I just finished my first clutch replacement on my LS. This is the first time that I have done the work myself. It took me about 13 hours to complete the change. I didn't rush and spread it out over a week. I changed the clutch because it was tough to get the car in every gear. One of the springs on the friction plate fell out at some point and was hitting the flywheel. The spring rounded off the outside of the flywheel bolts.









Notes:

1. I did not remove the flywheel because it was smooth and I was worried that I would round off what was left of the flywheel bolts.

2. I followed the team integra clutch change instructions. They made the job easy except that they failed to mention the two lower 17mm bolts that hold the transmission on the engine.

3. I wasn't able to seperate the driver's side CV axle from the intermediate shaft but, I was able to move the intermediate shaft out of the way enough to get the transmission out.

4. I refilled my transmission with 1 quart of Pennzoil synchromesh and 1.3 quarts of Honda MTL. It seemed very smooth on the short drive that I took.

 

was there a point to this thread or are you just letting us know you changed your clutch?

 

should have at least tired to get those bolts off. your flywheel looks to be a little bit glazed, which would be a recommended resurfacing of some kind(some people have just used sand paper to get the glaze off). don't be surprised if you have premature wear on the new disc.

 

Yea your flywheel looks glazed and has many heat spots on it. I agree about the premature wear. You could have just used a soft cookie cutter on a dye grinder or even a drill.

 

I am not worried about the wear since I autocross the car. I am just glad that it shifts smoothly now.

I installed the Exedy OEM clutch kit. The first few times that I drove the car the clutch pedal was very light. I bled the clutch and got some air out and it is much better now. I am going to bleed it again after I drive it some more. I guess air got in the system while I had the slave cylinder out of the way.

What is the typical break in period for a new clutch?

 

You autocross it, so why wouldn't you be worried about slippage? Even if you put in a brand new clutch, with a worn flywheel it will still cause problems

 

that flywheel's beyond serviceable.

 

ive seen worse flywheels. Low speed autocross your only using 1st and 2nd most of the time. I would think its ok.

 

if you say so. just looks like it's got some pretty harsh grooves in that last pic

 

and typical for a OEM clutch is about 500miles. a lot of race type clutch's will have a no break in needed label on them.

 

it's not the low speed op needs to worry, it's the staying in the power band (5000rpm) and not worrying about all that power being burned out at the flywheel/clutch instead of the tires.

 

Ya, I was just thinking in low gear better chance of traction loss than clutch drag. but I know my clutch takes its sweet time grabbing as its stock and pretty beat up.
My clutch still grabs enough usually it seems but I do notice in higher gears say 3-4 shift ill hit vtec as soon as i let the clutch out but then it drops out and sinks several hundred rpm and slowly pulls back up to 6k again. I know thats bad but I can still chirp 2nd so ill just see how long it takes to completely smoke this thing.

 

Buddy why did you go to all the trouble of dropping the axles/tranny/etc and get so close to a complete job then cut it all short by skippin' out on the flywheel. With 15 minutes of time with a file you could have easily pulled those flywheel bolts out. Saw a flywheel aftermarket bolt kit for under 25 bones.

 

There are no grooves in the flywheel. It was smooth.

 

oh ok. musta jus been the lighting

 

after completing this, I can see like after a few runs, your going to be doing this again...Next time, pull that flywheel off, and get it resurfaced. I have seen this before, and if your like my brother in law, yeah, your going to blame the clutch.

 

damn resurfacing a flywheel is a must bro !!! good luck with that new clutch lasting