well i took today to put in the new flywheel/clutch assy..

about 8 hours of work.. a few things went wrong, a few misalignments of the clutch disc (the alignment tool that spec gives is total crap) but for the most part, the install went without a hitch..

first impressions.. i'll update in 500 miles after break-in.. the clutch, which is a pucked disc, kevlar pads, is 100% stock feel ONLY WHEN COLD.. once the disc/flywheel heat up, the clutch is very grabby.. not to the point that the car is a pain to drive, but after 20 mins on teh freeway, my first stop/go was pretty funny, because i let up on the clutch pedal like normal, and the car just took off.. almost into the back of the guy in front of me..

the clutch feels awesome. still streetable, and definitely not too harsh..

i will be racing at Homestead Miami speedway next weekend (providing i have the clutch broken in by then.. 500 miles in a week is gonna be pretty tough) and will give an autocrossers update on the way it handles.

the total assembly (clutch/flywheel) is about 6 pounds lighter than stock.. mostly from the flywheel... no crazy gains, but the car does wrap out first and second much better than stock.. then again, the ECU hasn't re-learned since the battery was unplugged..

anyway, i know all you guys love pictures, but i have none haha so deal with it :D

 

Great choice . I ran the same exact setup in my old Xb and loved it . I even have that setup in my TC .

 

Congrats on a successful install!

I have been in the market for a new clutch for my RS2 for the last few weeks as I know my stock clutch isn't happy with the I/H/E combo and it will be really ____ed once I add a supercharger in a couple of years.

I have narrowed the clutch down to a SPEC Stage 2 since I have no plans to run my egg on the track but will need the extra clamping power and it's a decent price as well, always a plus.

If you don't mind me asking: how much did your clutch/flywheel package run you and where did you get it?

I plan on doing the install myself when the time comes for it and this would be my first install on a major driveline component, so, would there be a place online that would be a good read on swapping out a clutch?

 

ok i would say stage 2 would be perfect.. i ordered stage one but rec'd stage 3... anyway..

i ordered the flywheel from titan motorsports (on ebay and titanmotorsports.com ) and paid 299 plus shipping. the clutch, i don't recall who i bought it from but it was decently priced.. use froogle.com for a good search into clutches.

the install yourself will take the help of a friend.. you'll need....

a 14 mm wrench.. gear wrench preferred, as well as a regular socket, and a deep well socket.. a 12mm wrench, and a 10mm wrench..

www.techinfo.toyota.com is the place to go for your needs as far as information.. sign up for the 24 hour membership and download what you need.. the book will tell you to do crazy things like remove the entire hub assy and a-arms, but it's not necessary.. what you MUST remove are these things....

the plastic shields underneath the car (duh)
drain the transaxle before anything.. that gear oil stinks bad and gets everywhere if you dont be careful..

when you unbolt the clutch line, just ziptie it up (you must remove the bracket that sits under the airbox area and holds gthe clutch line.. do this first before unbolting the clutch line from the slave cylinder)

once you get the clutch line off the slave cylinder, immediately raise it up as high as you can get it, and ziptie it out of the way..

anyway, i'm going to bed.. will finish the diy later..

 

k to continue on...

you have to pull the driveshafts loose from the dif. there is a "scion special tool" for this, but all you have to do is put a prybar between the shaft and the dif and shock it with a hammer.. they'll pop right out. be careful not to damage the oil seal or CV boot.

double check tht all wires are unhooked.. there is ground on the motor mount on the drivers side of the engine bay.. way down low.. 14mm socket takes care of it.

once you get everything detached (dont' forget about the shifter cables. you gotta remove them from their holders as well) start tackling the motormounts themselves.

the worst one is the one in the back. the three bolts you have to remove all attach to the rear motormount and are almost impossible to reach. i ended up lying across the engine bay and reaching down and just working by feel. you may do better to just unbolt the whole mount from the subframe, but i guess i wasn't that "on top of it" when i started.

make sure and support the engine from below with a jack before taking ANY motormount bolts out. once you pop a bolt loose, if it doesn't spin out with your fingers, there's weight on it.. adjust your jack accordingly.

ohh something i missed.. you should loosen all the bell housing bolts FIRST before doing this motormount stuff.. just makes things easier. there are 7 bolts (14mm head) all pretty accessible.

i highly recommend GearWrench ratcheting end wrenches.. makes life much easier.

anyway, once you have the motor supported, go ahead and remove the bell housing bolts the rest of the way...

k i'm on the clock, part three coming later.

 

lol well no part three..

but i'm at my 500 mile break in now.

the clutch is very grabby. still streetable, but you'd better be on your toes in first and reverse. give it a bit of gas rather than the normal "let it out at idle" .. too much chatter at low rpms.

all that said... i love it. i didn't make my autoX on sunday because i wanted to wait for my break in miles.. but next sunday i'll put it to the test.

 

THANKS Tamago!

 

lol for what?

 

best $10 i've spent in a while. i just downloaded every xa document that the tech site has. saved over $100 on mediocre information.
thanks for the suggestion.

so, i'm guessing that after the engine is supported, you unmount the transaxle from the frame, engine, and drive shafts. then drop out the transaxle itself.
by that time, i think that the engine is still held in at one point on the passenger's side. do you leave that for stability?

do you have to move the engine to get the transaxle out?

why do you have to drain the transaxle? does it leak when you remove the drive shafts?

thanks

 

i like my stage 2 plus. sweetness man.

 

damn, that was a real PITA, but worth it.
i finally finished my clutch and flywheel installation.

you have to move the engine forward to get at the rear mount. i couldn't budge the single bolt that holds the mount to the car, so i had to take off the bolts to the transaxle. when you reassemble, do the rear mount FIRST!

the drive shafts are bastards. i ended up disconnecting them by taking off the inboard drive shaft boot, which i do not recommend. it's not hard to reassemble the boots, but grease spills out everywhere and leaving the inboard joint housing in the transaxle makes it difficult to get the whole thing out. i had to use a HARD mini crow bar and my heaviest hammer to get them out. the manual is total BS; maybe not if you have a lift, but total bs if you are lying on your back with a foot of clearance. anyway, i used the bar like a lever behind the joint. using the grooves that the manual says to use is very difficult for one joint and seemingly impossible for the other.

i used my car's emergency jack and another from a truck to support the engine. i had to put a board under it to get it high enough. i used two for safety, but one will get you through. the xa's emergency jack works really well because it has a slot that fits onto the engine really well.

i also took off the front end, which made the job much easier.

it can be hard to pry the engine and transaxle apart. be sure to have a pry bar and work your way around. you can really only pry from the bottom though. there are two pins on the transaxle (i think) that hold it together after all the bolts are out. i think that they also make it difficult to pry it apart.

the engine needs to move as far forward as you can get it. when you have the two mounts disconnected and the transaxle is freed from the engine, lower the engine jacks so that the transaxle will clear the frame.

i scratched up my frame a bit taking it in and out, so you might want to have a can of spray paint or zinc ready.

i've had a bad experience with my dealer's parts department, so i did not want to buy the flywheel bolts from them. i called around to hardware and auto stores. i only found one place with grade 8 metric bolts and lock washers. i think that these would have been suitable, but i'd have to have ground them to length. i ended up getting a set from a dealer. moral of the story: get the bolts before you take it apart.

i made a makeshift flywheel holder from a mending bar and a piece of wood. i used it to take off the bolts, but it was too torn up to use for installation. i bought a two foot piece of angle iron at lowe's for about $6. it has a ton of holes in it that came really close to lining up with two of the flywheel clutch holes. the angle iron worked well.

i also took off one of the shifter arms because of clearance. i had a really tight situation with the inboard drive shaft housings still attached, so there might be enough room if you get those off. i installed the transaxle with the housings off, but i didn't put the shifter arm back in until the transaxle was mounted.

i used two hydraulic car jacks to support and maneuver the transaxle. one was much smaller than the other. i used the two to tilt the transaxle, which helped a lot.

i'm not sure what else to add. it was far from easy. i don't regret the stage 3 clutch and the fidanza at all though. they have been nice so far.

people's fears of the lightened flywheel requiring rev matching and rampant stalling are unfounded.
maybe i'm just a gifted shifter, but i doubt it. it does stall a bit easier, but not much.
it's highly manageable and streetable.

have fun.

 

good write up.. the only complaint i have with the lightweight flywheel (and it IS minor) is that because the revs do drop off faster, i had to re-learn my heel-toe timing

 

haha, thanks.
thanks for getting it started. i'm not sure that i would have done it otherwise.

 

wow definately worth the 275 i spent on install at a buddies shop. not worth my time busting knuckles in my slanted driveway. lol. you guys are crazy. i'll stick with rwd clutches thank you very much.

 

AMEN to that...!