Advice Sought 355 Clutch Replacement

Hello all,
Took the plunge and decided to replace my clutch myself. Thank you to all those who have posted instructions on this site. They were appreciated.
When I removed the pumpkin I noticed a small pool of oil in the socket where the flywheel joins the output shaft from the motor. I doubt there should be oil there.

Generally there was more greasy dust in the housing than I expected. The bulk of it was on the flywheel side not throw out bearing side.

The pressure plate looks OK – my opinion – please provide advice I you feel I am wrong.

The surface of the clutch disc facing the flywheel does not look OK – Pretty sure you will agree with me. It is greasy to the touch.

The face of the clutch disc facing the pressure plate looks OK –again seeking advice.

The surface of the flywheel looks OK with the exception of smears of grease.

So.

I am guessing my triple seals and the seal just in front of the stop ring have leaked – again seeking advice.

I plan on replacing triple seals, the seal in front of stop ring (not sure what it is called) and clutch disc. Should I also replace the pressure plate? Those of you who have done your clutch did you have your flywheel ground?

Car is a 98, 31K miles with 6 speed. Maintenance records lead me to believe this is the first time the clutch has been replaced. Clutch failure happened quickly and I parked the car within 40 miles. Took that long to get home.

Thank you in advance for your help.

David
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It looks like the triple seals were leaking David. Replace them all and clean all parts.

You can go two ways about repairing the clutch.

1-Replace pressure plate/clutch plate/TO bearing and have the flywheel ground.

2-Replace clutch plate and whack it all back together.

Its up to you. Personally, I would do it properly. But I have also seen guys just replace the clutch plate and have no issues at all.

Your call my friend. Its good to see you are getting in there and having a go.

 

Thanks Pap,

Appreciate the advice.

Originally I had planned on disc, pressure plate, and TO bearing. TO looks good so I may leave it - and probably give myself a chance to play mechanic again in a few thousand miles.

Thus far it has been a good experience pulling the car apart.

Cheers.

David

 

Excellent!! I did my clutch back in 2005 and I also didnt replace the TO bearing, or even put any new seals in it. I also didnt touch the triple seals.

Perhaps just put a clutch plate in it and see how ya go. Its easy to take it back apart again if need be.

Also the cheapest way to go about it. Perhaps when its time to pull the engine for its major/cam belt service, then replace the TO bearing/seals then.

Definitely replace the triple seals now though. You dont want oil all over your new clutch plate.

 

I would also replace the pressure plate. It is hard to tell in the pic but the heat scoring looks pretty bad to me. That can cause an uneven surface which can cause premature clutch wear or failure. My 2 cents.

 

Thanks Todd and Pap,

Unfortunately I just did my 30K and valves so with luck the engine can stay in for a couple more years.

David

 

Pressure plate is ****ed, but I have seen them re-used MANY MANY times looking like David's without any issues.

Also I have no evidence of premature clutch failure due to pressure plate and flywheel having hot spots on it.

I have seen some clutches shudder due to the hot spots on the flywheel/pressure plate, but soon goes away.

Cool man, do whatever you like with your clutch.

Its your car and your money. Happy wrenching David.

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=154232&highlight=clutch

Here's my thread when I did the clutch...looks similar. Just for fun I tried cleaning the heck out of it to see if that was the problem (soaked in oil from triple seals leaking). Put it back together...and still slipped (I just had to learn for myself!)

 

Thanks Jay,

Your clutch disc looked a lot like mine.

While I was hoping to save my pressure plate I agree it is shot. Have to wait on corner balancing until my wife forgets about the new clutch.

Triple seals look easy to change and are a realtive bargin. Any trick to keeping oil from leaking out other than standing the car on its nose?

Cheers.

David

 

Pap, Jay, and Todd,

I appreciate your advice. Thank you for the quick responses.

I plan on removing the flywheel from the housing and cleaning out all the oil and junk. Any tricks to this process?

Cheers.

David

 

When you do end up replacing the TO, make sure you look into the Hill Engineering replacement. The TO failed on my '98 a couple months back with right around 31K miles...

 

To remove the flywheel from the pumpkin housing, you will need the 'special' tool to remove the nut/bolt that holds the flywheel.

You can buy a Hill one from Ricambi or make your own. I made my own.

 

Having had the infamous throw out bearing failure (of the housing) I would recommend replacing the throw out bearing with the new one from Hill Engineering. Then you have peace of mind that it will not fail on you. AND it is about $100 less than the factory oem throw out bearing.