So to get things straight from the get go this isn't a guide I am NOT a mechanic so take this all as you will these are all things that I would've liked to know before changing the clutch on my 1998 Rallye/ GTi-6 (BE3 Box XU10J4RS Engine), so with that out the way lets get into this!
Doing a job like this yourself is a pain in the a*s but it's one of the more rewarding things you can do to your car! You won't realize this at the start but as you get closer to completion the excitement starts building it all starts becoming worth it. Once you've finished the job look back at all the things you've learnt and think about all the things you can now do with the knowledge you've gained.
Doing a job like this yourself is a pain in the a*s but it's one of the more rewarding things you can do to your car! You won't realize this at the start but as you get closer to completion the excitement starts building it all starts becoming worth it. Once you've finished the job look back at all the things you've learnt and think about all the things you can now do with the knowledge you've gained.
- Before you start anything you want to get intimate with a couple of guides, read your chosen guides over and over until you are comfortable with the process in your head
- Don't take the guides as fact, after all they are only a guide and sometimes the information provided might not line up with your car (For example a guide I was following quotes 10 gearbox bolts and we spent at least 10 minutes looking for our lost bolt until we realized there's only 9 and the guide skips number 8 when counting to ten 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10)
- Quoted bolt sizes could also be wrong for example the gearbox bolts were quoted as 17mm whereas on my car they were 16mm's
- Don't take the guides as fact, after all they are only a guide and sometimes the information provided might not line up with your car (For example a guide I was following quotes 10 gearbox bolts and we spent at least 10 minutes looking for our lost bolt until we realized there's only 9 and the guide skips number 8 when counting to ten 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10)
- So now you've read a couple of guides make sure you're prepared for the job, collect all the parts you'll need, order everything a couple weeks in advance so when you ultimately forget something you still have time to get it ordered.
- Write a list of all the parts and tick them off as you get them ordered
- Acquire any tools you'll need for the job, namely hub sockets, torque wrenches things you don;t just have ying around if you;ve never done a job like this before
- Google will only get you so far sometimes it's better to double check sizes of bolts/ nuts on the car especially if you're buying a hub nut socket that you probably won't use again (I spent £10 on a 36mm socket that was too big for the hub nut, went and bought a £15 35mm socket and even that is slightly too big but does the job better than the 36mm)
- Write a list of all the parts and tick them off as you get them ordered
- Give yourself way more time than necessary!!
- I can't stress how important this part is, I believe the book figure for a clutch on my car was around 7 hours so as we've never done a clutch we set a whole weekend free thinking that would be plenty of time! It wasn't it's currently Saturday now and I have only finished this job today. (Work a 9-5 so only had evenings in the week two of which my mate helped be getting the box back on)
- Things will go wrong, it isn't a case of if they go wrong it's a case of when. Be ready for this and don't let your frustrations get the better of you, stay calm and really think about how to solve the problem instead of getting angry at a seized intermediate bearing..
- I can't stress how important this part is, I believe the book figure for a clutch on my car was around 7 hours so as we've never done a clutch we set a whole weekend free thinking that would be plenty of time! It wasn't it's currently Saturday now and I have only finished this job today. (Work a 9-5 so only had evenings in the week two of which my mate helped be getting the box back on)
- Don't be afraid to ask people for help whether it's on the forum or on facebook
- You'll always get that bell*nd that has nothing better to do than to mock you, or bluntly uselessly answer the question because it makes them feel better about themselves but you just have to ignore these people, they've all been in your situation at some point they weren't changing clutches as a fetus they asked questions at some point that's how people learn.
- You'll always get that bell*nd that has nothing better to do than to mock you, or bluntly uselessly answer the question because it makes them feel better about themselves but you just have to ignore these people, they've all been in your situation at some point they weren't changing clutches as a fetus they asked questions at some point that's how people learn.
- Always assume you've done something wrong
- If you get caught looking at a problem thinking to yourself "Why isn't this f***ing thing working we've done nothing wrong" 11 times out of 10 you've done something wrong, it's the hardest thing to admit when you;re in that sort of situation but believe me you'll save more time by just starting over than staring at something telling yourself you've done it right
- If you get caught looking at a problem thinking to yourself "Why isn't this f***ing thing working we've done nothing wrong" 11 times out of 10 you've done something wrong, it's the hardest thing to admit when you;re in that sort of situation but believe me you'll save more time by just starting over than staring at something telling yourself you've done it right
- The biggest take away from working on cars yourself is the knowledge you gain (plus the money you save)
- During the job you forget this part, you look at everything from a different perspective, you start with good intentions and then everything starts going down hill, you run into a couple of problems and everything starts to overwhelm you and it feels s**t, don't let it get the better of you that's when you start taking short cuts making bad decisions and generally making yourself more work in the future.
- During the job you forget this part, you look at everything from a different perspective, you start with good intentions and then everything starts going down hill, you run into a couple of problems and everything starts to overwhelm you and it feels s**t, don't let it get the better of you that's when you start taking short cuts making bad decisions and generally making yourself more work in the future.