I want to replace the clutch in my 99 Civic. Worth doing myself?
3 replies, posted
I am a cheap motherfucker that doesn't like paying to have people do things I can do myself. I can get a clutch kit for $136 off the internet, and I found a decent looking tutorial for how to do it on my car ([url]http://www.honda-acura.net/forums/do-it-yourself/139802-civic-flywheel-clutch-install-58-pics.html[/url]).
I have worked with cars for years, taken vocational auto courses and worked at an auto shop for a bit, but I've never done a clutch before. Can anyone give some feedback on how easy or hard it is. I would rather not pay mechanics to do it, but if everyone says replacing it is the hardest thing ever and it raped their wife and children then I might consider it.
Also, any pointers on things to watch out for is cool too.
That is not somethin you can do yourself if you dont know what you are doing ... if you do somethin wrong you might break somethin else ..
My dad has been working on cars for over forty years and he says he would rather pay a mechanic to do it than replace it himself. It's a really big pain in the ass to do it yourself, although you'll save a good amount of money doing it yourself. If you're prepared to do at least 6 hours of frustrating work go for it.
Clutch jobs on Civics are NOT as easy as they seem. When I do the clutch on my EFs, I generally unbolt the face mount on the engine, exhaust and intake mani, all the coolant lines and wiring, bellhousing bolts and starter, and then I yank the engine. I use a clutch alignment tool to line up the clutch afterwards and bolt the Clutch/PP back down.
It's really a lot of work. You can take the tranny out and do it, but you have to have the car up in the air quite a bit, I found it easier to yank the engine so that's what I do. It's a pain popping axles out if they've been in the tranny for a while.
Pay a mechanic to do it unless you are damn certain you know what to do, have studied up on it a lot, and have a few days of free time. It generally is a whole day project for me (if I'm by myself and just dicking around) and for a beginner, would probably drag out across a few days or more.
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