1992 Eagle Talon Pages: pictures, repair info, performance, links to other DSM sites

1992 Eagle Talon Clutch Replacement

Diagnosis: Like the alternator diagnosis, determining that the clutch was bad was easy:

Missed shifts when driving,
Bucking when driving slowly (clutch partially engaged) in traffic,
Clutch did not fully disengage at a stop light (car was still pulling forward, even though the clutch pedal was to the floorboard),
Excessive pedal travel before hitting the "friction point" and very little feel to the clutch.

Removal procedure: Make no mistake, replacing the clutch is a big job. It's not a technically difficult procedure, but there are a lot of parts that need to be removed to get access to the clutch and transmission. I almost just took the car to the dealer, rather than tackle the job myself. However, I really wanted to see what seven years of driving had done to the clutch and flywheel, I didn't want to start ordering parts until I knew what needed to be replaced (the clutch was a given, but I wanted to check the flywheel condition, too), and lastly--and arguably most importantly--I wanted to learn more about maintaining this car. Here's how I did it:

Disconnect the negative lead from the battery (10mm wrench).
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Loosen the lug nuts on the front wheels, raise the car and support it securely(!) on jack stands, then remove the front wheels. I know you know this already, but never, ever work underneath a car that is supported only by a hydraulic or (even worse) scissors jacks!
Remove the intake pipe.
Remove the battery and the battery box.
Here is a pic of lower battery box attach bolts.
Next, unscrew the speedometer cable from the speedometer housing and remove the speedometer cable.
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Remove the gear shift cable select brackets from the transaxle. Note: don't remove the cables themselves, or you will have to adjust them when reassembling everything.
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Note: The gear shift select cables are the two rubber booted cables between the radiator hose and the clutch fluid line. The bracket is in the center of the above picture.
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Now remove the clutch fluid line attach fittings.
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From underneath the car, remove the clutch actuator cylinder from the transaxle. There are two mount bolts that attach the actuator cylinder (slave cylinder) to the transaxle.
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If you disconnect the clutch fluid line, you will have to bleed the clutch after reassembling everything. (Note--I had to bleed the clutch line anyway...) Don't remove the lower transaxle mount bolt yet!
Remove the starter ground wire (this will also remove the first starter attach bolt), remove the second starter attach bolt, remove the starter and disconnect the starter solenoid wires from the starter solenoid. The starter is just below the intake manifold--you'll have to reach in behind the intake manifold to remove it (I don't think you can get it out by reaching in from where the battery box used to be).
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Now, drain the transmission fluid from the gearbox. First, remove the transmission fluid filler plug (to keep from creating a partial vacuum in the tranny), then remove the drain plug on the bottom. Note: on my car, the drain plug requires a really big (24mm) socket, so make sure you have one before getting started :)
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Now it is time to remove the driveaxle assemblies. Wedge a prybar between the wheel studs and either under the frame of the car or the floor like this:
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Remove the nut in the center of the hub. On my car, this requires a 32mm socket (and a four foot breaker bar--I used a piece of pipe from our outdoor hammock :) over the end of my 1/2 drive socket wrench). Note: if you are using a ratchet wrench, be very careful using a breaker bar--you can toast your ratchets!
Once you have removed the nut, tap the drive axle with a rubber faced hammer to break the drive axle loose from the hub splines.
Remove the nut holding the sway bar to the control arm and disconnect the sway bar.
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Now, remove the nut that holds the control arm to the steering knuckle. Give the steering knuckle a few sharp taps with a hammer to loosen the bolt holding the control arm to the steering knuckle, then use a pickle fork to separate the control arm and the steering knuckle.
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and
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Once the control arm is free, rotate the steering knucle towards the back of the car and push the driveaxle assembly through the wheel assembly.
Now, use a prybar to separate the driveaxle assembly from the transaxle assembly. It's a wide gap, but yes, it can be done :) Once the transaxle and the driveaxle have been separated, pull the driveaxle out through the wheel well.
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Support the transaxle with a jack (or two):
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...and remove the transaxle mounts. There is one on the passenger side of the car:
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...and there is one on the front center of the car (just behind the radiator):
pic When removing the mount on the passenger side of the car, be sure to remove the mount bracket from the transaxle. You can't get the transaxle out of the engine compartment with the bracket attached (I tried...)
Now, remove the brace (center support beam) that held the forward transaxle mount. There are two bolts under the front bumper:
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...and three more at the aft end of the brace (not shown). There is also another bolt that attaches to the exhaust pipe hanger. Remove all of these and set the brace aside.
Now, remove the flywheel inspection cover:
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There is another cover on the top side of the transaxle, as well, and it too must be removed before you can remove the tranny. It's hard to see from the picture above, but you can access it from underneath the car.
Now, support the engine with a jack and a 2x4 under the oil pan (the 2x4 is to distribute the weight of the engine so you don't damage the oil pan), verify that the tranny is secure upon the jack(s) and remove the lower transaxle to engine bolts.
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Verify that there are no bolts anywhere holding the tranny in place, that all hoses, cables, etc. have been removed and that the transmission is securely supported on the jacks, then, using a prybar between the transmission and the engine block, begin separating the transmission from the engine. This is a slow, tedious process. In my case, I used the prybar to separate the parts a little, lowered the jacks supporting the tranny, used the prybar again, etc., until I had the transmission loose enough to lift by hand and set on the floor. I did it myself, but I would highly recommend that two people do this. The transmission is heavy and awkward, but can be managed by one person if necessary.
Woohoo! You should see this now:
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The hard part is done. To remove the clutch, pick one of the bolts that holds the pressure plate to the flywheel, and loosen it just a little. Pick the next bolt in the sequence shown in the pic below, and loosen it, and so on. It doesn't matter which bolt is the first to be loosened, and even the exact sequence isn't critical. The idea is not to concentrate the strain of holding the pressure plate to the flywheel on one side of the clutch--loosen the bolts in such a way that the pressure is gradually and evenly released.
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When you are ready to remove the bolts, push against the pressure plate to keep it from flying apart (it's under pressure, but easy enough to hold with one hand), then take each bolt out of the pressure plate. That's it--you've removed the clutch!

Wear on the diaphram fingers

The flywheel looks in decent shape

The pressure plate looks o.k., too

Hmmm...clutch disk looks a little worn...

...but THAT is not good!

Even if the flywheel looks like it is in decent shape, take it to a machine shop to have it resurfaced (or better yet, just replace it). Any imperfections or glazing on the flywheel surface will cause reduced performance in your clutch, and it is dirt cheap to have the flywheel machined (cost $35 to have mine done).

To remove the flywheel, wedge a screwdriver in the teeth of the ring gears, or in the slots near the flywheel hub (just outside of the bolts) and slowly loosen the bolts in the same pattern that you used to remove the clutch pressure plate.
Now, you need to remove the throwout bearing and the clutch fork. There is a little lock ring on the bearing; the "ears" lock the release bearing to the clutch fork. Pull the ears outward until the ring is free of the clutch fork, then remove the ring. Pull the throwout bearing away from the clutch fork, then remove the clutch fork (just pull on it near the fulcrum ball; it will pop loose with just a little effort). Clean and inspect the fork, and set the lock ring aside; you will need it later. If the fork is excessively worn, you can order a replacement from Road Race Engineering for $65. Or better yet, just replace the fork while you've got the tranny open, even if it doesn't look too bad. It would really suck to have to disassemble your car again because you didn't want to spend $65 when you already had it open. The fork and flywheel make a big difference in the feel, performance and longevity of your clutch. If you can afford it, just replace them.

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