hi guys

My Haynes says to replace the clutch either the whole engine / box needs to come out or the gearbox dropped.

This seems a lot of hassle! Is there no easier / quicker ways the pros can do it?

If not, what is a good quote from a back street garage for a straight forward clutch change?

1.4 8v 1997

cheers

russ

well to change the cluch the gear box dose nead to come out.. because it is betwean the engine and the box

that's what I presumed but its in the book :( Surely this is unnecessary?

No it's fully necessary to remove the gearbox in order to replace the clutch lol.

I did mine in my garage on axle stands in about 4 hours.

On some early FWD Vauxhalls there was an access plate at the bottom of the gearbox bellhousing that you removed, then fitted special spring steel clips over the clutch unit and then you could unbolt it and drop it out without seperating the engine and gearbox, but unfortunately the VW design ( and most other manufacturers) you need to split the engine from the gearbox, and normally it's easier to drop the gearbox as it's the smaller/lighter item.

a garage shouldn't charge more than £150 labour to replace a 6n clutch.

a garage shouldn't charge more than £150 labour to replace a 6n clutch.

I've just been quoted 250 (with part, although ECP list a 6n clutch at £65).

Would love to find someone who can replace my clutch for no more then 150 right now, if i bought the part myself!

a garage shouldn't charge more than £150 labour to replace a 6n clutch.

I've just been quoted 250 (with part, although ECP list a 6n clutch at £65).

Would love to find someone who can replace my clutch for no more then 150 right now, if i bought the part myself!

i'd do it for £70 if you supplied the part, shame your so far away. tbf it's very straight forward job to do you just need to make sure you have a couple of trolley jacks at hand

i'd do it for £70 if you supplied the part, shame your so far away. tbf it's very straight forward job to do you just need to make sure you have a couple of trolley jacks at hand

70!? Damn it, if it hadn't gone completely I'd have bought the part and driven it to you.

Gutted.

its a peice of piss, you should have it done in two hours, and I'm sorry but you have to laugh at the prong who started this tread

its a peice of piss, you should have it done in two hours, and I'm sorry but you have to laugh at the prong who started this tread

Great saying it's a piece of piss when I don't have the tools, space or time to do it. I've looked around and asked a fair few people now, you'd be the first to say it can be done in just two hours so something tells me you might have exaggerated a little.

Although, I actually hope you are right as it's a good bargaining chip to reduce the cost :)

it 'could' be done in a couple of hours, although i wouldn't bank on it only taking that long. i can rip an engine out in a couple of hours but most times it takes me longer because i'm not always in the 'i wanna see how fast i can do this' mood

i'd say the 4 hours that some one mentioned further up being a more realistic time scale but tbh it's all the pissing around undoing shit that's in the way that's the most time consuming. on earlier polo's there isn't a lot of this but from what i remember the 6n engine bay is pretty tight packed with shit?

it's a piece of piss if you have the tools and have done some thing like this before, if you haven't done it before then it's still very doable if you are in a position to take your time with it, but if you haven't even got the tools then your screwed really.

Well in fairness to myself between me and my brother I probably do have the tools and two trolley jacks. I'll admit the biggest jobs I've ever done on cars are fixing window regulators and changing thermostat housings.

If I had someone with me who is in the know more then I, I would certainly be happy giving it a go though.

In a side note, while the box is out refitting the clutch, is it at all possible to predict how much life is in it? I know 6n (or all polo's) box's are their weakest links.

(P.S I'll offer anyone in the Manchester area £120 to fit the clutch :p may as well just through it out there.)

Edited 6 June, 201115 yr by Liquidice

what is a prong?

The Autodata time to remove/replace is 3.3 Hrs but that's based on ideal working conditions and having done the job before

cheers Nige.

That sounds quite quick but the pros will be able to work much, much faster than I. I'll see what my mechanic estimates and compare.

My question may had sounded naieve and I should have explained better to avoid the abuse. What I meant was similar to what you mentioned; whether there was some kind of access plate so that perhaps the 'box could be split and then slid over ever so slightly.

There's not much to be said for removing the engine in order to access the clutch as you still have to take the same items off, plus all of the other connections etc., so whilst you are disconnecting all of those, you could be well on the way to having the box out.

It really depends on the equipment which you have, I suppose if you have a hoist and no jack, you would then have to remove the engine, but it's a bit like taking a sledge-hammer to crack a walnut.

If you do take on this job, read and re-read that manual before you even pick a spanner up, take your time and put everything back where you got it from.

The bit that you could have problems with is the aligning of the driven plate with the flywheel spigot bearing, ideally this is done using a spare spigot shaft (first motion shaft) but it can be done by eyesight, or by making a dummy shaft from a length of broom handle. You can also buy alignment tools, but some of these 'universal' tools, rather than fitting everything, end up fitting nothing at all.

Hope that it goes well for you, do let us know how you get on.

Regards.

thanks guys thats great

Looking at the book its more than i feel comfortable with in terms of space I have available at the mo. If the car wasn't a daily drive I would have a crack no problems and learn some new skills. I might rethink this though when i get the estimate lol :p

you time space and tools have alot to do with it. but it can be done in around the two hour mark, but thats at work with the car on a lift and a second helping hand lol.

main thing is just get your fingure out. theres nothng complicated to it,

off the wheels,

out the ball joints,

out the drives,

out the battery,

off the linkages and speedo,

out the starter,

there will be a few little clips where wires are held in place,

theres about 6 maybe 7 ish bolts in the bell housing? not shur how many exactly?

2 gearbox mounts

out the box,

6 allen key bolts holding in your pressuse plate,

swap your release bearing,

and your half way there.

if I've left anything out please feal free to say, thas just a quick summary from memory,

like it was said before the main thing is all the little bits that have to be loosend, but a air ratchet or impact gun help push things on abit :p

cheers pal

Sounds not too bad actually. I'll have another look at the book and think it through

cheers pal

Sounds not too bad actually. I'll have another look at the book and think it through

if you need any help gime a pm, I'm more than happy to help you along, thers nothing to it tbh, but you will have a small dificulty lining uop the clutch but just keep at it and youl get it right. its alota comon sence and just get your fingure out attitude lol