Clutch Change-How-To.

[mjb]

why did i put the air filter box back in if I need to bleed it again?

[Captain Jack]

Whehey! To be honest, there was no chance it was going to be any other way with the dedication you put into it.

Very well done!

[DaiRees]

Well done Matt, you are a undeniable proof of the power of Percy Vere Ance and should serve as an inspiration to us all!

(Certainly inspired me to let someone else do the big jobs )

[Captain Jack]

why did i put the air filter box back in if I need to bleed it again?

That takes 3 mins to take off - surely small potatoes after everything you've been through!

[steve_earwig]

Ohh, very well done Matt!! Just think, in a year's time you'll look back and smile

In the meantime, have a holiday.

[steve_earwig]

Did you enjoy that?

[Welly]

I think we need to prepare ourselves for a mamoth clutch photo-athon coming soon........

[Doggy]

Matt, you da man!

Really well done!

[teamster1975]

Like the others have said, very well done Matt!

[mjb]

DONE!!!

been out for a test drive. clutch pedal's a lot lower than any 406 i've ever driven. nasty judder at bite point, although I tightened the wheel nuts afterwards...

[jasper5]

Well done! Good to see it's all finished.

I'm sure there will be a compehensive write up on the subject, but I would just like to point out some things....

1) Undo the driveshaft nuts before you jack up the car, and after you have drained the oil, take off the shock absorber/strut from the nut and bolt at the bottom of the strut (also the ABS and hose bracket, 13mm headed bolt)...this will eliminate any damage to the bottom ball joints as you do not remove them.You have to knock the lower hub assemlby downward with a hammer (lots of WD40 and a chisel or big screwdriver to spread the slot in the strut).You can remove the driveshafts this way.

2)If your clutch is the same as this type (with the plastic slave cylinder pointing towards the engine)....my HDi has a conventional arrangement with a slave cylinder bolted to the engine/gearbox and a pushrod pushing the clutch instead of pulling the clutch like this V6, you will not be able to use a standard alignment tool. I aligned the clutch by centring the spinner plate and marking the position of the inner boss against the cover plate with paint, then I used a piece of cardboard pushed into the gap between the boss and the cover, when the gap was even all round, it was aligned correctly.

3) This is the mistake I made, it was an honest mistake, but cost Matt a lot of time and aggro, not to mention myself.....before anyone slags me off, note that I spent 3 hours driving to and from Matts and 6 hours of my time working non-stop without even a 5 minute break.I mentioned this mistake to a few guys in the trade, despite nearly 300 years of experience between us, not one of us had come across the same situation.....anyhow...the mistake.....I was checking up how the bearing fitted and operated the clutch, I fitted the bearing up to the cover plate and was trying to see how it operated the clutch, before I knew it the spring clip on the bearing had snapped through the cover plate locking the bearing onto the cover plate....I now know that you must only do this after the gearbox has been fitted using a metal lever through the release fork pulling it backwards to force it through the cover plate.Unfortunately I had to remove the clip to remove the bearing, foolishly, I hadn't squashed the clip down far enough....this is what caused all the trouble getting the clutch to work.

4)Before you fit the gearbox in, remove the block carrying the rear engine mount and driveshaft bearing mount, this is so that when you are trying to fit the gearbox, you are able to slot in the driveshafts so that when in gear,you can turn one driveshaft whilst holding the other still so that the gearbox spigot shaft will lock into the clutch making it easier to slide in the gearbox.

One final point....use a LARGE hudraulic trolley jack to remove the gearbox with...pulll back the gearbox from the engine and lower it to the ground.

To conclude, Matt did a brilliant job, I just wish I hadn't held up the job by making that mistake.

Anyone wanting to attempt a clutch change and wanting more info, message me and I will speak to you by phone and explain things in greater detail.

[mjb]

Definitely got a nasty biting point judder - it really shakes the whole car HARD, much worse than the top engine mount going. No judder over about 2000rpm

Anyone got any ideas?

[mjb]

I can't drive it! The bite point's too low! It's well clear of the floor, but it's around the point at which the pedal spring balances between pulling and pushing, so the feel is *completely* different! Just coming home from work I've had 2 stalls and numerous instances of kangarooing because it's ALL WRONG!

Years of experience driving 406s, all down the drain. It's worse than driving a different car, it's like learning to drive all over again!

At least it works... I wheelspinned in the dry too - been a while since that's happened


That judder's a royal pain though. It's only when hitting biting point under 1000rpm. Seems to be more of an up+down motion that other kinds of judder I've felt. Ideas? The top+gearbox mounts have been recently replaced and the bottom one looked to be in fine condition.

Surely this isn't the clutch equivalent of bedding brakes in, as new cars don't exhibit this behaviour?

[steve_earwig]

Maybe you left something loose? Although the low biting point says something more horrible's going on.

[Captain Jack]

Doesn't a low biting point indicate badly bled hydraulics?