Clutch replacement - double check & advice

CanadaEh

CanadaEh

New member
Evening all, I wanted to double check a diagnosis and correct parts advice before I embark on replacing the clutch in my 96' 4runner.

Year: 1996
Engine: 3rz 2.7L 4cyl
Transmission: 5spd manual
Trim: Base

First: The diagnosis.
Last night the wife complained that shifting was difficult and this morning when we went to go I was unable to shift into any gear with the truck on. Turning the truck off I could shift at will without issue.
I had a friend look under the truck while I depressed the clutch pedal and the slave cylinder rod looks like it's moving well and a fair amount. The fluid level is good and I don't see any leaks.

Another friend and my normal mechanic came and looked it over for about 10 minutes and said the clutch is worn out. There's about 275,000 kms on the truck and I think the clutch was last done at 125k but I didn't own it then and can't confirm.

Does this diagnosis sound correct? Anything I should check before ordering some new parts?


Second question: Parts
I am looking at this kit from Rockauto

Is this the correct one for my vehicle and would anyone recommend something different? I don't do much offroading or towing, it's more of a family & camping vehicle.

Also, anything else I should buy and do while I'm doing this work? Anything to replace while I'm down there?

Final question: Tips/Tricks
Any tips, tricks and advice for doing the work?
I plan to follow these guides



Thanks in advance for advice, corrections and tips!
 
Register to hide this ad
If you can't get it in gear while running it sounds more like a master/slave issue. May be completely wrong, but I would play with the pedal adjustment first. Seems suspect for it to become imposinless to shift while running in only ~24 hours.
 
Usually people replace a clutch for slipping, not sure about yours.

Not so many people with manuals here, fewer still with the 3rz. I only recall hearing about people using Marlin Crawler when talking about clutches in the past. There's a guy on here from BC who got a marlin crawler tranny and clutch.

I looked up mine on rock auto and that is the part they show. I have had only good luck with rock auto and it is an Aisin kit. It's the one I would go with.

Have you considered a rear main seal? I don't know how much that applies to our engine but while you are in there. Oh, I have also heard that changing the clutch fork and pivot point is worth the while as you are at it.

Please update us on how this kit works. I'm heading south in a bit in ours again and I should buy one of these as a replacement to have along. Mine is at 175 on the original. One of these days...
 
I'll second the idea of adjusting the pedal's free play before performing clutch surgery.

I have replaced Gen3 clutches in both 4 and 6 cylinder versions. I used the Aisin kits such as the one you found at RockAuto. CKT-051 is correct for the 2.7 engine. You may confirm that here: PartCat

To my understanding, in traditional terms a clutch is worn out when the disk is worn (thin) to a degree that the pressure plate cannot clamp the disk to the flywheel with sufficient force to avoid slippage.

Also to my understanding, and in my experience, difficulty in shifting is caused by the pressure plate not being sufficiently lifted, resulting in high drag on the clutch disk. Not enough drag to move/creep the vehicle, but enough drag to put pressure on the transmission and thus making shifting difficult. In this situation, shifting while the engine is not running is not difficult.

Thus the recommendation to try free play adjustment. You want the clutch pedal to move the pressure plate as far as possible, within the plate's design limits, of course.

I think a clutch job, done properly, mandates resurfacing the flywheel and replacing the rear main seal.

Finally, the clutch disk must "float" on the transmission's input shaft by a few thousands front to back. In other words, the pressure plate moves the disk a tiny amount towards the flywheel as the clutch engages. A clutch disk rusted solid to the transmission's shaft will also exhibit severe drag and make shifting difficult.

By the way, there seems to be a huge disagreement "out there on the Internet" as to whether lightly greasing the disk's splines is good/necessary/optional/bad. I've always lubed the splines with moly grease, in a coating as light as I can make it. I fear this statement will be as controversial as stating an oil preference.
 
Far from a pro at clutches but [MENTION=105044]davidch[/MENTION] laid out exactly what I was thinking with the master/slave not releasing the pressure plate enough. I replaced my clutch with the marlin kit, and remember (though vaguely) adjusting my pedal throw to get it back where I like it. During that I over adjusted it and had the same issue you had where I couldn't get it in to gear. Starting the truck with clutch pedal depressed and in first gear it was obvious the clutch was still somewhat engaged.

Also, I replaced my clutch due to a real bad hop I had developed when trying to slip it from a stop (traffic or in town hill starts). My throw out bearing was toast and my pressure plate was missing 5 of the 15 fingers when I got it appart. Don't remember it ever slipping though. I had a rear main seal with me when I did it never installed it. Origional was dry and decent looking and figured there was a better chance of my screwing up the install than the old seal dieing in therror immediate. Knock on wood but so far that was a good decision for me. 4600000km on the original rear main and time is only ticking :clock:
 
Thanks everyone :)

I'll play with the pedal adjustment first and see if I can elicit any changes.

Thanks for the confirmation on the Aisin kit and I will definitely do a thread of the replacement if it's necessary. I would also do the rear main seal while I'm down there.

If it's not just a pedal issue I will be doing a lot of work after the Christmas break as I've been putting some stuff off. Maybe it will be worth a build thread
 
Long overdue update. I played with the pedal adjustment and even replaced the master and slave altogether.
No change

Dropped the transmission and the clutch disk itself is pretty worn but not horrible. Flywheel looks ok, no hotspots but with my fingers I felt some tiny grooves.

Took out the fork and it's fine with a little wear at the tips.

Throwout bearing?
Completely ****ed. The housing is completely cracked and bent and everything is trashed. I suspect this is my problem.
I will remember to take a picture tomorrow to show the damage.


I got the Aisin kit so I'm gonna do the whole thing anyway now that the trans is out.

Going to do the rear main seal too while I'm at it.

Thanks again for everyone's input :)
 
If you do need to replace the clutch. Autozone sells Excedy clutch. Made in Japan for our trucks. I’m using it and it’s fine. Was under $200 for me.
 
Looking forward to the rest of this story. I want to replace my master slave cylinders, plus my clutch is always really sticky and rough. It engages near the top of the pedal stroke so I think it is on its way out. But it doesn't slip. I got the Marlin Crawler one ready to go when the time is right.
 
So, lots of life stuff happened and I couldn't get time in the shop to finish this project until last week.

I thought I took a picture of the throwout bearing but I can no longer find it on my phone. Basically the retaining holder (?) was cracked and broken so when the fork moved it moved barely a mm if it moved at all.

FMmBPs3.jpg



Inside the bell housing was dirty but not too terrible and everything else looked in OK condition.

I pulled the old rear main seal only to realize I had ordered the wrong part so a quick run to Lordco sorted that out. No leaks so far.

Installed the clutch, new pressure plate and resurfaced flywheel and we wrestled the trans back into place and reconnected everything (almost everything, more on that later).


I went to go start it and "click" nothing. Tried again, nothing, not even a click.
WTF!
So I went looking around for what we've done wrong.
On the trans there is an abandoned blue clip. Hmmm what's this for?
I hunted around for 2 hours looking for a mate for it with no luck and I was starting to resign myself to dropping the trans again to find out what this is.

Then a buddy came buy and diagnosed the issue.

During the removal I had killed my starter somehow. A fuse had blown and a wire broke off (really the clip on the side of the starter) and that's why it wasn't turning over.

Ordered a new offset starter by TYC from RockAuto as the one that came out was 11 years old.

While this was out I decided to do the fuel filter and damn Toyota for putting this in such an awkward place. That said, with the starter out and wheel off it was fairly quick to replace. I did forget to open the cap and bleed some pressure so there was gas all over the place but that was an easy clean up.

A few days go by and the starter arrives and in she goes super easy (new parts are shiny :) ).

Reconnected the hard brake line we had to take out to get the starter out and bled the brakes.

Then we turned the key and fired her up!
Not.
I hear the starter turning the motor over and I thought it must take a few seconds to pump fuel through the new filter.
Keep trying, now it's gotta be almost 30 seconds of cranking, something must be wrong with fuel delivery. Did I put the filter in wrong?

Nope, I just didn't connect the electrical clip that I assume controls the injectors to actually put the fuel where it's supposed to go? It was a white ended clip on the drivers side of the motor right in front of the filter.

Clip connected and Voila! she runs!

But, does she drive?

Narrowly missing the garage wall I get it backed out and do some test runs around the neighbourhood and it drives like a dream. Easy shifting, no more pedal right on the floor to shift. Woo!

So, finally this months long saga is done....

Well, almost. Somehow during installation I have ****ed up either the 4WD shifter install or something internal. The shifter is "in" but moving it around does nothing and it won't lock in any specific position. No 4WD lights are on so I believe I'm just in 2H.

Before this thread is closed up for good I'd like some advice on:

A) where does that abandoned blue clip go? Seems to come from a bundle of wires coming from the engine compartment but I would have to take all the sheathing off to trace it. I will try to take a picture tonight to describe this better.

B) What did I screw up in putting the 4WD shifter back in? I don't believe it moved during removal and we were not in 4WD when we began the project. I also covered up the hole so nothing fell in.

Thanks in advance and thanks for reading if you got this far in the story!
 
I replaced my clutch a year or two ago - So the process is fresh in my mind.

I am not sure what you mean by "blue clip" but I am thinking it is part of the plastic connectors that attach to the transmission on those flat studs.
They slide on.
Please post some pictures if that is incorrect.

You should take your shifter out again and make sure it is seated correctly. The xfer case should still go in to each position regardless of the 4x4 indicator lights illuminating.
 
I will take it out this evening or tomorrow and take a picture as I'm not sure what's wrong specifically.

I'll also take a picture of the blue electrical connector/clip that seems to be hanging free near the trans. I believe we have hooked up all connectors that are mounted directly to the trans (there are 3 total I think). I did label some but not all :/


Edit: I am dumb. I forgot there was rear controls for the rear heater :) All fixed.

One thing I noticed on the drive into work is that there is a fan under the passenger side front seat that comes on when the truck starts and never goes off. I don't seem to have any controls over this within the cab.
 
Last edited:
took a quick picture of the blue clip. This is from underneath the drivers side (you can see the slave cylinder)

7cD33rJ.jpg
 
CanadaEh said:
took a quick picture of the blue clip. This is from underneath the drivers side (you can see the slave cylinder)

7cD33rJ.jpg
Click to expand...
Underneath in the trans harness on an RZ manual 4x4 you'll have the 2 oxygen sensors, the reverse lights, the speed sensor and the 4wd indicator light. I'm pretty sure that blue plug is the 4wd indicator since the reverse light is gray and the speed sensor is black.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
 
I just spent an hour looking around under there and I can't find where that goes.

Regarding the 4wd shifter I definitely need some help as google isn't giving me what I need.
How do I put it in :)

zcdde1W.jpg


UHemWZq.jpg




Here is the other blue electrical clip by the trans. This is on the passenger side.

ScEA81m.jpg
 
Last edited:
Figured it out.
Thank God for the FSM.

4wd indicator works.
Reverse light works
Both ox sensors attached
Speedo works

So no God damn clue what that clip does...
 
CanadaEh said:
Figured it out.
Thank God for the FSM.

4wd indicator works.
Reverse light works
Both ox sensors attached
Speedo works

So no God damn clue what that clip does...
Click to expand...

That plug is for a 4L only position switch on the TC that is connected to the ECU. In 1996, the M/T does not use that position switch but it appears it is provided for in the harness. My '99 5VZ-FE M/T has it but the '96 EWD says it is A/T only. The switch looks just like the 4WD position switch but is on the opposite side of the TC.
 

Attachments

Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 211 (members: 1, guests: 210)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,309
Messages
3,554,071
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top