AE100 Clutch change = engine out?

[Adoom]

So the mighty AE100 sprinteroller kinda needs the clutch replacing soon. It's getting pretty shuddery.
I've never done a clutch in a FWD(I don't think the mini counts).
Whats the deal?
Is it a big job?
Does the engine have to come out?
What's the easiest way to do it?
I suppose I could try find a haynes manual, but I'll ask Toyspeed first...

[iOnic]

What tools do you have?
Engine doesn't have to come out. Pretty much same as a normal gearbox.

Disconnect battery
Disconnect all the wiring for the gearbox (Normally only a couple of plugs), Disconnect the speedo cable if you have one, unbolt the slave cylinder (don't remove the clutch line otherwise shit'll go everywhere and you're gonna have to rebleed it afterwards)
Remove misc brackets/stuff that looks like it'll get in the way, Remove driveshafts - you can leave the cups in the box and remove the CV's if you don't want to drain the gearbox of oil. Otherwise, prepare for oil to come out of the holes that the driveshafts go into. Support gearbox and engine weight. Remove starter motor, start removing bellhousing bolts, leave 2 of the biggest ones in loose enough for you to remove quickly but not so loose that your gearbox will fall off - preferably opposite each other. Unbolt mounts, remove last bellhousing bolts, remove gearbox while making sure engine will still be supported (otherwise it'll hang like a limp dick and probably rip your cambelt side mount)

Do rear crank seal, input shaft seal and axle seals while you're there. It's a pain to have them leak afterwards and have to take it all apart again. It's about a half day job from start to finish. I've probably missed/forgotten a lot of stuff above too but I was trying to be brief

Have fun

[touge_ae101]

i'm doing one in a ae100 atm. a bit of a bitch of a job its just really tight. had to remove x member and drop the engine down on a funny angle to get the gearbox to slide off the end. not sure how i am going to go with getting it back on yet.

rear engine mount is a complete bitch as it hits the steering rack so can't be removed easily. undo the centre bolt of the mount if you can and you might be lucky that you can manouvre it around or you might have to remove the mount bracket from the gbox as i did.

have read on here a thread that suggests knocking the studs out and replacing them with welded buts on the top side so everything undo's from the bottom and the engine mount can slide on easily. but unless you are planning on changing clutch regularly i wouldn't bother.

[rollaholic]

yeah i knock the studs out of those rear engine mounts, they are just knurled and can be pulled back in with rattle gun or similar at re-assembly as long as you are careful. saves alot of work lowering subframe to get the $&#$% out.

you can go to nut and bolt there afterwards, but have never bothered myself - dont tend to own cars long enough to do the clutch twice.

as i recall once you have the gearbox free of the engine and dowels etc you need to rotate it so the diff housing clears all the various bits and bobs. i prefer to take the driveshafts right out, and drain all the gearbox oil. its probably well past due for a change anyway.

[sark.inc]

the easiest method tbh is just taking the whole engine out, not much to them.

i can take mine out in half an hour or so. saves a whole lot of $&#$% around.

[Jonno2002]

only car ive had to remove the engine to do box was a filthy mondeo cause the subframe was in the way (stupid design), i dont see how you can save time taking a motor out when that involves even more work, just take the box off and anything in the way, i dont even take the radiator hoses off. its all about having the right tools too, a mechanic is only as good as his tools

i did a 4age ae101 box in a garden shed back in the day so it very doo-able, actually come to think of it ive done a 4wd legnum clutch in a garden shed too, those were the days lol

[tsoob]

dont drop the motor.

takes me abour 4 hrs all up out and in. your on the right track,

just be carefull getting the diff part past the lower arm, best to get the crossmember as far out of there as possible, i drain the oil makes the box a bit lighter etc. and new oil never hurt anyone

[Adoom]

What tools do you have?

Lots... Also have access to engine crane and block n' tackle.

[rollaholic]

the easiest method tbh is just taking the whole engine out, not much to them.

i can take mine out in half an hour or so. saves a whole lot of $&#$% around.

thirty minutes? i'd like to see a video of that

[iOnic]

+1 I thought the WRC 12 minute gearbox job was impressive but an entire engine in half an hour is crazy

[Dell'Orto]

If you have everything disconnected from the motor first, half an hour is easily doable

[Rob]

I'm guessing you've already done it, but dropping the east/west beam out with the north/south beam is the easiest way. Only 10 bolts and 2 nuts from memory. Saves all the trouble with that rear mount and a fair bit of swearing too. Good luck with that

[rollaholic]

last time i looked under an AE101 that rear subframe thingee had all the sway bar and LCAs bolted to it, which is a PITA and hence the knocking studs out of rear mount which takes about 2 minutes.

are AE100s different?

[touge_ae101]

nup exactly the same. knocking the studs out saved me about 30mins and lots of frustration.

after taking everything apart twice in two weeks on a ae100, i would suggest the following order (got it down to about 5hrs work-with a lot of crap talking along the way and working in my poorly organised garage)
- remove airbox etc
- remove starter motor
- unclip shifter linkages
- start draining gearbox fluid
- remove slave cylinder
- remove front x-member bolts and front engine mount
- remove struts from hubs (to give a bit of extra play to get CV's out
- undo CV boots and pry driveshafts out of box
- remove rear engine mount + knock studs through while you are there
- undo rear x-member bolts and drop x-member down on the angle
- undo all gearbox bolts (it will hold on ok with no bolts as long as you are careful and don't get under it)
- slowly drop whole engine down on the angle (it will hold on ok or put another jack/axle stand under it if you like)
- undo gearbox mount (drop onto a jack for safe keeping)
- found sliding the gearbox on/off by lifting it is a lot easier than trying to maneuverer it on a jack

from here it is simple; pull clutch off, change release bearing + grease spline and release bearing guide, clean (brake cleaner works a treat) protective crap off clutch cover plate + clean flywheel & inside of bellhousing.

then once you have new clutch in and torqued up, do it in the opposite direction. rattle gun makes things easy if you aren't too rough with it and snap bolts.

this is applicable to all fwd aexxx series as my blacktop/C56 is exactly the same in every respect.

[AceSniper]

why knock the stud out.

remove the WHOLE sub-frame incl the arms with swaybar attached then you have unlimited room under the engine, then use a engine stay (strut to strut bar) to hold the engine if you don't have one whack a jack under the engine.... lower it keeping the drivers side mount done up, slide the box off do clutch put box back on and jack the engine back up do passenger side mount then lift the sub fame into place.

the moment you start F&$%^ around with studs in the rear mount or even undoing the center through bolt things are going to go wrong or be fiddly