Replacing a clutch - pride in workmanship - rant

Clutch on my 02 p/u was starting to slip at 100k miles. It's an extra vehicle and after hearing that it would be several grand to do at a dealership and somewhat less at a shop, I decided to do it myself. Mainly because I'd never done one before. Bought all the parts online (saving almost a grand alone). Bought the OEM Shop manuals which are pricey but I wanted the exact procedures & info for MY vehicle, not some generic "this is how you do it on most vehicles" book or CD. Took a weekend to tear down. And another weekend to get 90% complete. What an experience.

As I was taking stuff off, I noticed things that looked like the trans had been removed before. Rubber NVH isolator located undercab at the shift lever was cut in half with obvious saw marks. It was a bear to remove and I can see that some "mechanic" had just hacked his way through it. (Eyebrows raised) Then, I found the top bolt of the trans-to-engine fasteners was missing.(Eyebrows raised higher) It's almost impossible to get at for removal or replacement, and I doubt that it was left off during engine-trans buildup, so it was probably left off by "some repair person". (There is supposed to be a bolt there for a reason, duh). Several of these same fasteners were obviously not torqued to spec. They just broke loose with a slight twist of a wrench. One was finger tight only. (Eyebrows now in full raised position) Hydraulic clutch quick disconnect plastic release was cracked, so I had to be very careful in removal so I didn't break it completely. OEM manual called for a special tool to release it, but careful work with a screwdriver would do it. Obviously, last guy was NOT careful. (Jaw dropped, since I couldn't raise my eyebrows any more) The coup-de-grace was that the pilot bearing in the crankshaft (that the transmission input shaft rides in) was improperly installed and just hammered in as far as it would go. About 1/2" deep into the crank end.(Jaw dropped completely along with completely raised eyebrows) The OEM manual had a dwg with an installation dimension from the face of the crank at .032", not .5". Wow, this was the last straw as this means the shaft did not go into the bearing and was hanging free as long as I've had the truck.

Since I got it from a dealership with mileage just outside of the warranty, I called the dealership and asked the service person for the service history. Gave them the VIN and sure enought, the DEALERSHIP had replaced the clutch at under 10,000 miles (warranty claim). Talk about lack of "pride in workmanship".

Anyway, what started out to be a "weekend" project, (saving me money along the way) turned out to be more of a learning experience than I expected. I also have the satisfaction of knowing that the parts are installed correctly and that the bolts are torqued to spec. Hopefully, this has vindicated me with my wife who said I "was an idiot for doing this myself". Most of the reason for that comment is that she spent an hour or so under the truck at one end of a long socket wrench helping to remove 1 stubborn bolt. NOT what a 58 yr old who had just had her hair done wanted to be doing on a Saturday afternoon.

My rant for the week.

Well you can probably chalk that up to the fact that dealers pay their mechanics on a time from a book that says how long it takes an experienced guy to make the repair. So if the mechanic takes longer he is working for free or at least reduced wages. Sometimes forces them to take shortcuts Or entices them to do it faster than the book and get paid more. Either way its kinda bad for the vehicle owner. I have just quit doing that kinda stuff. Too dirty and the parts too heavy. But I remember changing clutches and transmissions in one afternoon and never thinking twice about it. The piolot bearing would have concerned me the most. Thats got to be hard on the transmission input bearing.

Jim,
yeah, this will be my only clutch job. As you said, laying on your back under a vehicle, wrestling with a 100 lbs of metal is not exactly fun. And also as you indicated, out of all the things I found, the pilot bearing issue was the most distressful. I can see an early demise for the trans input shaft bearing because of it. Maybe I will end up pulling the trans again. LOL.

I have talked to former dealer mechanics and have heard of some of the shortcuts to get paid 4 hrs for a 1 hr job, so yeah, I can see some of it. Plus, some of the blame has to rest on product engineering. I work with a lot of them from the supplier side and they design some stuff that makes it almost impossible to repair. The part may go in fine during the assembly process where half the car isn't on yet, but try and get it out afterwards. For instance, that top bolt. The engine-trans-xfer case is decked from underneath in the plant as a unit, not as separate pieces.