Clutch info for an '85 (1 Viewer)

Ok, my clutch job is coming up pretty soon, thanks for the input on resurfacing the flywheel, that will definetly get done. However, what else should I replace when I do the clutch? I have the 'kit' from Cdan of disc, pressure plate, throwout bearing and pilot bearing, but should I replace the rear main seal of the engine? It's not leaking, but if it's like most engines it'll never be easier than now to replace (maybe it's not hard to get to after the fact?).

So any tips on what else I should replace?

Now, for the actual job, I've tried several searches and either this was never covered before or the search isn't working (confirmed that the search does have some issues, but possible this hasn't been talked about).

What's the easiest way to pull the tranny? I've never done one on a Toy truck, did a 40 and have done a few other vehicles. Is there a tranny hump removeable piece? I have a book on the truck but haven't looked at it yet, still trying to get psyc'd up for this. I was thinking of renting a tranny jack, but then found this, a drop-in piece for a standard floorjack, anyone used one of these?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=507

Don't know if it's necessary, I won't be doing it alone, but anything that makes it easier would be appreciated.

Also looking on pirate for a clutch writeup but haven't found anything yet...hopefully it's so easy nobody bothered to do a writeup..

Edit: Ok, somewhat of a nevermind on the clutch writeup, I found it here. But still curious on that tranny jack adapter.

I did my clutch replacement by myself. No jack. I did take the t-case(50lbs?) loose first and then the tranny. I didn't use a jack because the dirt floor sucks!!

If you have a regular floor jack, I'd use that (as long as it's not one of those tiny things from Wal Mart). The top bell housing bolts are always a PITA for me.

You don't have to take the shifters out, but it makes it a little easier to manuver.

I attached a piece of plywood to my floor jack to make the platform a little bigger and have used it for several tranny removals. Jack (with wheels) takes the weight while I balance it. Roll it back, let it down as far as it will go and try not to crack the case when you ease it off the jack onto the floor. Tranny jacks are for whussies. (Or for big trannies, I guess.)

Replace rear main seal? How hard is it? I think I would if it's easy, as in an hour or so.

Here's a link for general Toyty mods, since you're DESERTING LAND CRUISERS:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/index.shtml

theo said:

Here's a link for general Toyty mods, since you're DESERTING LAND CRUISERS:

Click to expand...

Yeah right!

Not at all, but what I have right now is a '85 truck that needs a clutch (clutch MC is leaking too I noticed today, nice), so needs some love. Trust me as soon as it's financially practical to get another 80 I will..

Glad to hear it!

Replacement master cylinder for my '86 was pretty cheap and easy. Good luck.

I've lost count of the clutches I've swapped now, I'm doing another one this weekend. Last one I did was 3 weeks ago, a '94 4Runner, 3.5 hours total from driving it into the shop, to backing it back out.

Tips:

* try to borrow a spare flywheel and get it surfaced ahead of time, so you don't have to shut down in the middle of the job to get get yours done. When the job is done, just give your old one to the guy you borrowed the other one from.

* DO NOT swap a clutch without getting the flywheel surfaced. ANd make sure the shop that does it recreates the "step" in the edge of the flywheel. You'll see what I mean when you see the flywheel. If the amount of "step" isn't correct, the clutch won't work right.

* ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS replace the rear main seal. ALWAYS. The flywheel is already off. A new OEM seal is only $7 (bought one today). It takes only a few minutes to pop out the old seal and tap a new one in. Just be VERY careful with a small flat-bladed screwdriver, pry the old one out, being careful not to scratch the crank. Tap the new one in, using a block of wood to set it flush with the seal retainer. You do NOT need to remove the seal retainer from the back of the engine, I never have.

* Get someone to help you. The hardest part of the job, assuming you do the right thing and get a decent jack, is lining the input shaft up to the back of the engine and stabbing it into the pilot bearing.

* If you insist on doing this job without a proper jack and someone to help you, make sure your insurance is fully paid and you have an ambulance or paramedic on stand-by. You will almost assuredly get hurt.

* I highly recommend you also install a new fuel filter while you have the tranny down. It's MUCH easier to reach from below with the 22RE, or if it's the 3ZV-E engine, a lot easier to do without the crossmember in the way.

Important tools/supplies:

Air tools, at least an impact gun.
A very long extension, at least 24" long
Wobble impact sockets, 12/14/17mm
A decent torque wrench
Threadlock for the flywheel bolts
Clutch line-up tool
Bearing puller for the pilot bearing

General steps:

* Drive the truck up onto a pair of ramps in the front

* Disconnect the battery (very important)

* If this were an IFS truck, unbolt the anti-swaybar from the frame, let it droop.

* Unbolt only the forward ends of both driveshafts. Swing the rear one to the driver's side out of the way, and yes leave the front one attached to the transfer case.

* Remove the center console boot from inside the truck, remove the shifters. They both come off very easily. No, you don't need to unbolt the flanges from the top of the tranny.

* Ignore all that crap in the book about unbolting the exhaust. But you'll probably have to cut the bolt on that clamp that wraps around the downpipe. Have some spare bolts handy.

* Remove the crossmember. YES, let the trany droop under it's own weight. Ignore all that crap in the book about supporting the back of the engine.

* Remove all the bellhousing bolts EXCEPT the top 2 bolts. Unbolt the starter (go in from the passenger side wheel), unbolt the slave cylinder.

* Put the tranny jack under the tranny, raise it just enough so it starts to take the weight.

* Put a LONG extension and 17mm wobble socket on your wrench or impact gun, reach up and remove the top two bolts. The drooping tranny will make the access remarkably easy, just have some good light so you can see up there.

* Roll the tranny back/down.

* Swap the clutch, flywheel, rear main seal, fuel filter.

* Reverse everything above.

Good luck.

Ok, I feel good, I'm on step 2 of like 40 on this clutch job. One thing that I have not seen online is exactly how to remove the shifters, most books/articles say to just push down and turn, but that's after you get to the darn things. Well, turns out there are 6 screws which hold a metal plate onto the tranny hump and also hold the rubber boots down. Once those 6 screws are out then the boots come up and the top of the tranny is visible...tranny shifter is the push-down-turn-left one, and the t/c was a snap-ring which you compressed to get it out.

I also discovered why I was such an idiot about this, I couldn't get to the metal plate because the carpet was very tight around both shifters. Apparently this truck was purchased as a complete base model, I think even special ordered, had NO carpet at all, just a few rubber mats. After 10 minutes of finger prying I discovered there were screws holding some plate around the shifters, but there was no way in hell I could get to them without cutting the carpet or rolling it back. So I removed the door trim pieces, rolled it back as best I could, then found the original brown rubber mats Toyota put in there. It was a royal pain, I couldn't get the carpet over any shifters at all, so it was all done with the carpet pressing down on me, but the shifters are off...

So as advice for anyone else doing this, look for those 6 screws holding the rubber boots down, they are there, and might be damn near impossible to get at like mine were...especially if your vehicle has a aftermarket carpet put in at an upholustry shop (I vaguely remember the original owner (who I bought it from) saying he got this stuff done, I know he's had the bench seat (cheap baby!) reupholustered I think 3 times, and he mentioned the carpet and the door panels, he said from Toyota it had nothing on the doors but metal I think...only a overly anal engineer would special order a vehicle like this, and this guy fit that bill perfectly).

So I'm like 1/50th done!

Wahoo, clutch is out, flywheel is waiting for me to pick it up at Napa and tranny is in a pile on the floor..

Thanks for the tips KLF, I did exactly that and it went very smoothly, and I got it all out last night with one person.. I didn't do the ramps, should have, but I just put the frontend up on jack-stands, but it was barely high enough, so the ramps are a great idea.

My tranny adapter for a normal floorjack was iffy, it's a big plate that can be tilted, but it's so wide it doesn't really fit the tranny, plus on these trannies there isn't a big flat spot for a plate to sit, so it's kinda a iffy setup, but it did help and makes sure the tranny can't fall off the jack. Getting it all back together is going to be harder, but I don't have to do that alone...although if I get my tranny thingy more adjusted for this, and in a spot where it's atleast semi-balanced, I may give it a shot alone...

Thanks for the help!

Old clutch was rather worn, flywheel and PP were glazed badly, slippery, etc. I did determine I need more extentions though, I had about 3' in extentions but they had so much slop my air-ratchet wouldn't get the bolt off, so had to cut that down to about 14" and jam the air-ratchet up between the tranny and the body, that worked very well though, good call!

Ok, for those eagerly awaiting my next installment of this saga (which is about...nobody)...who cares, here it is anyway. I actually got it all back together tonight. This doesn't sound like much but I was working completely alone, with a POS tranny adapter on my jack, and I only have one jack. I wasn't sure if I could do it myself, ended up using jack-stand to support the tranny while I repositioned the tranny adapter...then started getting it close, I had nothing to lose, if I couldn't get it then I'd just have my brother help me one of these nights...well I'm at the back, pushing/turning/yanking it and MOTHER it just slid in...I'm like sweet...get a bolt in there quick...so it's all in...ahhhh...what a good feeling. I would not recommend doing it by one's self but it is doable, just let the jack do all the work, I never was under the tranny, never in any danger of getting hurt...but did get it done!

Thanks for all the tips!
Mark Brodis

mabrodis...what did you use for a clutch? i'm just thinking of a napa reman. it's just a daily driver/beater

nuclearlemon said:

mabrodis...what did you use for a clutch? i'm just thinking of a napa reman. it's just a daily driver/beater

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Ige:

Bought a cheap clutch once. Never again. It fell apart after 1500 miles. THAT SUCKED!!

Call C-Dan, get an OEM clutch. They're not that much more.

I had a Centerforce in my 80....nice clutch, light pedal pressure, no slippage w/ 32's and stock gears.

nuclearlemon said:

mabrodis...what did you use for a clutch? i'm just thinking of a napa reman. it's just a daily driver/beater

Click to expand...

Sorry a bit slow to repond to this...I went with a OEM clutch from CDan...I think it's actually reman, but atleast from Toyota. I had contemplated going cheap (Vatozone has a kit for $100 I think)...but the parts from CDan for all Toy parts was $130 IIRC, cheap enough I wasn't going to screw with anything but Toyota parts.

Hope that helps...

nuclearlemon said:

mabrodis...what did you use for a clutch? i'm just thinking of a napa reman. it's just a daily driver/beater

Click to expand...

Ige, go with Toyota parts. You'll be happy in the long run. Think I paid under 200 for everything the last time(of course that was with employee pricing;p ). So far I have not had any problems.

Mabrodis, looks like everything went well for you. Just think, now you can go and do Iges

Hey men! This is becoming my favorite site fast. I did my clutch last summer using OEM-"reman parts" which I promptly dunked in some muddy goo. Yep got stuck, about floorboard level. Now I get a wee-wee-we as soon as I touch the clutch pedal, obviously thro-out bearing. Everythig works fine but when I go to put a new one in is there a better throut on the market?