Removing clutch cover, in car

[Willie_B]

Still chasing a shifting problem. Next is replacing the lever arm and the shaft it moves. Hopefully I can do this in the car. Any tips or tricks to help with this? I know the rear bolt is a long one so will need to cut it half way out. This is a verto set-up. Would it help to remove the starter? This is when I am glad I don't have a busy engine compartment.

[MiniDave]

You should be able to get the clutch cover off in the car, the one bolt on the back side on the bottom is difficult to get a wrench on but since you have to undo the motor mount and support the engine either with a jack or an engine support on the top you can raise or lower the engine enough to get a wrench on that bolt - all the bolts around the cover are exactly the same length. You do not need to remove the starter as the nose on yours is shorter than on the older cars, but it's a pretty easy 2 bolts to get it off and out of the way. Removing the bolt on the engine steady helps too....by giving you a little more movement of the engine. Only that one bolt is an issue and a lot of guys leave it out when reinstalling the cover.


I always disconnect the battery first, just in case.

[Willie_B]

Got the cover off this morning. Much nicer to work in the garage when it's not 90 degrees in there. Going to be fun going back in as stuff always is. Can see/feel wear in the plunger and arm so hope this takes care of it. Going to put a shorter bolt in the lower rear location rather than none as the very bottom one is not there.

[MiniDave]

Not too horrible, is it? Do one more small thing, make sure the clutch cover bolts are tight, I've seen them work loose once in a while....

And do be sure to put the release bearing back on correctly, I've seen it reversed more than once!

Do you have the new plunger and arm?

[Willie_B]

New bearing, arm and plunger.

[MiniDave]

By clutch cover I mean the pressure plate.....