89 Clutch Replacement

[WizBang]

Now to the messy stuff.
I started to have balking trying to shift into 1st or reverse while stopped. Not necessarily grinding, it just doesn't want to go into gear. Trying to shift into 2nd while stopped also balks but absolutely no problems shifting while moving. Reverse grind (non-syncro'd as you mentioned) is frequent. Occasionally the gears slip in nicely. Shifting from 4Lo to 4Hi at a stop also often made horrible grinding. Interestingly, I had NO clutch slippage, even pushing snow in 4Lo or climbing very steep hills, again in 4Lo.

275,000km on odo. I put on about 500km a year ~ 50% of that in 4Lo. Fresh 80w90 dino GL4 was put in tranny about 5 years ago (actually 1litre GL4 and 1/2litre 75w90 GL5 Amsoil synthetic because I had it on hand and always run my Tracker in the colder months, sometimes -25Celsius. Transfer case and diffs in GL5 synthetic.

So I suspect a clutch problem.
Inspection of the two plastic fail parts at the base of the shifter reveal that someone has probably already changed them. So that was good.
I replaced the clutch cable and readjusted to specs. The removed cable felt like it slid freely and easily by hand. So that was probably good too. (I know, I could've checked the one inch test at the bell housing but had already ordered the cable in case i needed it)
I took it out for a 5 day elk hunt and the shifting problems persisted. Relatively unchanged after cable swap and adjustment.

Wasn't crazy about having to drop the tranny but the upside was that I got to clean the top of the tranny where the leaking dizzy o-ring had chronically puked oil down the back of the block and onto the tranny. The downside was that I got to clean the top of the tranny where the leaking dizzy o-ring had chronically puked oil down the back of the block and onto the tranny.


And more importantly, INTO the bell housing where it contaminates the clutch.



I dragged the tranny out to my gravel laneway and worked by headlamp. For this miserable job you'll need purple degreaser, a garden hose, a denture brush, and a chiropractor. This got the worst of it and knocked the dirt/oil mixture off. The next day I fine-tuned the cleanup with brake cleaner ~ about a 4 can job. Brake cleaner AND beer. Each.

[WizBang]

Curious about the clutch lever attachment to the bell housing. Is that a bearing or just a seal?
Worried that if it's a bearing, I've contaminated the bearing grease with brake clean. Is this worth trying to remove and re-grease? I suspect not since it isn't constantly rotating, just pivoting occasionally.

[WizBang]

Clutch, pressure plate fingers, etc. were in excellent condition for wear. In fact the friction disc thickness is essentially the same as the new Exedy 04137 OE Clutch Kit I ordered. The throwout bearing was a bit scritchy (perhaps from cleaning overspray) but the NTN pilot bearing feels new and smooth. Regardless, I will replace it with the Japanese NACHI 0813362007 pilot bearing I bought to replace the pilot bearing supplied by Exedy from China (surprised and disappointed on that). The throwout bearing Exedy supplied is a decent NTN from Japan, however, as was the one I removed.

Surprisingly the clutch assembly looked fairly dry; certainly not oily. However, the dust did have an oily texture to it and I'm sure the friction plate absorbed oil. So I'm going to proceed on the assumption that my shifting issues are due to poor clutch adhesion due to oil contamination.

Wondering what other's thoughts are on this? I'm just surprised that I'm not getting any (obvious) clutch slippage yet such difficulties shifting if this is the cause??

I will confess that I have not verified that my shift rails are aligned and functioning properly yet. I had a question about what a properly functioning detent on the rail should feel like?

[WizBang]

holy mackerel what is that transfer case hole empty. that hole not threaded, if is that is the filler port, a 10mm square drive same as 5sp uses and bottom of both cases.
can a small screw driver blade go deep in that hole? 2 to 4 inches. or just 1/2" use flashlight look hole and see chain?

Not threaded. Pretty sure a rubber plug once lived here. You can see the rail at the end with a bit of grey glue still clinging to the back top of the hole - just like the other 2 plug holes looked like.


our fillers 91 up on transfer
are both on the rear. casing fasting aft
my guess is 89 are different.

No, as you can see, both service plugs are on rear of transfer case of my 89. Looked for a transfer case P/N to no avail.


Glad to hear 91+ years have threaded plugs instead.
Was thinking I might tap out the holes if I have a bottom plug tap and blue locktite short bolts in these 3 but worried about being able to clean out metal shavings properly.
Think I'll clean and degrease the hole well and red locktite or epoxy in some plugs made out of alum rod.

[WizBang]

Is there any benefit to pulling the transfer case while the tranny is out to check seals, etc? I see I'll have to get the right RTV sealant if I do so. I do have a tube of Ultra Copper.

[fixkick]

that is one old box. my guess from JAPAN (vin starts as Jxxxxx) not 2cn for, cami plant in canada, very very old.
the clutch drags, reverse is the Canary gear (miners saying) reverse is non syncromesh gear, so clutch must be perfect and not drag or reverse grinds.
the center case is DRY, 100% dry, so needs no sealants. and is an inspection step.

Dry front to center, and dry into transfer case and sure seals are checked, always. (after all this work, why skip this?)
so yes, the 5sp seal can leak to center case as can xfr cast seal leak front to same dry case.
you are correct that is a rail rubber plug missing, a rubber cork(non cork) but is sold in the generic bins at lowes or homedepot, for rubber plugs, trail and error sized or use calipers on that hole find size first.

the number one failure of all kicks for clutch , slip or drag is not doing the calibration, ever 15k miles,
http://www.fixkick.com/tranny/clutch/clu...tch-Cables
if not done cause the clutch to drag. as the disk wears (seen here on my reason why drawing) http://www.fixkick.com/tranny/clutch/Clutch2.JPG
or the cable goes bad inside, unseen and will cause DRAG inside the pressure plate due to cable has more slack worn,
for drag my rule is, person 1 pushes clutch pedal, person 2 measures the end of bell lever end and must move one full INCH. the 1" rule. if not adjust to factory spec, the free play.
The free play is 1/8"inch at that lever end cable end.
This first and wish I could have caught you at day 1.
The drag sure, can be warped PP or disc warps or cracks or even mangled flywheel
I bet your disk is not swollen from oil. no oil in bell means (top vent sees that on bell) the distributor seals did not leak a ton of engine oil and land there , classic failure 2 on this car.
your car has 2 threaded fill drain holes are not moved in 1089,

the rails are timed, in such a way is one rail only can move, and must be in a detent or the shifter jams.
imagine the horror of 2 gears at one time and skidding off a cliff, it will not happen.
pure mechanic genius here, inside those rails.
http://www.fixkick.com/tranny/rails.JPG
the detents are just that on the rail, sides, with ball bearing (signal ball and spring ) These are what hold a gear in gear or even neutral. you felt that every day if its life. shifting
those balls and springs and detent on the rails. forming the H pattern.
the 89 has one extra rubber plug we dont have, 91 up, non of mine did, 89 are rear, very few on the road and vastly more rare are Iwata japan made, with VIN starting with J.
the detent setup on transfer case is far more simple. But just as important, 2wd/4w/neutral. (best shifted only at 1mph or less, but not 0)

your xfr case is missing the drain plug, i sure you drain if first or would be swimming in GL3 oil.(gearlube)

that oil in the bell looks to me like GL3, and bad front seal. and is bad, sign. this is a dry area here, no.
the trouble is the damn dizzy leaks, on all these cars, and LOVEs to find the bell top vent.

is there oil behind the FLY? wheel?
oil at distrib, and downward to top of bell is top of bell a fold of oil? all these are top signs to witness.

yes, the throw out lever rail in the bell is nylon bushed
as seen on my clutch page here, part ID 7 and the spring must not be broken; the spring prevents endless throw bearing contact and fast burn out.

http://www.fixkick.com/tranny/clutch/clutch.JPG

[fixkick]

the distributor seals made all this nasty mess, 1997 and bad VC seal.
http://www.fixkick.com/engine/97-motor-p...age_5.html


fly locker, for 2 uses , front pulley at 94ft/lbs NOW
and installing PP. pressure plate
http://www.fixkick.com/engine/97-motor-p...ge_38.html

for those reading the 16v can leak 4 ways to the rear, 2 dizzy o-rings old hard cracked, bad VC gasket, and these to covered in them FSM steps
http://www.fixkick.com/engine/97-motor-p...ge_45.html
if not done flood city.. to rear.

and last why EBAY parts from china suck
http://www.fixkick.com/engine/97-motor-p...ge_63.html

not just bit off, but miles off, course.
finding some gaskets is not easy.
Felpro is first stop, for gaskets, I go to NAPA and they sell them.
The PAN is RTV glued on in the factory and pressure tested there. and never leaks, ever, unless molested. (sadly some leak free engines, the pan rusts through, ouch)

[WizBang]

the center case is DRY, 100% dry, so needs no sealants. and is an inspection step.

Sorry, my bad. Was looking at the wrong case seal. I see now how the center case is a dry case. I agree, I would be a dummkopf not to open that up to inspect seals while it's out.

I bet your disk is not swollen from oil. no oil in bell means (top vent sees that on bell) the distributor seals did not leak a ton of engine oil and land there

But I did have a fair amount of oil in the bell housing. Not as bad as the pic you showed, but still pretty oily as my pre-cleaning pic shows. I can see how the clutch surfaces are somewhat protected though since the oil would want to surface creep. It would have to creep in from behind the flywheel and the centrifugal force of the flywheel would help from it migrating onto the face I suppose. And yes, haven't removed the flywheel yet but lots of oily mess behind it cascading down from incontinent dizzy.

I'm really hoping this is just the clutch. I did replace the cable then adjusted to all the specs you listed and still had the shift balking. Clutch pedal weld, etc. all strong and intact although the previous owner had put the cable mount through the firewall and repaired by bolting 1/8" steel plate over hole and remounting the cable through it.


You can be assured I will be checking clutch adjustment from now on. Let's see, if I put 500km a year on..... I'll make a note on my 90th birthday to check it?

Obviously I need to verify that all shift rail alignments are proper and will dry run shifting of tranny and transfer cases while the tranny is out. Please let me know if there is anything else that I should check as the possible cause of my shifting issues before I reinstall the tranny.

THANK YOU FOR FLY LOCKER HACK / and torque values. Yes, I will need this for torquing PP back on too. Impact wrench worked well for removal but obviously not for tightening.

the detents are just that on the rail, sides, with ball bearing (signal ball and spring ) These are what hold a gear in gear or even neutral. you felt that every day if its life. shifting

Excellent description. I understand now

As for "made in CHINA" parts... imagine what kind of shape the other global manufacturing sectors would be in if they made (or started to make) really good quality stuff?

[WizBang]

Home made slide puller. I created it to pull the silencer out of the aftermarket muffler on my hopped up Subaru WRX. Have used it for several things since.
It's a length of 3/8" NC ready rod with a some old pipe for the ram.


This is the latest mod to pull my pilot bearing. I just ground one end of the rod as shown and will hack off that end and keep it as a future bearing puller that can be attached again with a threaded hex rod connector.


Worked perfectly. Just have to be gentle and work your way around and around then POP! And the bearing slides down the shaft of the puller instead of onto dirt and grit or rolls into some spider infested corner of your shop.

[WizBang]

Removed transfer case for seal checks of center case. Seals good. Just some brilliant iron oxide powder from shaft. I cleaned the red dust out of the housings and gave the shaft a light brush of marine grease before reassembly.


Also permanently plugged the not-often-found third rubber plug hole on my antiquated transfer case with JB steel epoxy putty. Also permanently sealed the usual two rubber tranny plugs by locking in place with epoxy putty.