My "Detailed" Clutch Replacement DIY (2005 Aveo)

About two months ago I happened across this forum while looking for some information on swapping the clutch on my '05 hatchback. I have just shy of 400k miles on this thing, and the clutch had been slipping since about 250k-300k. My wife and I were about to go to the Smoky Mountains for vacation, so I figured it was about time to get the job done so I didn't get stuck on a hill somewhere. Anyway, I found some good information, but I didn't see much in the way of a compiled "This is how I did it" anywhere on the internet. So, this is my contribution.

Edit: Incidentally, I have the D16 manual transaxle. The manual also shows that there's a cable-shift Y4M transaxle as well.

I'll split this into several consecutive posts, each representing what I thought was a significant step. It'll probably take a few days to get all this organized and stuff, but I'll try not to dawdle. Everything I say is, of course, just how I did it. I'd do some things differently, and I'll definitely mention these things when I get there. If someone else wants to recommend things, please do. I've read that one of you guys can do this in a few hours without pulling the driveshafts. That's incredible, and I'd pay money to see that happen, but I'm definitely not that good. This took me four evenings, about 2-3 hours each night. It shouldn't have taken nearly so long, but it was dark, and I get distracted easily. Oh, look! A squirrel!

I don't think this is something unreasonable to do in your driveway. It was a PITA here and there, but I've dealt with a lot worse. I'm a pretty avid driveway mechanic, but I've never done a transaxle. I have done large transmissions on large vehicles, but this was a new adventure. I did the entire job myself minus about 10 minutes of lifting and moral support from my wife.

Here are some thoughts before you start.

First, you'll have to get a clutch. I got mine from NAPA. It was the NAPA branded kit, which is actually the LUK kit that you can find on the internet. It came with a throwout bearing, clutch plate, pressure plate, some grease, and an alignment tool. It was about $50 more than I could have gotten it for online, but I made the decision to make the plunge about one week before my trip, and I couldn't wait for shipping. Plus, I really like the guys at my local NAPA. One REALLY significant issue was that the alignment tool wasn't the right one. They apologized and promised to take care of it, but I was on a time crunch and couldn't afford to wait. More on that later. So far, the LUK kit is working fine.

Second, I found the GM service manual to be quite helpful. I'm not sure I would have known exactly how many, and which, bolts to pull if I didn't have it. Plus I've heard that torque specs are kind of important when it comes to stuff like this. I wouldn't want a pressure plate retaining bolt coming undone 20k miles after doing all this work. It's definitely not necessary, but it was definitely helpful. I'm sure a Chilton's or Haynes would be similarly helpful, but I don't know if those exist for Aveos.

Third, if you're doing this work, consider replacing some other parts. Number one for me was the rear crankshaft seal. I bought it in advance, and as it turns out mine wasn't hardly leaking at all. It's leaking everywhere else, as you'll soon see, but it was a barely-noticeable leak at the rear main seal. I replaced it anyway; it's definitely not going to be getting any better, and you have to pull the transmission to get at it. It's something like $15.

You'll also have VERY easy access to the seals around the driveshafts when you have the transmission removed, and you'll also have the shift linkage removed. Both of those parts wear out. I knew my shift linkage was sloppy, but I was dumb and forgot to order parts to rebuild it (not even sure that's possible) or replace it. I just left the axle seals alone because I'm going to have to pull the driveshafts next spring to do some suspension work.

One other consideration: It was really hard for me to find two quarts of whatever the manual gear lube was. I don't remember offhand exactly what the stuff was, but it's definitely something you'll want to source and order ahead of time. Regular parts stores around here don't carry it. It's a good thing I had my truck; one local dealer had one quart, and the other had none. I had to drive into the next town to get the second quart to finish the job.

EDIT: It was SAE75W-85 GL-4 manual transaxle fluid. The bottles I got from GM weren't labeled as such, but they were what came up in the parts counter computer. I just had to trust them.

If you want larger copies of the images, let me know. I saved the originals.

First-off, I pulled the hood. I didn't give two monkey's uncles about it, because I've been in a handful of accidents and a friend tried to close the hood once with the prop bar improperly stowed. It's pretty nasty. If you're worried about the alignment, mark it. The holes on mine were actually close fits, so I didn't have much slop when I put it back on.

Second, I pulled the battery and the tray, and then completely detached the fuse box, and pulled as much wiring out of the way as I could. I detached the three front sensors from the harness so I could move that aside. I tied the fuse box up to the coolant reservoir, because it wasn't possible to completely detach it from the wiring harness. I also disconnected the sensors from the housing of the transmission. Here's what was left:

Attachment 9725

Attachment 9726

As soon as that was done, I pulled the slave cylinder from the transmission body. Mine was a sealed unit, so I didn't take a lot of care in holding it all in place. I don't know whether that's universal or not, but it was definitely nice to not have to worry about draining the system.

With that done, I moved on to the driveshafts. I know the manual transaxle fluid is not a service item. I also know that they never thought an Aveo would hit 400,000 miles, so I decided to do a full fluid change. So, before I pulled the driveshafts I cracked open the bottom cover to drain the fluid. If you aren't changing your fluid, you'd better put a pan underneath the driveshaft holes in the transaxle case, because it's likely some fluid will spill once you remove the driveshafts.

The manual says you have to pull the whole steering knuckle. This is NOT necessary. I admit I had to put some stress on the ball joints and tie rod ends, but it wasn't all that much. You DO have to undo the axle nut, so definitely do that before you lift the car. Pull the dust cap (if you have one), undo the cotter pin, and loosen the nut. Then I pulled the tire, finished pulling out the axle nut and washers, pulled the calipers and mounts, and then detached the bottom of the strut (two bolts). Once the strut is separated, the steering knuckle can pivot around the ball joint and tie rod. The image below is from the passenger side. I was able to pull the brake disc out just enough to push the front axle out the back side of the hub. The front axle popped loose from the transaxle with a gentle prod from a pry bar. The two sides are just about the same.

Here's an image of the front suspension with the driveshaft removed. Notice the caliper seemingly floating in space. Steel wire works nicely to tie that up to the coil spring.

Attachment 9727

After that, I removed the shift linkage. To be honest, I had started this before the drive shafts, but found that pulling the passenger side shaft actually freed up some space behind/under the transmission so I could access the connection point to the shaft coming out of the firewall.

Anyway, the shift linkage is several different parts. All in all, it's held in place at three different points. There is a hollow shaft that comes through the firewall and clamps onto a solid rod on the linkage (A). There is a solid bracket just above the rear transmission mount, which connects to a bushing on the linkage with a clip-on pin (B). Then there is the attachment point at the gearshift housing, which is another bracket that connects to a bushing on the linkage, again with a pin and snap clip (C). I took a photo of each point, and labeled each one in the photo of the removed linkage assembly. It would have been a lot easier to get this out if I had removed the connecting rod (D) from the linkage before doing this, but I didn't know how it was attached, as I couldn't see very well. It's just a couple of plastic ball joints, which come undone quite easily as it turns out. Taking that off would have made the assembly a lot easier to maneuver.

Attachment 9728

Attachment 9732

Attachment 9729

Attachment 9730

Attachment 9731

miermat - this is a fantastic DIY thread! It's going to help a lot of people in the future.

Quote:

---

I have just shy of 400k miles on this thing

---

HOly cow. You should comment in this thread:

Thread: Highest Mileage Aveo (how many miles / km on yours now?)

At this point there shouldn't be anything still attached to the transmission except for the rear mounting bracket, the driver's side mount, and the engine itself. My Aveo has only three total drivetrain mounts (one more attached to the engine )on the passenger side). In addition, the rear mounting bracket isn't load-bearing. It just keeps the drivetrain from rotating, so you can't rely on it to hold anything up.

So, you'll have to support the engine. There's a special tool to do this. I don't have it, and I couldn't find any pictures to replicate it. I always wanted an engine hoist, and I need one to pull the engine on my Jeep anyway, and I was saving $700 worth of labor, so I figured it was time to buy one and use that to support the engine. This isn't the greatest idea. It doesn't give you much ability to hold the engine in alignment (the engine will rock when you try to re-mate the transmission), and it's a hydraulic system, so if it leaks the engine is going to sink. I put a bunch of support blocks under the engine when I went inside for the night, just in case, and I did my best not to put anything under the engine while it was supported. I like having both my legs.

Because I wasn't going to lock the engine in place, I had to loosen all the bolts first before starting to remove the mounts. Loosening the bolts was easy on the bottom half, but absolutely awful for one of the top ones. Go figure. There were a total of 10 bolts that had to come undone. 5 were screwed in from the engine side, while 5 were screwed in from the transmission side. I cracked them all loose, but left them in place for the time being. I identified the bolts in neon green in the following images.

Then, I chained the engine, using the lifting points, to my hoist and put a support under the transmission. I strapped it to my floor jack (the purple strap), and ran another strap (the orange one) from the strut tower, underneath the transmission, to the engine chain to help hold it up while I pulled the mounting brackets.

The first bracket to remove is the rear mounting bracket. There are actually two parts to this one. One part, the bumper part, bolts to the firewall, and the big bracket bolts to the transmission itself. You can see it in the picture of the shift linkage mounting brackets; the big curvy thing with the four bolts is the mounting bracket, and the part coming out to the left at the bottom is the bumper. When you detach the bracket, the drivetrain will try to rock, so be careful. I made sure I placed my floor jack toward the front of the transmission initially, to hold it from swaying. Then I let it slowly rock into its equilibrium place. The engine support would certainly have prevented this.

Once that was done I removed all the underside bolts (the ones labeled 1-6), and the one real PITA of a bolt that was on top (#9). There's a coolant hose and rigid tube that pass immediately in front of this bolt, blocking socket access, and you can't get a box-end wrench on it. There is actually just enough room for a standard socket, but then there isn't room for an extension before you run into other stuff. So, I cursed a bunch, cobbled together some adapters, dove in, pulled really hard on the coolant tube, cursed some more, and about 10 minutes later the bolt was out. The downside was that I couldn't get my ratchet free, but I had a spare so I didn't care. The bolt is about 2.5" long, so be ready to turn for a while. I made sure the other three top-side "easy" access bolts were snug and left them installed.

I made sure the engine hoist and jack were still securely in place, and then removed the driver side transmission mount. It's also two parts, but I didn't bother trying to separate them. I just removed all the bolts and nuts and took the whole thing off. At this point, the transmission was only held in place by the remaining mounting bolts and the jack underneath.

The next step was my first gamble. In my experience, there are always dowel pins or guide tubes to align the bellhousing to the engine block. I didn't know whether there would be anything like this on such a small transmission (there are alignment tubes), and I didn't want to put too much radial stress on the pilot bearing, but I didn't have many options. So, I took out the remaining three bolts while holding onto the transmission, and luckily it didn't start to move.

The last part was to grab ahold of the transmission, wiggle it back away from the engine, and then lower it to the floor. NOT! If only. I didn't think ahead to detaching the jack that was underneath, and my wife was gone, and here I was holding on to this transmission while leaning over the engine bay. So, I swore a bunch more, pulled the jack sideways with my foot, slowly rotated the transmission that was still strapped to the floor jack, pulled the jack sideways a little more, rotated the transmission some more, etc. until finally I was able to tip the jack over and place the transmission on the ground. It took me 10 minutes to get the stupid thing down to the ground. It wasn't that it was heavy. It's that it was strapped to the floor jack and I couldn't move it. If I had removed the floor jack first, or at least unstrapped it, it would have been easy to just pull the transmission away from the engine, kick the jack aside, and then put the transmission on the ground. Or, if I had a transmission jack that would properly hold onto the loose transmission. I don't. This thing is pretty small, so stupid me thought "Oh, I'll just do it by hand." Doh!

Anyway, the transmission was out, and I took a deep breath and a deep swig of my beer and thanked God that I didn't do worse.

Attachment 9737

Attachment 9738

Attachment 9739

Attachment 9740

Attachment 9741

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! Lots of room, nothing in the way, and easy access to parts from all sides. If you're replacing the axle seals, do it while the transmission is out on your table.

I don't know why anyone would replace a clutch and not the throwout bearing, but I've never raced and destroyed a clutch before. Mine was awfully grindy, so of course that got swapped. It's pretty self-explanatory. Just makes sure the fork isn't bent, and make sure it's in the proper position. While the transmission is out, there's nothing keeping the bearing and shift fork in place, so it would be a good idea to put a small bungee cord or rubber band on the lever that moves the shift fork, where the slave cylinder attaches. That way you won't bump it and knock the release bearing loose while installing the transmission. I didn't do that, but I should have.

I removed the inspection covers and cleaned up those surfaces while they were on the table. Plus, with as many miles as I have, I wanted a good look at the gears and also any sediment on the inside of the bottom cover. I couldn't believe how good everything looked. I let the unit sit in a pan on a rack overnight to let everything drain completely.

Removing the pressure plate and old clutch disc from the flywheel are pretty self-explanatory. There are inspection criteria for determining whether you should replace the pressure plate. I completely ignored them and replaced it, given my mileage.

As I was replacing the rear main oil seal, I also had to remove the flywheel. I didn't know whether its rotational position relative to the crankshaft was important to retain proper balance, so I took some grease pencils and marked its position as well as the locations of the individual bolts in the flywheel (I know it's anal, but it's only 10 seconds of work).

The old seal came out with a screwdriver, but the new one takes some majic to get back in. The driveshaft doesn't protrude hardly at all, so I made up a sleeve from an old laminated map of Ohio, greased it up good, and use that as a sort of cone-shaped "shoehorn", so I could slide the seal up the cone and onto the driveshaft. I luckily had a perfectly-sized tube from who-knows-where that I used to tap the seal into place. If you just smack it around the edges unevenly you risk bending the metal parts and creating a leak. Another thing you could do is drill a hole in a piece of plywood and tap on that.

Anyway, flywheel back on (I can't find the engine half of the manual, so I don't have that torque spec) and then time for the pressure plate and clutch disc. Put the clutch disc against the flywheel, insert the alignment tool, and...OH SNAP! The alignment tool wasn't much use. In my experience they're piloted to the pilot bearing on the driveshaft, and hold the plate in place. This one definitely didn't. Oh, well. It will center on the bottom. Or not. It pretty much just floated loose in the hole. It seems the pilot doesn't bottom in a consistent cone, and the alignment tool just bottomed out axially with no radial location. For a minute I thought maybe the pilot bearing was completely blown out, but I brought an inside micrometer home from work and it was just about perfect. EDIT: Just about perfect was my assessment of a slip fit; there wasn't a spec in the manual. I called NAPA, and they said it sounded like the wrong tool was included in the kit, but I didn't have time to mess around waiting for a new one. So, I just held the clutch plate in place with my hand while finger-tightening the pressure plate bolts until the clutch disc was just barely held steady between the pressure plate and the flywheel. I put the tool back in to align the clutch the best I could using a mirror in the engine bay. Then I took a little bar that I turned to fit the pilot bearing and put that into the pilot, and eyeballed the clearance to the clutch disc splines. If you don't get it really close you'll have a real bear of a time getting the transmission to mate back to the engine, but I've eyeballed more than one clutch in the past without any special tool. I've read, after the fact, about people using their fingers to check the alignment through the outside of the pressure plate. GENIUS!

At any rate, tighten the pressure plate bolts to 11 ft-lbs (I know, right? I couldn't believe that was all). I re-cleaned the mating surfaces, re-installed the two inspection covers, and then it was time for the hard part.

Mating the transmission to the engine is easy when they're not inside the vehicle. Or when they're underneath a 40-year-old flatbed. Or anywhere else but inside of a subcompact engine bay.

It's really good to have some help with this part. Help can be an awesome transmission jack, a friend, two friends, a wife who used to row and can dead lift the transmission by herself, or whatever. Someone who can hand you things, take them away, and grab the transmission and wiggle, lift a little bit, or push.

Be ready for some frustration. It should be obvious that the ease of installation is directly related to the alignment of the clutch disc, so if you're not sure it's good enough, take the time to make sure it's good enough. Even if it WAS good enough, you're better safe than sorry. What's that woodworker's saying...Measure once, cut twice, then go buy yourself a board stretcher?

Anyway, I plopped the transmission underneath the vehicle and got some "alignment rods" ready. I used a couple old hex keys, but drill rods or center punches could work nicely also. You want something that's pretty close to the inner diameter of the threaded bolt holes. I liked the fact that the hex keys had an angled handle to grab onto. The idea is to lift up the transmission, get it close, align the input shaft, and then start to slide the transmission toward the engine. I started by hand-lifting the transmission. Then we attached a couple ratchet straps to the engine hoist and attached the other ends to a couple holes on the transmission, one of which is actually I think a designed lifting point. Then my special lady put the floor jack under the tail of the transmission. I basically fiddled with the strap and jack until the transmission was aligned as well as I could get it. Then I grabbed the transmission and started sliding it toward the engine.

At first, the input shaft will slide into the center hole in the clutch disc. If this part hangs up, just wiggle the transmission a little bit, or have someone rotate the engine or crankshaft. As it gets closer to the engine block, you can insert the "alignment rods" into one or two holes to keep the holes lined up kind of close, and then when the transmission is about to go together, it's going to get stuck on the dowel sleeves, because they won't be lined up right. Then you're going to wish the clutch plate was aligned better. At this point, if you can get one or two bolts started, do it. You don't want to start prodding the transmission and have it bump completely loose and start to pivot or spin.

When you're at this point, you're fighting two things. The input shaft is lined up in the clutch plate, and the dowel sleeves won't be perfectly aligned with their holes. The ARE slightly tapered at the ends, so they're not completely unforgiving, but you need to be within about 1/8" of the proper alignment.

Odds are good that if you got some bolts started, even just a few threads, that you're good enough to start cinching the two parts together with the rest of the bolts. If not, then you're going to have to use the "alignment rods" to gently pry the housing until it's aligned well enough to get a screw into one of the adjacent holes. Another thing that may help is to have your helper grab the tail end of the transaxle and try to wiggle it or rotate it appropriately.

Don't fight it too hard, though, and try to keep the crankshaft coaxial with the transmission input shaft. You don't want your clutch disc, which is aligned with the transmission input shaft now, to get screwed up. It can take a lot of force (obviously), but it's not designed to take load outside the plane of the disc (like by tilting the transmission).

Be persistent. It shouldn't take too much force to draw the halves together. If it does, and you're cranking on the bolts, slow down, back up, and try again.

Once it's together, everything else should be downhill, so breathe deeply and be happy.

Attachment 9742

Attachment 9743

Attachment 9744

Fantastic work there with all the pictures. It's like reading a crime drama and can't wait for the outcome.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by meiermat

Mating the transmission to the engine is easy when they're not inside the vehicle. Or when they're underneath a 40-year-old flatbed. Or anywhere else but inside of a subcompact engine bay.

---

Agreed. I've only pulled a FWD trans off a Geo Metro (my Firefly) leaving the engine in place. It only weighs ~65 lbs, so not difficult to manhandle, like the Aveo's. But MAN I had some choice words for that thing trying to mate them up again when it was time to go back together.

Thanks a ton for this DIY. Tim (Daox) has added it to the home page "selected threads" list.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Again, once you're past the point where the transmission bellhousing is mated to the engine, it's pretty much all downhill.

I made sure all the bolts would start threading before going any farther. Once they were all seated, I installed the two mounting brackets, to make sure the drivetrain was held securely in place. I installed the driver side mount first. The drivetrain has probably moved around a little bit, so getting the mounting bracket back on could be tricky. I got one bolt in place between the mount and the transmission, then I maneuvered the drivetrain with the hoist and a broom handle until I was able to ALMOST get a bolt through the mount and into the body of the car. At that point I just grabbed my big Philips head screwdriver and stuck it in through another hole in the mount and sort of pried the mount into position so I could get one bolt started. Once one is in, get a few threads in for the other mounting bolts and then start tightening them slowly. I ended up moving the hoist a little more so that everything came together better. The mount-to-transmission bolts are 44 ft-lbs. I couldn't find a spec for the bolts connecting it to the body, but the engine side is very similar and so I used that spec. Those bolts were 48 ft-lbs and the nuts were 30 ft-lbs. I honesly can't remember whether they were bolts or nuts. There might have been some of each.

Anyway, then I put the rear mount back on. The mount-to-body bolts are 41 ft-lbs, and the bracket-to-transmission bolts are 59 ft-lbs. Likewise, the connecting bolt and nut between them is 59 ft-lbs. After that, I tightened all the transmission-to-engine bolts.The transmission-to-engine bolt torques are as follows.
1, 6-10: 54 ft-lbs
2: 15 ft-lbs
3-5: 23 ft-lbs

Next came the clutch slave cylinder. This was a little awkward, because it had extended as far as it could go, so I had to push it back into place. If you have to do this, do it slowly so you don't spray fluid out your reservoir. Luckily, it's easy enough to just do this by hand. The bolts to hold this in place are 15 ft-lbs.

Now comes the shift linkage. This does require some care, because you have to make sure the rod coming through the firewall is mated to the hollow sleeve at the correct angle.

First, pull off that connecting rod with those ball joints. It's just easier to maneuver everything without it. Make sure you know which end goes to which ball; it's not reversible. Then, get it back up into place in the center fixed bracket (point B in the pictures above), and fit that pin into place, but don't clip it. Then get the sleeve started on the rod, and then align the connection at the transmission. Install the two pins completely with their clips, and then attach the connecting rod with the ball joints.

Now is the important part. You have to make sure the transmission selector is in the same position as your shifter inside the car. There is a little plug at the back of the selector cover on the transmission that allows you to insert a 5mm dowel pin to lock the selector in place. It's a little bit below and to the driver side from the u-joint shaft. I don't have any gauge pins, let alone TWO 5mm pins, so I went down into my basement and measured all the old screwdrivers and bolts I could find until I found a couple pins that were just about 5mm. Apparently they weren't good enough, but more on that later.

Insert the pin at the back of the transmission selector housing. You'll probably have to rotate the u-joint around a little bit to get it to engage. If you're sitting in the car, the position should correspond to the far left position in neutral.

Then, it's into the driver's seat. Lift up the boot around the shifter, and there is a little spot to insert another 5mm gauge pin in the shifter. It's a little bit to the left, on the plastic part that keeps you from accidentally going into reverse. Position this pin so the shifter is locked into place.

Then, back under the car to tighten the bolt connecting the shift rod to the hollow shaft on the shift linkage. This should be 124 in-lbs (1.3 ft-lbs).

Once that is done, check it. Pull the pins, and move the shift rod in the car. You should feel it going in and out of gear at the proper places. If not, re-do the adjustment/alignment, and maybe get yourself some actual 5mm drill rod or pins.

As it turns out, I didn't notice any real difficulty getting into second gear until I got the car back on the road. I had to push a little hard to the left to get second to engage. Now I just grab the little ring that lets you into reverse and pull that up whenever I have to go into second, and it works fine. I would adjust it, but I need to replace the shift linkage anyway, and I don't feel like jacking up the car again. It's been a few months, and it's now just one more oddity of a 10-year-old car.

Then put the driveshafts back in, reconnect the strut/spring assembly to the knuckles, re-install the brakes, hand-tighten the wheel nut, and put the wheels back on. Lower the car and torque the wheel nuts and the axle nut, and then put in the cotter pin. It's REALLY tight. I don't have a torque wrench that goes that tight, so I just took my breaker bar and my weight and measured the proper distance along the lever and stood on it. Again, I can't find the other half of my manual, so I don't have these torque specs.

Now you have the battery tray and all the electrical connectors to put back, and the fluids to fill. I'll leave it up to you to install the fusebox and connectors and battery and all that stuff.

Push the car to a level surface and remove the fill plug. My transmission doesn't have a drain plug, but it seems some of them do. There's a fill plug on the passenger side, just behind the passenger axle. I circled it below.

Basically, just put fluid in this hole until it starts to come out, just like a differential. I don't have fancy fillers, and there's no room to just invert the bottle. What I DO have is a particular set of skills, and a whole bunch of miscellaneous tubing. So, I ran some tubing from the topside of the engine down into this hole, and put a drain pan underneath. Then, I stuck the nose of the bottle in the tube and put the bottle upside-down on my windshield, cut a hole in the bottom, and started putting the connectors and battery tray back into place. When that was empty, I did the same with the second bottle, but didn't cut the hole so I could save what was left, if any. The official capacity is 2 quarts. I had a third on hand just in case. It's expensive stuff, but I figured it was worthwhile just to have it. I didn't have to open the third bottle.

After it's full, replace the plug and finish up the electrical stuff. If you replaced your crankshaft seal, don't forget to fill the engine oil, of you'll be taking the front half of the drivetrain apart pretty soon. Start the car and go for a test drive. Then have a beer. You're done!

Attachment 9754

Addendum:

Or, if you're me, you can go drop off your summer tax bill at the courthouse, stop at the store, come home and pack for vacation, and then wake up the next morning ready to go only to realize you forgot to put the hood back on.

If you're like me and you did remove the hood, now it's time to reinstall that. As I mentioned earlier, the hood bolts were a very close fit with the hinges, so I just had my wife help me hold it up while I started the bolts, and then we cinched them down and closed the hood. My hood was pretty bent up to begin with, so I'm not sure how sensitive the hood normally is, but mine closes fine and usually opens the first time. Sometimes I'll have to pull the release on the dashboard twice, and it never pops up on its own; I have to walk to the front and lift it to get at the latch. On the other hand, I think I had to do that before the repair, so who knows?

OK, NOW you're done.

If anyone has questions, let me know.

Excellent write up. Well done. I replaced the clutch on my '07 about a month ago, and can attest that if you follow meiermat's instructions, you should be successful. I did a few things slightly different, but overall it was pretty much the same.

1. Meiermat didn't loosen or drop the the "K" bracket (the side-to-side bracket just below and behind the motor/transaxle). Neither did I, and for the most part, it wasn't a problem. I will not do it if I ever have to replace a clutch in one of these cars again.

2. I found the shift linkage to be a PITA due to it's location and the stupid little pin retaining clips. When I pulled off the clip closest to the transaxle, it "sprung", preventing it from seating in the pin's groove during reassembly. I bought a new pin and clip for $3 or so from the dealer, but even then the clip gave me trouble. My teenage son was finally able to get it seated properly. Next time I do it I'm just gonna remove the shift mechanism from the top of the trans and leave the linkage alone.

3. I used an appropriately sized drill bit to index the shift mechanism upon reassembly. No need to stress out trying to find a 5mm pin. BTW, you'll know it was indexed wrong when you can't get the shifter to go into all the gears.

4. I didn't remove the hood. Wasn't a problem.

5. I supported the engine with a floor jack and a block of wood on the oil pan. I supported the transaxle by placing a piece of 2x4 across the fenders and running a ratchet strap around it. During removal, I guided the transaxle from below (on a creeper - I had the front end on jack stands as high as I could get it) while my son ratcheted the strap down. To do this you have to remove the back and the driver's side engine mounts, as detailed. This lets the engine pivot down (by lowering the jack under the oil pan) on the driver's side, providing the clearance needed to slide the trans out. On reassembly, the ratchet strap supported the weight of the transaxle so I didn't have to, allowing me to concentrate on alignment. My son was topside, either loosening or tightening the strap as needed. Not an easy procedure, but worked well enough. Also, I had to push the engine forward to let the transaxle clear the previously mentioned "K" support. This was not a big deal, as it was held only by the passenger side engine mount and the jack.

6. The bolt on the back of the engine, where the ridgid coolant line runs, is a bitch. I used a long screw driver to (gently) pry the coolent line up a bit so a socket/extension/ratchet could slip in there. Be patient.

7. I replaced the plastic bushings for the clutch release lever. They're cheap - a buck or so each. I did NOT replace any other seals, as my Aveo only had 90,000 miles and exhibited no signs of leaking. Yes, I did replace the throw out bearing.

All in all, it wasn't that bad. I've never replaced a clutch before, and my tool set is limited to say the least. I just have the basic 3/8" and 1/2" socket sets with extensions, wrenches, screwdrivers, etc. I don't have an impact wrench, but do have 3/8" and 1/2" breaker bars, which were necessary. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. I was quoted $950 (9 hour job) by my mechanic to replace the clutch. All the parts (again, I didn't replace any seals) cost me $140. I only paid $1,800 for the car, so this is a big win in my book.

If I can think of any other "gotcha's", I'll post them in this thread.

Again, nice write up.

meiermat, thanks again for the write-up. You make the forum a great resource. (If you'd like a complimentary forum decal, please send your mailing address to Tim (Daox).)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by meiermat

pack for vacation, and then wake up the next morning ready to go only to realize you forgot to put the hood back on.

---

Ha!

Quote:

---

...OK, NOW you're done.

---

That means you got to have two "now I'm done" celebratory beers. :)



---

Ombibulous, thanks for the extra notes.

Just ran upon this thread
...GREAT input by the way. I will surely be using it some day! Thanks for taking the time to post.

Thanks for the post, I just did mine on a 2007 sedan and it helped a lot, it as played a big part in what decided me to do the job myself.

The throw out bearing died at 200k km, it was already making a small noise when i bought the car at around 125k km, he cried for a few weeks and then died. Had to drive the car home clutchless, it was'nt so bad: i've made some research when it started squeeling hard and learned that you can start the car while in 1st. I did just that and did not had to stop until i was in front of my garage. The clutch could probably have been good for another 100k km, it was worn but not that much. I replaced the whole kit anyway since all the time involved for the repair. I've found the job easier to visualize by reading your posts with pictures than in the chevrolet manual.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by meiermat

Anyway, flywheel back on (I can't find the engine half of the manual, so I don't have that torque spec) and then time for the pressure plate and clutch disc.

---

It's 25 ft-lbs.

I supported the motor with a 2''x4'' from driver headlight to passenger fender and 2 strappings one on each motor attach.

To remove and replace the transmission i just sat on my crawler head facing the back of the car to see between the transmission and motor and used my knees and hands to support the transmission. I'm a strong and small guy, it was almost easy. I've finished by removing bolt 7,8 and 10 by hand and nothing moved, then i sat on my crawler and crawled under the transmission. I called the Wife to be around before just in case but i did not needed her. There is 2 cilynders that support the transmission in hole 10 and 7 if i remember correctly. To mate it back i've put my left hand to squeeze the motor and transmission around that cylinder around 7 then finished pairing them together with right hand and knees.

I had to remove and put back transmission twice because of a gremlin (explained in another post ''problem transmission stuck after clutch replacement'').
1st time took me around 4 hours to remove, 2 to change the throw out bearing, crankshaft seal, both transmission output to axle seals (those gave me trouble, i could'nt find anything proper sized to tap the seal back in place, made one in wood that broke and finally pushed them in with a punch a small hammer and lot of patience by tapping one side a little at the time) and then 3 hours to put back.
The second time took around 1 1/2 hour to remove 1 find the trouble in the transmission and 1 and half hour to mount back. I've been 2 afternoons an evening and a morning in the garage to complete the job.

That was my first time removing a transmission and i found it was easier than i'd tought. It's more long than hard. Sure i do have a garage and more than a few tools. I had no trouble with bolt 9 once i've found it, my 3/8 ratchet with a 3/8 to 1/2, and 1/2 drive box were a perfect fit for the job.

I did not remove the lower transmission mount i only removed the 3 long screws from mount to transmission it did not cause any problem.

I could'nt find any gl4 fluid around here neighter 75-85 so i ended up putting 75-90 gl5, Nissan dealer around here guaranteed me that it will not break anything, that gl4 is being obsolete and hard to come by these days.

I believe it could also be done without removing the passenger axle but not sure if it would be much faster since we got better acces by removing it and mating transmission with axle and motor will be somewat more difficult.

I'll add a few pictures that might be of some help.

Attachment 10215
View from right side, on top left there is a vent/filler plug i filled back from there, there was a black plastic cap on it that i placed back. Around the middle of the picture you see the no8 drill bit that i used to align the shift linkage.

Attachment 10216
No7 drill bit in the other hole 3/16'' could have done the job if taped or someone held it.

Attachment 10217
Another view of the shift linkage.

I know it may seem like an odd request, but do any of you deep engine adventurers have your used intake and throttle body spacers? I need to do some research ��
I want used to see any impressions left from the manifold in order to possibly CAD an intake manifold for us all.

what is the bracket called to the right of the yellow circle? mine just snapped off at the weld that is not in view in this picture?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by meiermat

Attachment 9742

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Amoros

what is the bracket called to the right of the yellow circle? mine just snapped off at the weld that is not in view in this picture?

---

Are you looking at the shift release lever? I'm not sure what it's technically called, or the Chevy part number. It's the lever that actuates the fork for your shift bearing.

Attachment 10773

yes, that lever. Mine broke off at the weld. I have not seen it in person because I'm at work. My sister took it to the nearest place she could find and they were going to weld it back. But now say that they have to pull the transmission out at $400-$500. They said that he has welded it several times and it keeps breaking off. I believe he's lying or he's a bad welder. I'm hoping to see it in person tomorrow. your post is the only picture i could find of that piece. I found it on google images. I'm guessing it a factory weld that got corroded and eventually failed. Just was trying to see if I could locate that piece so I could buy it or see where on the transmission it goes on. maybe I'll try to get one at a pick and pull. If you have any advice on why it would of broken other than my theory, I'd appreciate your imput. It looks like an elusive part, since its not sold.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Amoros

yes, that lever. Mine broke off at the weld. I have not seen it in person because I'm at work. My sister took it to the nearest place she could find and they were going to weld it back. But now say that they have to pull the transmission out at $400-$500. They said that he has welded it several times and it keeps breaking off. I believe he's lying or he's a bad welder. I'm hoping to see it in person tomorrow. your post is the only picture i could find of that piece. I found it on google images. I'm guessing it a factory weld that got corroded and eventually failed. Just was trying to see if I could locate that piece so I could buy it or see where on the transmission it goes on. maybe I'll try to get one at a pick and pull. If you have any advice on why it would of broken other than my theory, I'd appreciate your imput. It looks like an elusive part, since its not sold.

---

It's possible he's not using the right material to weld it, but I'm pretty sure it's just mild steel, so it's likely he's just having trouble welding it properly. On mine, the arm is welded to a rod that protrudes through the transmission. There's a hole in the arm, and the weld just fills in that hole. It would be difficult to get in there and get the surface properly cleaned, not to mention maneuvering the welding gun/electrode without moving some stuff. Then there's the issue of clamping the ground. I'm not sure clamping anywhere but on the arm will give a good enough connection for a solid weld, but that makes the tight spacing even more awkward. It's probably best to remove the arm, grind down the residual metal on the rod, and then try to reproduce the original weld. It takes a fair amount of torque, so it needs to be a very solid weld because the rod is a pretty small diameter.

It's not necessary to pull the whole transmission to get at it to weld the piece, but it would be necessary in my opinion to move the parts that are in the way. At minimum, I would remove the battery tray, wiring harness connectors, and the coolant hose that are blocking access and then pull the clutch slave cylinder to relieve any pressure on the part while welding it.

On the other hand, if you were to buy one/salvage one, you do need to pull the transmission to replace it. Same goes for taking it off a donor transmission. It looks like you can buy the part, depending on what year, from wholesalegmpartsonline.com.

As for why it failed, I can't imagine why that spot would be corroded unless the whole area is corroded.

How did you get bolt 9 out I’m having a hell of a time getting anything on it

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by johnasosajr

How did you get bolt 9 out I’m having a hell of a time getting anything on it

---

It sucked. There was enough room for a standard socket to fit over the bolt, but I couldn't get it in there with the wrench attached. I don't remember which combination of adapters I used, but I know it was messy. You could probably remove the coolant tube, but I didn't want to drain the collant.

I vaguely remember starting with a 1/2" drive socket and then reducing it to 3/8 drive, and using a pipe on my ratchet to break it free, but it was a long time ago. I definitely started by putting the socket on first and then attaching the wrench, and when I actually got the bolt loose I couldn't get the wrench off so I just left it until I got the transmission out.

Matt

Hi there I am doing my clutch right now. Thanks for this complete write up. I was wondering if anybody knows the correct torque spec for the flywheel bolts. Thanks

Hi
I am in the process of replacing my clutch also. (thanks for this)
The linkage pics you show is that the correct sort of lay out for them? Mine seems to be upside down. Just can seem to get it to fit properly from under the car.
thanks
Nick