he said something about cv joints but it looks like those are 65 a piece online...its got 140k on it. Only other thing i noticed was the rpms jumped a little bit when idling...i figure nothing a new fuel filter and some seafoam cant help with.

 

But is it a pain in the ass to do a clutch on a car like this? i figure since its 2wd it would be easier...the plan would be to replace what the car needs and just drive it as a dd for good gas mileage.

Eh, the FWD's are still fun. I'd say the easiest way is to pull the engine.

 

CV joints are usually easy enough. There can be times when stuff can

go wrong though. The axle nut can get stuck to where it wont come off.

The pin in the transaxle end can get stuck up in there. It's all stuff that

has fixes for the most part, but it's still a pain. Otherwise it's easy enough.

The idling issue may be the Idle Air Control Valve that needs cleaned, but

it'd be brave trying Seafoam on an engine that's that old. You may just

want to try Zmax or something instead. Seafoam can break stuff free and clog

it up somewhere else.

 

It's always a pain to do the clutch. Some people suggesting jacking up the

engine instead of pulling it, but it's easier to pull it cause you have more room to

work and mating it is probably gonna be about the same. But at least the times

when you have the engine out it's a good chance to do the valve cover gaskets,

timing belt, water pump...the stuff that's kind of annoying when it's in the car.

This is odd but the part that delayed my clutch job was disconnecting the fuel lines for the first time i coudlnt figure it but now I know. But the clutch isn't terrible the work is getting to it only takes about 25 min to put it in and torque things down then back to reassembly.

What would you guys do as far as maintenance ? Its got 140k and i have no idea the history. I was gonna do all the fluids and the clutch...thinking timing belt now since its only about 120 for the parts.

 

Is a timing belt hard to do ? My grandpa is a car guru....has a lift in his garage...probably any tool i can think of besides special parts...he has a bunch of old classics & and i'm planning on doing all this at his house

Timing belts are easy.

And the great part about these old Legacy's

is that it's a non-interference engine so even

if you do mess up the timing it wont hurt the

engine. You just reset it and try again.

 

And if you're gonna lift the engine out I'd do

cam seals, front main seal, rear main seal,

water pump, timing belt, timing belt pulley's

(if yours are less than ideal), spark plugs,

oil pump (if you can afford it) and valve

cover gaskets. Unless you're willing to open up

the engine and clean it all out. Then I'd do

that too, but the seals aren't a bad idea if

you have the block in the air. Just makes

everything really easy to get to.

 

When you do the transmission make sure to

change out the filter inside the pan and clean

the magnet and give it new fluid. Dont just give

it new fluid.

 

Someone else may have more, but that's all

I can think of right now.

Great heres what i'm gonna order so far...seem alright?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150697052507?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/220747435314?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

Good to know about the timing though. How would i know if the timing was off?

No clue on ebay clutches or how well they work.

 

Ask him what brand the stuff in that timing kit is.

Well i'm the proud new owner. 300 bucks. I'm gonna get the clutch parts from napa...its only 230 vs 200 on ebay. Cv axles are 100 at napa too for a set. Timing belt is way cheaper on ebay though.

 

BTW where is the idle air control valve?

Good choice. Napa is OEM stuff.

 

I would get the CV axles from Autozone as they are

a lifetime warranty product. You buy it, you break it,

you return it, they give you a new one.

 

It's on the Intake Manifold. It's on the passenger

side. It has a little tan/gray colored electrical box on the

top of it with two screws in it. It also has a coolant

line running through there so be prepared.

I picked up a luc clutch kit online for around 115$, so far its doing great but yeah pull the motor, do the timing belt/water pump to, its easy.

hell the headgaskets were easy to if you got the motor out do that as well then you'll be solid for another 60k+ miles

but that just my .02

Idk what route were going to go(engine out vs just pulling the trans). I might just do the timing belt somewhere down the road. I've gotten all the parts to get it going once its driveable i'll see where its at.

 

Do you guys know if theres a fuse for the auto seat belts?

 

Anyway...hoping to start at about 10ish in the morning on monday and have the car driving by its own power by the time it gets dark.

Clutch is installed. Wasnt hard at all...we just dropped the trans out. Started at 10:30 ended at 4:30. Hardest part was getting the trans back in.

 

Now that i've driven the car it definetly needs some rotors + pads...after driving around for a little bit theres vibration when braking...i'm guessing its warped rotors.

Not sure about the fuse for the seatbelts

but awesome man! I suggested pulling the

engine so you could do a lot of the stuff

in the air instead of bent over a car haha

 

Probably just warped rotors. I never worry

too much about that.

Yeah thanks for the advice. We had a lift so the only real muscle work was lifting the trans back in...that was the hardest part. Now that i've done it i think i could do it in half the time...

 

I think all thats left mechanical wise is change the timing belt and giving the brakes some attention and then it will be where i dont have to even think twice worry wise about this thing for 60k miles(200k)

Sounds like a sweet deal Take care of

it and it'll last that long no problem.

For the first time since i picked it up its doing that thing where it hiccups when idling....would it be that idle air control valve? where is it and how do i clean it?

That could be. It's on the intake manifold

towards the passenger side strut. It as a small

electrical box on it. If you take if off there you'll

need a new gasket for it and it's hard to come by

since most dealerships have no idea what it is you're

looking for. It also has a coolant hose to be aware of.

There are four bolts on it I believe and one of them is

at the bottom and hard to get to. It's a lot of work, but

it can be cleaned up easy enough. You could use a wire

brush and carb cleaner or if you have a compressor you

could buy the $10 engine cleaning kit from Harbor Freight

and use it as a gas/air mixture that cleans really well. If

can, mark where the electrical box was on top, but it

sounds like it could use some adjustment anyway. Now

is your car dying off with its idle?

It's never died from it doing it. And it hasn't done since then either. It's weird that it only happens every once and a while

Hmmmm. Usually if it dies it's the MAF and

it'd probably run a bit worse so the IAC sounds

like a good enough place to start. Also you can

always find a junk IAC and change out the

electrical box on the top. I've found them for

$3 before. No more Legacy's in any junk yards

around me though :/

Dang theres tons around me. 5 at the local one and i think 6 or 7 at the one thats probably half an hour away(vs 10 minutes). I'm goin there tomorrow to hopefully find a door panel & a tail light and a few other things.

Lucky! I may need you to get me some parts some day haha