DIY CLUTCH - Introduction
Before starting this job, you want to make sure you have the one special tool that makes this much easier.
This tool keeps the pressure plate compressed so you can pull it out. You should be able to buy it from most of the online SAAB parts stores.
There are two styles of the same basic tool. One is basically a smaller ring than the other. I believe there are two styles of pressure plates out there.
I have used the larger ring with the smaller pressure plate with no problems.
If you do not have this special tool then you will need some other tool for this. Other people have used thick wire, but I have never had much luck with this.
Others suggest using taped nickles or pennies, but I don't know how you would keep them in place while installing all of them.
Another special tool you will see is the Rear Main Crankshaft seal tool. This is very hard to find, but performs the job extremely well.
If you see this on Ebay, you should snatch it up very quickly!
I borrowed the tool from my friendly local indy mechanic.
If you don't have this tool, then you will have to do it the old fashion way with a wood board and a hammer.
Changing the clutch is a straight forward procedure and there really aren't many traps. Rust is usually not a big worry since all of the parts are covered by the shield.
DIY CLUTCH - Introduction
Before starting this job, you want to make sure you have the one special tool that makes this much easier.
This tool keeps the pressure plate compressed so you can pull it out. You should be able to buy it from most of the online SAAB parts stores.
There are two styles of the same basic tool. One is basically a smaller ring than the other. I believe there are two styles of pressure plates out there.
I have used the larger ring with the smaller pressure plate with no problems.
If you do not have this special tool then you will need some other tool for this. Other people have used thick wire, but I have never had much luck with this.
Others suggest using taped nickles or pennies, but I don't know how you would keep them in place while installing all of them.
Another special tool you will see is the Rear Main Crankshaft seal tool. This is very hard to find, but performs the job extremely well.
If you see this on Ebay, you should snatch it up very quickly!
I borrowed the tool from my friendly local indy mechanic.
If you don't have this tool, then you will have to do it the old fashion way with a wood board and a hammer.
Changing the clutch is a straight forward procedure and there really aren't many traps. Rust is usually not a big worry since all of the parts are covered by the shield.
DIY CLUTCH - STEP 1
Getting to the Clutch
Getting to the Clutch
The first thing to do when starting this job, is to remove the hood from the car. Then you can have full access to the clutch.
Then you can start loosening, disconnecting everything in front of the clutch cover.
I always start with the turbo intercooler ducting. If you don't have a turbo, then it makes it very easy to access the clutch cover.
Here I have removed the pipe going to the intake manifold and the intercooler. The Air Mass Meter (AMM) has also been removed. Be careful with the AMM, as it is fragile. If you drop it, it will most likely be broke!
I have now removed the intercooler, and the the output pipe of the turbo.
Some people have told me that you do not need to pull the A/C fan. You can just rotate the fan blades so that the clutch shaft will be up against the radiator. This is up to you!
If you choose to take out the A/C fan, be sure to unplug it before trying to pull it out! The bottom screw is the hardest screw to get at. If the fan has been out before, than most likely you can just take out the top 2 screws and pull out the fan. Most people will keep the bottom screw loose, just for this occasion! NICE RADIATOR JEFF!
I also had to completely remove the Turbo Bypass valve (AKA Hooter Valve). The hooter valve hose connecting to the intake manifold was blocking one of the screws for the clutch cover.
I then removed the plug going to the distributor, I already broke it the last time I tried to this job!
DIY CLUTCH - STEP 2
Removing the clutch
Removing the clutch
By this time, you should be able to get to the clutch cover. I had 5 screws keeping this damn thing on. Three of them were hard to find.
The first two are on each side of the cover, the next three are further back, they are 10 mm screws. The top one is to the left of the timing hole.
This was hardest to see. After removing the hooter valve and hose, you should be able to see it.
Removing the cover can be very difficult. Don't be afraid to really pull on the cover, it can take the abuse.
The first thing to do is to break loose all of the bolts. There are 3 hex bolts for the slave cylinder and 6 bolts that hold the pressure plate to the flywheel.
It's easiest to break them when the clutch is still engaged. This will keep the flywheel from spinning. When you do need to spin the flywheel, put the car in neutral, and use a screw driver and push the flywheel around.
To keep the timing chain from going slack, you should move the engine counter-clockwise only.
Now it's time to use special tool # 1. Insert the spacer into the clutch pressure plate by having a friend push the clutch in and you insert the spacer. It may take two pushes of the clutch pedal to get the spacer fully seated.
Without this step being done, it will be very, very, difficult to remove the pressure plate and slave cylinder.
If for some reason the clutch does not compress fully, you can try to do it manually! You can try pushing in the finger with a big screwdriver, and then have a friend push in the ring, or wire.
I've never had that much luck with this!
If you cannot get the spacer into the pressure plate, you are going to have a very difficult time! If you know you are going to replace the pressure plate, you can cut, or grind the fingers off and slide out the slave cylinder that way! Other people have suggested that you use a saw and cut the slave, but I tried it and it didn't work for me! I've had this problem before.
You CAN get the whole unit out without compressing the pressure plate, but it is VERY difficult. Both times, I've ruined the slave doing it.
I ended up getting the pressure plate off of the stands and then twising everything (Pressure Plate, Slave) clockwise, while pulling it out.
Both times, also required about 3 beers just for this part.
Do not disconnect the hydralic line to the slave yet. Bleeding the clutch is much easier if you wait until you are ready with the new slave.
The next thing to do is to pull out the clutch shaft. To do this you need a homemade special tool or a bolt with the same thread pattern as the clutch shaft.
I believe it's just a regular M8 x 1.25 thread.
Remove the spring holding the cover onto the transfer case housing and then remove the cover.
Then remove the plactic piece by unscrewing it. Insert the bolt onto the shaft.
You then use a pry bar and pull the shaft out.
Once the shaft breaks loose, you will have to remove the bolt and then pull the shaft out until it hits the radiator. This should be enough for you to remove the clutch.
The shaft can become rusted to the clutch, so some good pressure might be required.
Remove the six bolts on the pressure plate and the three bolts on the slave and slide the pressure plate, disc, and slave cylinder out together.
Sometimes you can get the slave out by itself, but I usually take them out together.
DIY CLUTCH - STEP 3
Replacing the seals
Replacing the seals
The clutch shaft seal is a simple pull out with a screw driver and insert a new one back in.
In order to replace the Rear Main Seal, you have to remove the flywheel. To lock the flywheel in place, so you can loosen the bolts requires either a special tool, or some kind of screw driver jammed in the teeth of the flywheel. I have the special tool!
Now you can remove the bolts and flywheel to replace the RMS.
To Install the RMS, you must first attach the 1st part of the tool onto the crankshaft and put the seal around the tool.
If you don't have this tool, then you will have to do it the old fashion way with a wood board and a hammer. The key is to insert the seal evenly.
It's very easy to screw up the seal!
Then you put on the top part on and screw down. This presses the seal in.
The last thing to do is to replace the pilot bearing in the flywheel. This is a pretty easy task. You simply press out the old bearing and then press in the new one.
Now that you've replaced the maintenance items, you can put it all back together!
DIY CLUTCH - STEP 4
Reassembly
Reassembly
Now it's time to put it all back together again!
The flywheel goes on first.
I decided to put on the 9000 clutch, which requires you to replace the flywheel with a
1990-1993 C900 Turbo (1994 CV) flywheel. Check out my clutch upgrade page for more details on this swap.
When you mill the flywheel flat, you take the small step off of the flywheel. As the clutch wears down, the fingers push harder against the flywheel. So milling the flywheel flat will make the clutch seem a little more worn. This will increase the force of the fingers a little more. Every little extra grip helps!
Here are the steps to get everything back together again:
Bleeding the clutch can be a real PAIN IN THE ASS!
The procedure I recommend is to buy the pressure bleeder from www.eeuroparts.com. It really helps the process.
Once you think you got all of the air out of the system, then you want to squeeze the clutch supply hose starting from the master cylinder all the way up to the resevoir.
This forces all of the air trapped in the supply line out to the resevoir. This has caught me a couple of times.
Fluid will pass around the bubbles very easily making it look like the clutch is bleed, but there won't be any pressure at all!
With a new clutch installed, the pedal should be firm within 1/2" of pressing down on the pedal and you should feel the clutch fully engage about 1/2 way down the travel of the pedal.
If you have a ton of slop at the beginning of travel then you might need to replace your clutch pedal. It's a common problem!
Almost done!
- Under high boost these hoses will BLOW off. When this happens on the road, it sounds like a shotgun went off. Plus, your engine dies right away and will not run. Ask me how I know!
Reattach the hood and go for a ride. I usually drive a tank of gas before really testing the clutch. It needs to be broken in and will slip at first. This is what happened to me. It slipped at first, but now it is solid. Be very careful to not slip the clutch too much. This will ruin the disc! If it continues to slip after a tank of gas, there is something wrong.
C900 Clutch Upgrade Options
I was having some trouble with my clutch, so I decided it was time to upgrade! I guess I was trying to put a little to much power through it!
My mechanic recommended me to get a 9000 clutch, because it has a bigger surface area. In this picture you can really see the differences between the stock 900 Turbo clutch and the 9000 turbo clutch.
The springs are bigger and the disc has a bigger diameter. You also have to combine this with the 9000 pressure plate and a 1990-1993 C900 Turbo (1994 CV) flywheel. Do not get a 2.1 flywheel, these will not work!
The reason you need the new flywheel is because the 9000 pressure plate has smaller holes for the metal pegs that support the pressure plate and the bolts that hold the pressure plate onto the flywheel are in different places.
The 3 metal pegs sit in the flywheel to center the pressure plate.
The 1990-1993 900 Turbo (1994 CV) flywheel is the same as the 2.3 9000 turbo flywheel, except the timing marks are different. You could use the 9000 flywheel and get the timing marks reground.
You will want to buy the 1991-1993 9000 Turbo clutch to fit the flywheel. SAAB Changed the input shaft in 1994 so those won't work.
You will also want to have the flywheel resurfaced since this new clutch disc is 0.5" bigger.
After heavily modifying the SAAB, I have had NO problems with this setup. I believe you will be good to around 270 HP with this setup.
If you are beyond this horsepower, your options vary widely.
Some people have purchased a SACHS high performance pressure plate and others have gone with different, grippier disc materials.
The utimate solution is a dual disc clutch from Scanwest. It'll cost you about $2000, but I guess it's the best you will ever get for a C900!
/ saab / Fix_My_Saab_Backup / Saab_900 / Clutch_Replacement
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