Clutch advice

[Morton]

HI all, been away a spell, need some info on clutches, I know little about them & want to know how to determine if it requires replacement, I am doing some good 2 week trips next year & the clutch on my Tourer (02 GU 3L) is almost all the way out to engage, it is not slipping in any gear & appears to be holding strong but I dont want a failure or even issues in the middle of nowhere, can it be easily inspected/adjusted, if it requires replacement is there a preferred or better set up clutch system for the GU? or is standard fine, I tow my camper on some trips & again no issues

[93patrol]

hold your foot hard on the brake and slowly let the clutch out til it takes up if you get all the way out foot off the clutch and it hasn t stalled or had some serious drop in revs your clutch is slipping.

this is how i checked mine BTW

[mudski]

I just finished putting in a new clutch in my GUII 3ltr today. You need atleast three people to remove and refit. Not to mention and engine crane, and a couple of good jacks. Plus plenty of neck oil to drink. I just counted it took me 42 stubbies from start to finish. Now all I gotta do is find out where these two bolts I found go...

Also. to your q's. Mine was all the way out on the pedal too, now, its just off the floor, sort of. much better. The original flywheel is what they call a Dual Mass flywheel. Apparently there are not worth a pinch of old cocky shit and your new clutch wont last much past 80k using the dual mass flywheel. So, you can buy a conversion kit with a solid flywheel in the kit along with the usual in a clutch kit. Although it will set you back another 7hunge there abouts. But the clutch will be much stronger and reliable and much better for towing. When I did mine I wasn't sure what flywheel it had so I bought the conversion kit, and it turned out it had a solid wheel already in it. So I will be machining my old one, putting a new spigot bush in and selling it to recoup some of the cost of the new kit and install. You also need a clutch aligning tool, can be had from Repco for $20...Plus a big mash hammer to bash in the floor right next to the bell housing on the right hand side. Make work much easier to get the darn gearbox back in. Me and a mate tried by ourselfs for a good 4 hours and gave up when the clock hit 1am. The next night BA came over and it was in and we where drinking beers about 10 minutes after we started.
Any questions do ask while its still fresh in my mind as this is one job I would like to forget about. Not technical to do, just time consuming and heavy work. I would prolly cost around $600-$1000 just in labour for a shop to do it. So if your keen, do it yourself.

Also I bought a Clutch Industries "4 Terrain" kit too btw. From what I read its suppose to be one of the best kits around.

[lorrieandjas]

Hi mate - chock the front wheels, put it in second and foot on brake lift the clutch. If she doesn't stall, or no noticeable drop in revs, you need to replace your clutch. If not - need to adjust it.

Jas

[scotty83]

I have just swapped my dual mass for a single mass. Noticed a bit of difference in vibration at low revs but it is prob just because i had gotten lazy with my gear changes. Should have been changing down anyway.. Love it now. I have heard some bad experiences with conversions but the price difference for me was the kicker. Single mass was cheaper to convert to and then cheaper in the future to replace. Seemed like a no brainer. My wife even prefers it. (I was worried she wouldn't. Was a bit of a cross the fingers moment getting it fitted) I got mine from http://www.npcperformance.com.au/. Excellent team there and they seemed to know what they were talking about. (Lots of good reviews as i started mentioning their name about between work and friends)

[stock patrol]

Hi all, All this clutch talk has me wondering. My 02 GU ii has just on 178 k on the clock and still original clutch works fine. What sort of milage you guys getting from a clutch before replacing?

[93patrol]

I replaced mine at 250k

[Winnie]

My GQ packed it in at 299k

DIAL-A-TAP

[mudski]

Hi mate - chock the front wheels, put it in second and foot on brake lift the clutch. If she stalls, or no noticeable drop in revs, you need to replace your clutch. If not - need to adjust it.

Jas

If she doesn't stall you mean...
Plus you can't adjust the clutch, its all hydraulic so there is nothing to adjust...Bleed the hydraulic system is the only thing you can do outside the bell housing.

[scotty83]

Hi all, All this clutch talk has me wondering. My 02 GU ii has just on 178 k on the clock and still original clutch works fine. What sort of milage you guys getting from a clutch before replacing?

160K for mine but i didn't get the car until almost 80k so don't k now what happened before that.

[mudski]

The clock on mine in a tad over 300k and this is its third clutch...

[nissannewby]

My original went to 250,000 the friction plate wasnt bad at all the pressure plate was starting to lose its spring pressure causing it to slip.

[mudski]

My original went to 250,000 the friction plate wasnt bad at all the pressure plate was starting to lose its spring pressure causing it to slip.

Thats what my last one was like. They obviously used a cheap pressure plate I think.

[stock patrol]

160K for mine but i didn't get the car until almost 80k so don't k now what happened before that.

I got mine with 27k on clock and had no problems with it at all but am now concerned with the clutch as I plan to do a trip out the centre mid next year. Not towing anything though!

[lorrieandjas]

If she doesn't stall you mean...
Plus you can't adjust the clutch, its all hydraulic so there is nothing to adjust...Bleed the hydraulic system is the only thing you can do outside the bell housing.

Hey mate - just edited it - you're right! "doesn't" was the missing word. And by adjust - meant maintenance. Didn't do real good on accuracy there! Must be the beer! :)

Jas

[Morton]

thank you all for the good feed back & advice, I had better play it safe as it has 220k on the clock now & I will need a good clutch for the Vic High Country trip next year, I will be loaded to the max & have my 4 kids with me, I wont be doing this job & will hand it over to someone, does anyone recommend any company in the Sydney area?

[mudski]

While its easier to get someone to do it i would highly recommend, (If your mechanically minded), to do it yourself. Yes it was a PITA to do but atleast you get to know a bit more of the workings of your car and how parts come apart and go together. The only thing I wouldn't do to my own car is rebuild the engine. Only because I don't have the right tools for that job. If i did, I would do that myself too.

[GQU73]

It is a heavy job to do but if you are mechanically minded it's not too bad. If u have a good gearbox jack you can do it at home in your garage I've done probably close to 50 of these clutches and there's no need to bash the floor pan in around the bell housing I have seen plenty of people do it and it's just plain dodgy. As long as u have a good gearbox jack u can move the box around enough to get it in and out without bashing anything. Cheers.

[mudski]

How is it dodgy? Easy, not dodgy.This is my second patrol clutch I have done and there is no way you can twist a patrol gearbox on a jack the way it needs to fit in with bashing the floor in. Besides you can't even see, unless you look from underneath, that the floor has been hit. The only spot that requires a hit is the rhs where the starter motor mounts. Basically right under the foot rest inside the cab.

[GQU73]

If you took your patrol to a Nissan dealer or any workshop for that matter I would expect them to do the job right not bash the floor pan in. It can be done and it's quite easy like I said I have done ship loads of them. If your happy with bashing your floor go ahead but I wouldn't be dropping my pride and joy to a workshop that does that. Granted its not going to make much difference in the long run but it is doable. If you have a hoist the easiest and quickest way is to undo the front 6 body mounts and lift the body 50mm and that's plenty of room. Cheers.

[mudski]

Having a workshop with a hoist and doing it in your garage lying on the floor is two very big different things...If I had a hoist and all the right tools I would be able to do it without any problems. But like probably 90% of the members here, I don't, so you do what gets the job done...

[GQU73]

I agree mate just wanted to let people know it can be done in your garage. If you have a gearbox jack that tilts front and back and side to side you can manouver the box on
And out without hitting the floor pan, I have also seen
People grind the lug off the bell housing above the starter motor to help it fit and that in my books is alot worse then hitting the floor pan. If you are doing it on a gq they have alot more room then a gu and are alot easier to remove and install.

[nissannewby]

I used an engine crane and sling and managed to do the clutch in my GU without any floor pan modification. I actually found it easier to do the GU than my GQ. It can be done but is a fiddly job, if I could put my trust in a shop to do it then that would be what I would do but decent shops are few and far between these days. I have modified the floor pan on my GQ to do the clutch and as you said there comes a time when you gotta do what you gotta do.