Clutch question
Q A friend of mine lives abroad and drives a Hyundai Terracan. He was having trouble with his clutch for a while, but did nothing about it until it broke up. He wants to change it himself and is just about bottoming out in the stripdown. He wants to replace the DMF with an ordinary one as the friction plate had been driven through the rivets and it had come apart.
I’ve told him that I suspect the bellhousing will need to be aligned with the engine when bolting them back together. I say this as the bolt holes through the bellhousing’s mating face seem to be wider than the bolts, so the bolts hang at an angle in the holes. This makes me think that if he just bolts everything back together then there will be some misalignment which will damage the gearbox. The top two bolts were difficult to undo even when out a fair bit, which leads me to suspect the transmission was hanging on these bolts.
Also, can the clutch be aligned with a suitably-sized socket in the flywheel spigot bearing hole? Or is there a special tool that needs to be used? Is it best to put the clutch on the flywheel before installing it on the car? Is there any other advice I can pass on to him? Gary Mills
A The bellhousing should not need any special alignment and should locate on two dowels located between the engine block and bellhousing. The top two bolts may have been tight due to the lock compound used from new, which can hold onto the threads and make undoing difficult. To prevent any problems during reassembly it is best to ensure the threads are clean.
The clutch alignment tool is part number 09411-43000, but a makeshift version should perform the task without too much difficulty.
One piece of advice I would offer, given that the old clutch broke up, is to ensure that the debris from the deteriorated clutch is thoroughly cleaned out of the bellhousing before reassembly. I would also recommend that the clutch centre plate is tested on the gearbox input shaft before reassembly to ensure it runs smoothly on the splines. A very light dab of copper grease on the splines is all that is needed to ensure it runs smoothly, but note that placing too much copper grease on the input shaft splines will attract debris that can then become sticky, impairing the movement of the centre plate.