How to replace the clutch of a manual transmission

When to replace the clutch

A clutch is not replaced at a fixed point. Its disc wears whenever the clutch slips, as it does each time the vehicle pulls away, so how long it lasts depends on the vehicle, its load, towing, the traffic it is used in and the way it is driven. Whether a clutch is due is decided by how it works. Where your vehicle manufacturer's schedule provides for checking or adjusting the clutch control, follow it.

Have the clutch examined when you notice one of these:

• The engine speed rises under load, for example when accelerating in a high gear or uphill, without the vehicle gaining speed to match: the clutch slips
• A smell of burnt friction material that keeps returning in normal driving
• The point in the pedal's travel at which the clutch takes up has moved noticeably, or the clutch takes up only at the very end of the travel
• Gears are hard to engage or grate although the pedal is fully pressed, or the vehicle tries to creep with the pedal pressed: the clutch does not separate fully
• Judder when pulling away
• Whirring, grinding, squealing or rattling that comes or goes when the clutch pedal is pressed or released
• A clutch pedal that has become heavy, stays down, returns slowly, feels spongy or vibrates
• The level of the clutch's hydraulic fluid falls, or oil or fluid appears at the joint between the engine and the gearbox

Not every one of these faults is cured by a clutch kit. A clutch that does not separate can have air in its hydraulic system or a leak from it, a failing master or slave cylinder, a cable that is frayed, stiff or wrongly adjusted, or a worn pedal mechanism. Slipping can come from oil or grease on the disc, for example from a leaking seal of the crankshaft or of the gearbox's input shaft, and from a clutch control that does not let the clutch engage fully. Judder can come from worn engine or gearbox mountings and from a flywheel that is damaged by heat, and rattling that changes when the pedal is pressed can come from a dual-mass flywheel. Have the fault diagnosed before parts are bought, by a workshop if you are not certain of it: many faults of the clutch control lie outside the bell housing and can be repaired without removing the gearbox, and a leak that is left unrepaired can spoil a new disc as it spoiled the old one.

A clutch that slips can overheat and fail completely, and with a clutch that does not separate the vehicle can move when a gear is engaged or when the engine is started in gear. Do not go on driving with either fault, and do not start the engine with a gear engaged. Have the vehicle recovered if need be.

Before you start

This is not a job for a beginner. The gearbox is heavy and often comes out from under a raised vehicle, and the engine has to be supported as the vehicle manufacturer's procedure requires; on some vehicles the engine and the gearbox are removed together, or the engine is removed instead. Depending on the vehicle, drive shafts, suspension joints, a subframe, the exhaust or the propeller shaft have to be detached to free the gearbox, and the steering gear can be mounted on that subframe. A vehicle, an engine or a gearbox that falls can kill, and a mistake in refitting those parts can cause an accident. Do this job only if you have the vehicle manufacturer's procedure for your vehicle, engine and gearbox, its tightening specifications, the lifting and supporting equipment and the special tools it calls for and a helper, and are certain of every step. Otherwise leave it to a workshop.

• Obtain the vehicle manufacturer's procedure before you start: how the gearbox is removed and fitted and what has to be detached for it, how the engine is supported meanwhile, which fixings and seals must be replaced with new ones, every tightening specification and tightening sequence, how the flywheel is checked and within which limits, how the clutch is centred and fitted and whether the pressure plate needs a fitting tool, which grease goes where, the oil the gearbox takes and how its level is set, how the clutch control is bled or adjusted, and what has to be set or adapted with a diagnostic tool afterwards.
• Find out how your clutch is built, since the steps and the kit differ with it. The clutch is released either by a release bearing that slides on a guide sleeve and is moved by a release fork, which a cable or a slave cylinder on the outside of the gearbox works, or by a central slave cylinder that sits around the gearbox's input shaft inside the bell housing and carries the release bearing. The clutch is of the push type or of the pull type, its pressure plate may adjust itself for wear, and the flywheel is a dual-mass flywheel or a single-mass flywheel.
• Plan to replace the disc and the pressure plate together. Find out from the vehicle manufacturer's procedure and the kit's instructions whether the release bearing, or the central slave cylinder where the clutch is released by one, has to be replaced with them. Both sit inside the bell housing: if one of them is left in and fails later, the gearbox has to be removed again. Whether the flywheel, the release fork and its pivot, the guide sleeve, a pilot bearing in the crankshaft and the seals of the crankshaft and the input shaft are replaced depends on what the procedure requires and on their condition, which shows only once the gearbox is out: allow for obtaining them.
• Have the new parts, the fixings and seals that must be new, the gearbox oil and the hydraulic fluid the vehicle manufacturer specifies to hand before the vehicle is taken apart. It cannot be moved until the job is finished.
• A hydraulic clutch control works with the fluid the vehicle manufacturer specifies for it, which can be brake fluid or a mineral oil, and it can share its reservoir with the brakes. Find out from the procedure which fluid your vehicle takes and whether the reservoir is shared. Use only the fluid specified for your vehicle, and never substitute another or mix fluids. Brake fluid is harmful and attacks paint: wear gloves and eye protection, catch what escapes, and rinse a spill off paint at once with plenty of water.
• Clutch dust is harmful when breathed in, and the lining of an old clutch disc can contain asbestos. Do not blow the clutch or the bell housing clean with compressed air and do not brush them dry: take the dust up wet, with cloths moistened with brake cleaner or by the method the vehicle manufacturer describes, without raising it, catch what runs off, and wear a dust mask, eye protection and gloves.
• Park the vehicle on firm, level ground and switch off the ignition. Where wheels stay on the ground, chock them on both sides. Raise the vehicle only at the points the vehicle manufacturer gives, on a vehicle lift or on axle stands made for its weight, high enough for the gearbox to be lowered and drawn out from under it. The weight on the vehicle's supports shifts when the gearbox comes out, and the work involves pulling and pushing: make sure that the vehicle stands securely before you go under it and each time something heavy has been removed or fitted. Never work under a vehicle that is held up by a jack alone.
• Let the engine, the exhaust and the gearbox cool before you start.
• Disconnect the battery as the battery guide linked below describes, with the tools and the precautions that job needs, before you detach anything electrical: the cable to the starter motor is live as long as the battery is connected.
• Label every connector, hose, cable and bracket you detach. The bolts that join the gearbox to the engine can differ in length, and some of them also hold a bracket, an earth lead or the starter motor: record where each bolt came from, so that it goes back in the same place.
• Do not open the refrigerant circuit of the air conditioning or any other pipe the procedure does not tell you to open. A unit that is in the way is moved aside with its pipes connected, as the vehicle manufacturer describes, and secured so that it does not hang by them.

From the moment the clutch control is detached from the gearbox until it is connected again and the gearbox is fitted, nobody may press the clutch pedal unless the vehicle manufacturer's procedure calls for it. The piston of a slave cylinder that has nothing to press against can be pushed out and the cylinder damaged; the clutch control then has to be repaired and bled.

How to replace a car battery

Choose the right clutch kit

Clutches differ in the diameter of the disc and the pressure plate, in the number of teeth and the profile of the disc's hub, which has to match the gearbox's input shaft, in whether they are of the push or the pull type, in whether the pressure plate adjusts itself, in the flywheel they work with and in the way they are released. The same model can be built with several clutches, depending on the engine, the gearbox, the production period and the flywheel fitted. A kit that can be bolted on is not therefore the right one. Fit only a kit that is listed for your vehicle and matches the flywheel, the gearbox and the release mechanism fitted to it.

Select your vehicle with the selector on this page to find the part numbers suppliers list for its engine. On the vehicle's part page, each part number is shown with the specifications its supplier states, such as the clutch kit type, diameters, the number of teeth, the hub profile, whether the kit is for vehicles with a push-type or a pull-type clutch, whether it is for engines with or without a dual-mass flywheel, and what is supplied with it.

• What the kit contains: suppliers state, for example, that a kit has two, three or four pieces, and that it comes with or without a clutch release bearing, with or without a central slave cylinder, or with a clutch slave cylinder, a release fork, a guide sleeve, a flywheel, flywheel screws, pressure plate screws or clutch grease. Check what is in the box against what your clutch needs and what the vehicle manufacturer's procedure requires to be replaced, and obtain separately whatever has to be new and is not included.
• Flywheel: for some kits the supplier states that they are for engines with a dual-mass flywheel or for engines without one, that a dual-mass or a single-mass flywheel is supplied with the kit, or the flywheel manufacturer and the flywheel depth the kit is for. A disc made for a dual-mass flywheel and a disc made for a single-mass flywheel are as a rule not interchangeable: take the kit that matches the flywheel fitted to your engine, and where a flywheel manufacturer or depth is stated, identify the flywheel on the engine before you buy.
• Conversion: a kit that its supplier describes as a conversion from a dual-mass flywheel to a single-mass flywheel replaces the dual-mass flywheel with a single-mass one and a disc made for it. It changes the design the vehicle manufacturer chose and can let more vibration and noise through. Fit such a kit only if it is listed for your vehicle and only as a complete kit, and settle with the supplier beforehand whether it suits your vehicle and the way it is used.
• Push or pull: where a supplier states that a kit is for vehicles with a push-type clutch or with a pull-type clutch, take the type your vehicle has. The two are not interchangeable.
• Special tools: for some kits the supplier states that special tools are required for mounting, or that they are not necessary. Some pressure plates that adjust themselves for wear have to be fitted with a tool their maker prescribes. Find out from the kit's instructions which tools it needs, and have them before you start.
• Central slave cylinder and sensor: where a supplier states the number of mounting bores at the central slave cylinder, or that a kit comes with or without a sensor, compare that with the parts on your gearbox and take the version that matches them.
• Kits this guide does not cover: a kit that its supplier states to be for vehicles with a double clutch or for a wet clutch is not a kit for the dry clutch with one disc that this guide describes, and a kit supplied with a release plate may be for a clutch design this guide does not cover. Check the vehicle manufacturer's procedure and the kit's instructions before you rely on this guide for such a kit.
• Tightening values: where a supplier states a tightening torque or a tightening angle for a part number, the vehicle's part page shows it as the supplier states it, without the fixing it applies to. Never apply such a value to a fixing by guesswork. Take every tightening specification from the vehicle manufacturer's procedure and from the instructions supplied with the kit.
• Where more than one kit is listed, they can be equivalent parts from different suppliers or parts intended for different versions of the vehicle. Where a supplier states conditions for a part number, such as a production period, a chassis number range or an equipment code, the vehicle's part page shows them with that part number: check them against your vehicle. If what is stated does not settle whether the kit fits, ask the supplier or the vehicle manufacturer before you buy.

Once the old clutch is out, compare the new parts with it before you fit anything, but do not take the old parts as the specification: a clutch that was fitted earlier may itself have been the wrong one. What decides is the part number listed for your engine whose stated conditions match your vehicle, its gearbox and its flywheel, and a difference in diameter, in the hub's teeth, in the fixing holes or in type needs the supplier's or the vehicle manufacturer's confirmation.

All clutch kit OE numbers in the catalogue

Separate the gearbox from the engine

How the gearbox comes out depends on the vehicle. Where the engine sits across the vehicle and drives the front wheels, the drive shafts are as a rule detached and the gearbox is drawn off sideways and lowered. Where the engine sits lengthways and drives the rear wheels, the propeller shaft and, depending on the vehicle, part of the exhaust come off and the gearbox is drawn off to the rear. Four-wheel drive adds further shafts and units, and on some vehicles the engine and the gearbox are taken out together or the engine is removed instead. The steps below name what the work as a rule includes. Your vehicle manufacturer's procedure gives what is done on your vehicle and in which order, and it decides.

1. Where the procedure has wheels removed, loosen their fixings slightly while the vehicle still stands on its wheels. Secure, raise and support the vehicle as described under Before you start, and check that it stands securely before you go under it. Disconnect the battery as the battery guide describes, and remove those wheels.
2. Remove what the procedure lists for access, such as underbody panels, the air filter housing with its ducts, or the battery and its tray. Pull connectors apart, and take off hoses and covers, only after releasing any clip or lock as the vehicle manufacturer describes, and label each as you go.
3. Detach from the gearbox what the procedure lists: as a rule the cables or rods of the gear shift, the electrical connectors on the gearbox, such as those of the reversing light switch and of sensors, and any earth lead bolted to it. Do not alter the setting of an adjustable connection of the gear shift unless the procedure tells you to.
4. Detach the clutch control from the gearbox as the vehicle manufacturer describes. A cable is detached from the release mechanism and its bracket. A slave cylinder on the outside of the gearbox is, where the procedure allows it, unbolted with its pipe still connected, and tied up without kinking or straining the pipe. Where the procedure has the hydraulic pipe separated, as it can for a central slave cylinder, separate it where and as the vehicle manufacturer describes: catch the fluid that escapes, close the open ends at once with clean plugs or caps as the procedure specifies, and keep the fluid off paint and off everything that belongs to the clutch.
5. Remove the starter motor where it is bolted to the bell housing or is in the way, and remove any sensor that reaches into the bell housing where the procedure says so, before the gearbox is moved: such a sensor can break off when the gearbox is drawn away.
6. Where the procedure has the gearbox oil drained, for example because oil would run out when the drive shafts are pulled out, drain it into a clean container. Refit the drain plug with a new seal where one is required, and tighten it according to the specification.
7. Detach the drive shafts or the propeller shaft as the vehicle manufacturer describes. Depending on the vehicle this includes a hub nut, suspension joints, an anti-roll bar, parts of the exhaust, heat shields, or a subframe or crossmember. Mark the position of a propeller shaft on its flanges before unbolting it where the procedure says so. Hold detached shafts up with wire or straps so that they do not hang by their joints, do not pull a joint apart or bend it further than it moves freely, and keep the boots and the gearbox's shaft seals from damage. Close the openings the shafts leave in the gearbox with clean plugs. Where a hub carrier is swung aside, do not strain the brake hose or the lead of the wheel speed sensor.
8. Where the steering column has to be separated from the steering gear, for example because the subframe that carries the steering gear is lowered, first secure the steering wheel so that it cannot turn, as the procedure describes. Turning it while the column is detached can damage the airbag's contact unit behind the steering wheel.
9. Support the engine with the equipment the vehicle manufacturer specifies, at the points the procedure names, before any mounting of the engine or the gearbox is undone. Watch that hoses, pipes, wiring and the exhaust are not strained when the engine's position changes.
10. Support the gearbox on the transmission jack and secure it to the jack with the strap or chain. Then remove the gearbox's mountings and any subframe or crossmember the procedure lists.
11. Undo the bolts that join the gearbox to the engine, including any that are reached from the engine's side, and record the place of each. Remove any cover plate of the bell housing the procedure lists. With your helper, check that nothing connects the gearbox to the engine or the body any longer: no cable, pipe, earth lead or bracket.
12. Where the clutch is of the pull type, the release bearing is locked into the pressure plate. Release the bearing from the pressure plate or from its fork as the vehicle manufacturer describes before the gearbox is drawn off; it does not come away otherwise.
13. With your helper, draw the gearbox straight off the locating dowels and keep it in line with the engine until the input shaft is clear of the clutch. Do not let the gearbox tilt or its weight hang on the input shaft while the shaft is still in the disc. If the gearbox does not come away, look for a bolt or a bracket that is still fitted or a seized dowel; do not lever between the mating faces with a tool that can damage them.
14. Lower the gearbox on the jack and move it clear. Set it down where it cannot tip over or roll, and not on the input shaft or the release mechanism. Keep any plate that sits between the engine and the gearbox, and note how it was fitted. Check that the locating dowels are still in the engine or the bell housing.

Nobody may be under the gearbox or the engine while either is being raised or lowered, and nobody may reach between the gearbox and the engine while one of them is moved. Where the engine stays in the vehicle, it stays supported as the procedure requires for as long as the gearbox is out. Do not move the vehicle, and do not lean or pull on it more than the work needs.

Remove the old clutch

1. Put on the dust mask, eye protection and gloves. Take up the dust on the outside of the pressure plate and in the bell housing with cloths moistened with brake cleaner, or by the method the vehicle manufacturer describes, without raising it, and catch what runs off in the tray. Do not use compressed air.
2. Look at the clutch with the lamp before you take it apart, and record what you see. Oil, grease or fluid that has been thrown around the bell housing shows that something leaks, and where it starts points to the source.
3. Lock the flywheel against turning, with the tool the procedure names. Loosen the pressure plate's bolts evenly, each a little at a time and in a diagonal sequence, until the pressure plate no longer presses on the disc. Do not undo one bolt fully while the others are still tight.
4. Hold the pressure plate while you take out its last bolts: the pressure plate and the disc are then loose, and both are heavy enough to injure if they fall. Lift them off the flywheel and its dowels and keep them for comparison with the new parts.
5. Where the release bearing slides on a guide sleeve, take it off the sleeve and out of the release fork as the vehicle manufacturer describes, and take out the release fork where the procedure provides for it. On a pull-type clutch the bearing has, depending on the design, stayed in the pressure plate or on its fork.
6. Where the clutch has a central slave cylinder that is being replaced, unbolt it from the gearbox as the vehicle manufacturer describes, catching the fluid that runs out of it, and keep the plug or cap on the open pipe.

Check the flywheel, the seals and the release mechanism

1. Clean the bell housing, the mating faces of the engine and the gearbox and the flywheel's friction surface with brake cleaner on cloths, catching what runs off. Wipe a dual-mass flywheel, a pilot bearing and the bearings of the release mechanism only: do not spray or soak them, since the cleaner can wash out their grease.
2. Find the source of any oil, grease or fluid in the bell housing: look at the crankshaft's seal behind the flywheel, at the seal of the gearbox's input shaft and at the slave cylinder. A leak has to be repaired by the vehicle manufacturer's procedure before the new clutch goes in. This guide does not cover those repairs.
3. Check a single-mass flywheel as the vehicle manufacturer describes. Cracks, deep grooves, a worn step, blue or dark patches left by heat on the friction surface, and damaged teeth of the ring gear the starter motor engages mean that the flywheel is replaced, or reconditioned where the vehicle manufacturer permits that and within the limits it gives. Reconditioning is work for a specialist, and this guide does not cover it.
4. Check a dual-mass flywheel as its maker or the vehicle manufacturer describes, with the gauges and within the limits they give. Grease that has escaped from it, cracks or marks of heat on its friction surface, damaged teeth of the ring gear, noises, and play between its two masses beyond those limits mean that it is replaced. The friction surface of a dual-mass flywheel is not machined. If its condition cannot be established with certainty, ask a workshop or replace it: a flywheel that fails later means removing the gearbox again.
5. Where the flywheel is replaced or has to come off, lock it, undo its bolts as the procedure describes and support its weight as the last bolt comes out: a flywheel is heavy. Fit the flywheel in the one position the crankshaft's flange allows or the procedure gives, on clean faces, with new bolts where the vehicle manufacturer requires them to be replaced and with the threads prepared as the procedure describes. Tighten the bolts in the sequence and the stages of the vehicle manufacturer's specification, with the torque wrench and, where the specification gives one, the further angle.
6. Where the crankshaft carries a pilot bearing or bush for the end of the input shaft, check that it runs smoothly and is not worn. Replace it as the vehicle manufacturer describes, with the puller and the driver the procedure names, where it is worn, where the procedure requires it or where the kit includes a new one for your engine.
7. Check the gearbox's input shaft: its splines have to be clean and free of rust, old grease and damage. Clean them with a cloth. Slide the new disc onto the splines without grease: it has to go on and move along them freely without tilting. Take it off again.
8. Where the release bearing slides on a guide sleeve, check the sleeve for grooves and wear, and check the release fork, its pivot and its bearings for wear, cracks and play. Replace worn parts as the vehicle manufacturer describes: on a worn release mechanism a new clutch may not release properly.
9. Look at what you can see of the clutch control: a frayed or stiff cable, a pipe or hose that is chafed, cracked or wet with fluid, and a slave cylinder that leaks or whose boot is torn are replaced before the gearbox goes back.
10. Check that the locating dowels are in place and undamaged and that the mating faces are clean, flat and free of burrs.

Oil, grease or hydraulic fluid on its linings can spoil a clutch disc: a contaminated disc cannot be cleaned and is replaced. Do not fit a new clutch behind a leak that has not been repaired, and touch the linings of the disc and the friction surfaces of the pressure plate and the flywheel only with clean, dry hands or clean gloves.

Fit the new clutch

1. Read the instructions supplied with the kit. Check the new parts against the part number listed for the vehicle and compare them with the old ones, as described under Choose the right clutch kit: the diameter of the disc and the pressure plate, the hub's teeth, the fixing and dowel holes of the pressure plate, and the release bearing or the central slave cylinder. Do not fit a part that has been dropped, is damaged or differs from what is listed until the difference has been cleared up.
2. Where the kit's instructions call for it, remove the protective coating from the friction surface of the pressure plate, and from that of a new flywheel, with brake cleaner on a clean cloth, and let the cleaner evaporate fully. Do not put cleaner or anything else on the linings of the disc.
3. Where the kit's instructions call for the run-out of the disc to be checked before fitting, check it as they describe, and do not fit a disc that is beyond the limit they give.
4. Grease the splines of the input shaft or of the disc's hub only if the kit's instructions or the vehicle manufacturer call for it, with the grease supplied or specified and as thinly as they describe. Slide the disc along the shaft and back, take it off and wipe away all the grease that has been pushed out: grease that is thrown onto the linings can spoil the disc. Some hubs are fitted without grease.
5. Find the marking on the new disc that says which side faces the gearbox or the flywheel, and hold the disc against the flywheel that way round. Where the disc carries no marking, the kit's instructions or the supplier say which way round it goes; do not copy the old disc without confirmation. A disc that is fitted the wrong way round can foul the flywheel or the pressure plate and keep the clutch from working, and the gearbox then has to come out again.
6. Centre the disc on the flywheel with the centring tool. A disc that is off centre can keep the input shaft from entering when the gearbox is fitted.
7. Place the pressure plate over the disc and onto the flywheel's dowels. Where the pressure plate adjusts itself for wear and its maker or the vehicle manufacturer prescribes a fitting tool, fit the pressure plate with that tool exactly as instructed: bolted down without it, the adjusting mechanism can be set off, and the clutch then does not work properly. Remove any transport lock of the pressure plate when its instructions say so.
8. Fit the pressure plate's bolts, new ones where the vehicle manufacturer requires them to be replaced or the kit supplies them, and start each by hand. Tighten them evenly, each a little at a time and in a diagonal sequence, so that the pressure plate is drawn down squarely, and then according to the vehicle manufacturer's specification with the torque wrench. Do not use an impact tool. Take out the centring tool: it has to come out freely. Remove the tool that locks the flywheel.
9. Where the release bearing slides on a guide sleeve, fit the release fork, its pivot and the release bearing, a new one where it is being replaced, as the vehicle manufacturer describes. Apply grease only where the kit's instructions or the procedure name a point for it, and only the grease they name: some bearings and sleeves are fitted dry. Check that the bearing slides freely on the sleeve and is held in the fork, and that the fork moves freely.
10. Where a new central slave cylinder is being fitted, fit it with any new seal it needs, as its instructions and the vehicle manufacturer describe, and tighten its bolts according to the specification. Do not press a central slave cylinder together by hand, fill it or operate it before the gearbox is fitted unless its instructions tell you to, and keep grease and cleaner away from it. Check a central slave cylinder that stays in for leaks and for damage as the vehicle manufacturer describes.
11. On a pull-type clutch, fit the release bearing as the vehicle manufacturer describes, so that it can lock into the pressure plate when or after the gearbox is fitted, as the design provides.
12. Check with the lamp that nothing has been left in the bell housing or on the clutch: no tool, cloth, old bolt or cover. Plugs and caps stay on open pipes and openings until each is connected.

A disc that is the wrong way round or off centre, a self-adjusting pressure plate whose mechanism has been set off, and a release bearing that is not seated cannot be put right once the gearbox is fitted. Check each of them before the gearbox goes back.

Refit the gearbox

1. Check once more that the locating dowels and any plate between the engine and the gearbox are in place, that the release bearing is seated and that the release fork is held in the position the procedure gives. Secure the gearbox on the transmission jack.
2. With your helper, raise the gearbox and bring it into line with the engine, at the same height and the same angle, and slide the input shaft through the release mechanism into the hub of the disc. Where the splines do not engage, turn the input shaft or the crankshaft slightly as the procedure describes, with the tool it names where one is needed. Do not use force.
3. Push the gearbox home by hand until it sits on the dowels and the mating faces meet all round. Never draw the gearbox onto the engine with its bolts, and never let its weight hang on the input shaft while the shaft is in the disc: either can bend the disc's hub, and the clutch can then fail to separate.
4. Fit the bolts that join the gearbox to the engine, each in its place and with whatever it holds, such as a bracket, an earth lead or a cover plate. Start each by hand and tighten them according to the vehicle manufacturer's specification.
5. On a pull-type clutch, lock the release bearing into the pressure plate as the vehicle manufacturer describes, and check as the procedure describes that it has locked.
6. Refit the gearbox's mountings and any subframe or crossmember, with new fixings where they are required, aligned and tightened as the procedure describes: some mountings and suspension fixings are tightened only once the vehicle stands on its wheels or the unit has settled in its mountings. Take away the transmission jack and the engine support only once the mountings carry the engine and the gearbox.
7. Remove the plugs from the gearbox's shaft openings and refit the drive shafts or the propeller shaft as the vehicle manufacturer describes: with new seals, clips, nuts and bolts where they are required, each shaft pushed fully home, and a propeller shaft in its marked position. Refit the suspension joints, the anti-roll bar and the hub nut, and reconnect a steering column that was separated, with every fixing new where required and tightened according to the specification. Release the steering wheel only after that.
8. Refit the starter motor, the sensors, the electrical connectors, the earth leads, the cables or rods of the gear shift, the exhaust with new gaskets where they are required, the heat shields and everything else removed for access, such as the air filter housing with its ducts and the battery's tray. Fasten every clip and lock again, and route cables, pipes and hoses as they ran before, clear of the exhaust and of moving parts.
9. Connect the clutch control as the vehicle manufacturer describes. Attach a cable to the release mechanism and its bracket. Bolt on a slave cylinder on the outside of the gearbox with its pushrod seated as the procedure describes. Reconnect a hydraulic pipe that was separated, with a new seal or clip where one is required, after taking off the plugs or caps.
10. Fill the gearbox with the oil the vehicle manufacturer specifies, up to the level the procedure gives, where oil was drained or lost. Fit the plugs with new seals where they are required and tighten them according to the specification. Where the procedure had you drain or open another system, such as the cooling system, refill and bleed it as the vehicle manufacturer describes.
11. Account for every plug, cap, strap, wire and tool you used, and check that none of them is still on the vehicle.

The fixings of drive shafts, suspension joints, a subframe and the steering are safety parts. A fixing that is reused where a new one is required, or that is not tightened as specified, can come loose while driving. Check each of them against the procedure before the wheels go on.

Bleed, check and test

1. Where the hydraulic system was opened, bleed the clutch control by the vehicle manufacturer's procedure and with the equipment it names, and follow the instructions of a new central slave cylinder: a method they do not provide for can damage the cylinder. Use only new fluid of the specified kind from a sealed container. Do not let the reservoir run empty: where it is shared with the brakes, air can then get into the brake system, which has to be bled as well before the vehicle is driven. Afterwards set the fluid level between the marks, close the reservoir and check every connection you opened for leaks.
2. Adjust a clutch cable, or reset its automatic adjuster, as the vehicle manufacturer describes.
3. Refit the wheels that were removed. Start every wheel fixing by hand and tighten them evenly in a diagonal sequence. Lower the vehicle onto its wheels and tighten the wheel fixings according to the vehicle manufacturer's specification with the torque wrench, and tighten whatever the procedure has tightened with the vehicle standing on its wheels.
4. Reconnect the battery as the battery guide describes, and carry out what the vehicle manufacturer requires afterwards. Where the procedure provides for a setting or an adaptation after the clutch has been replaced, carry it out with the diagnostic tool.
5. Press the clutch pedal several times. It has to move smoothly, with an even resistance, and return fully. If it stays down, feels spongy or has no resistance, do not start the engine: there can be air in the system, a leak, or a release mechanism that is not seated, and the cause is found first.
6. Start the engine only in the open air, with the vehicle on its wheels, the parking brake applied, the gearbox in neutral, room in front of and behind the vehicle, nobody standing there and nobody near moving parts. Press the clutch pedal for starting where the vehicle requires that. Listen with the pedal released and pressed. Switch off at once if you hear grinding, rattling or squealing from the clutch.
7. With the engine idling and your foot on the brake, press the clutch pedal fully, wait a moment and engage each gear in turn, reverse included. Every gear has to engage without grating, and the vehicle must not try to move while the pedal is pressed. If a gear grates or the vehicle pulls, the clutch is not separating: switch off and have the cause found before the vehicle is driven.
8. Switch off the engine and look with the lamp for leaks: gearbox oil at the shaft seals and the plugs, fluid at the hydraulic connections and at the joint between the engine and the gearbox. Keep clear of the hot exhaust. Where you have to go under the vehicle for this, raise and support it again as described.
9. Test the vehicle at low speed in a safe place away from traffic before you drive on the road. The clutch has to take up smoothly and without judder, it must not slip, and every gear has to engage. Check as well that the brakes and the steering work as they did before. If anything is not as it should be, do not drive on: have the vehicle checked by a workshop.
10. Have the wheel alignment checked where the vehicle manufacturer requires it after the work that was done, as a rule when a subframe, suspension parts or steering parts were detached.
11. A new clutch has to bed in. Follow what the kit's instructions say about the first drives; unless they say otherwise, pull away gently, do not let the clutch slip longer than needed, and avoid full load and towing at first. After the first drives, check the fluid level again, look for leaks, and check the fixings the procedure says are to be checked again.
12. Hand in the old oil and the old hydraulic fluid, kept separate, and the cloths soaked with them at a collection point for hazardous waste. Dispose of the old disc and the cloths that hold clutch dust as your local rules require, without raising the dust; the old pressure plate and flywheel are scrap metal.

Mistakes to avoid

• Working under a vehicle that is not securely supported, or moving a gearbox without a transmission jack and a helper
• Undoing a mounting before the engine is supported
• Buying a clutch kit before the fault has been diagnosed
• Fitting a new clutch behind a leaking seal or a leaking slave cylinder
• Leaving in a release bearing or a central slave cylinder that the procedure or the kit's instructions require to be replaced, or a worn release mechanism
• Fitting a kit made for another flywheel, or a disc with a different hub
• Fitting the disc the wrong way round or off centre
• Bolting down a self-adjusting pressure plate without the tool its maker prescribes
• Tightening the pressure plate's bolts one after another instead of evenly, or by feel
• Reusing flywheel bolts or other fixings that the vehicle manufacturer requires to be replaced
• Putting too much grease on the splines, or grease where the instructions name none
• Touching the linings or the friction surfaces with oily hands
• Drawing the gearbox onto the engine with its bolts, or letting it hang on the input shaft
• Pressing the clutch pedal while the gearbox is out
• Pressing a central slave cylinder together by hand or bleeding it by a method its instructions do not provide for
• Applying a tightening value to a fixing it was not given for
• Blowing clutch dust out with compressed air
• Driving on the road before the clutch, the gears, the brakes and the steering have been tested