Spec me a clutch

bainbridge · 14 May 2021 at 07:38

Hi Motors,

So the GF wants to continue her long term relationship with a 2007 vauxhall astra 1.6 petrol. It's done 110k, the clutch is very worn and I'm going to change it myself. I've done all the servicing on our cars for many years but always used a garage for major work, so changing a clutch is new to me. What is a good brand of clutch kit to go for? ECP sell 3 clutch kits:

Transmech
Sachs
Luk

Are any of these decent? Is there a "go to" brand when it comes to clutches?

Also, if anyone can direct me to a reasonably priced clutch alignment tool which has the scope to align various models of car I'd appreciate it.

The Running Man · 14 May 2021 at 08:04

Generally Exedy plus oe throw out bearing.

Temujin · 14 May 2021 at 08:41

For the likes of an Astra the Sachs will likely be fine I would think, LUK seem to be used quite abit in the older BMW community so might be worth a look.

Maundie · 14 May 2021 at 10:20

LUK are fine, not heard of the others personally

watercooledman · 14 May 2021 at 10:26

the cheapest will be fine in that car

Gaygle · 14 May 2021 at 10:37

Luk or Sachs are generally OEM factory fitted clutches. Keep an eye out on Amazon, they seem to do absolute bargain prices on LuK clutches sometimes.

bainbridge · 15 May 2021 at 07:58

Thanks for the replies, I'll keep an eye on Amazon too.

SeatIbiza · 15 May 2021 at 09:45

LUK is fine, check ebay, got my TT one from there including flywheel. I would change that too just because you'll have the car apart...

Change the slave too...

Clarkey · 15 May 2021 at 13:33

I would advise against doing this as your first clutch job tbh. Absolute mission on this type of Astra you will hate your life.

Jonny ///M · 15 May 2021 at 20:20

Did the clutch on my 2009 1.6 turbo Astra H.

Took my ten hours and had to drop my subframe enough to get the box out far enough, mine did have a 6 speed box so not sure if you'd have more space with your engine.

I was £163 from carparts4less for a LUK kit with slave cylinder.

My flywheel had excessive backslash/slop but I wasn't prepared to change that.

I used a 1/2" extension wrapped in electrical tape to pack it out as an alignment tool.

andy_mk3 · 15 May 2021 at 20:29

Sachs are generally the better, followed by LuK. I wouldn't touch transmech.

SkodaMart · 15 May 2021 at 22:04

Just put LUK in my BMW

bainbridge · 20 Sep 2021 at 21:46

Update:

Clutch is now slipping so I've ordered a 3 piece LUK kit for £164.

@Jonny ///M What was the most difficult part of the job?

@Clarkey What makes this Astra so difficult?

whitecrook · 20 Sep 2021 at 21:51

I did 1.8 vectra and gearbox change. Absolute bugger had to drop engine and pull it out wheel arch. I just used a broom handle and a socket extention bar with elec tape to align it all up.

dlockers · 20 Sep 2021 at 21:54

Clutch specialist will be about £90 quid labour for something like that surely?

Jonny ///M · 20 Sep 2021 at 23:16

bainbridge said:
Update:

Clutch is now slipping so I've ordered a 3 piece LUK kit for £164.

@Jonny ///M What was the most difficult part of the job?

@Clarkey What makes this Astra so difficult?

For me it was the subframe bolts inside the wheel arch as they were rusted solid from never being off. The other ones under the bulkhead have captive nuts which can be a royal PITA if they start to spin too. Mine being the 6 speed might have made it tighter than yours but I had to keep dropping the subframe until the arse of the gearbox would fit into the wheel arch and even then it was still awkward to get tools in to remove the pressure plate.

Here are a few photos I took whilst doing it https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...ur-car-today.18472267/page-1404#post-33525614

I'd crack the hub nuts whilst on the deck
Jack it up and remove wheels
Drain the gearbox oil, check the fill plug turns first. I had to refill through the gearbox linkage hole...
Drive shafts out, not sure if you have the extra one I do that runs behind the block. Need to undo the lower arm to hub bolt to get the shafts out.
Starter motor off whilst you're back there.
Battery out and move coolant bottle out the way.
Disconnect gear linkage cables.
Gear linkage out, needs to be rotated a certain way to get it out.
Disconnect front and rear engine mounts.
Disconnect the gearbox mount on the right hand side of the box
Engine will drop so support it with a jack + wood or something.
Bell housing bolts and a lot of wiggling and swearing.
Clutch pressure plate bolts.
I was doing slave cylinder so a couple of bolts hold that in, biggest PITA was bleeding that thing.

whitecrook · 20 Sep 2021 at 23:19

Ahh. Same type of clutch alignment tool that i used. Must be a universal standard of sorts

bainbridge · 20 Sep 2021 at 23:26

Jonny ///M said:
For me it was the subframe bolts inside the wheel arch as they were rusted solid from never being off. The other ones under the bulkhead have captive nuts which can be a royal PITA if they start to spin too. Mine being the 6 speed might have made it tighter than yours but I had to keep dropping the subframe until the arse of the gearbox would fit into the wheel arch and even then it was still awkward to get tools in to remove the pressure plate.

Here are a few photos I took whilst doing it https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...ur-car-today.18472267/page-1404#post-33525614

I'd crack the hub nuts whilst on the deck
Jack it up and remove wheels
Drain the gearbox oil, check the fill plug turns first. I had to refill through the gearbox linkage hole...
Drive shafts out, not sure if you have the extra one I do that runs behind the block. Need to undo the lower arm to hub bolt to get the shafts out.
Starter motor off whilst you're back there.
Battery out and move coolant bottle out the way.
Disconnect gear linkage cables.
Gear linkage out, needs to be rotated a certain way to get it out.
Disconnect front and rear engine mounts.
Disconnect the gearbox mount on the right hand side of the box
Engine will drop so support it with a jack + wood or something.
Bell housing bolts and a lot of wiggling and swearing.
Clutch pressure plate bolts.
I was doing slave cylinder so a couple of bolts hold that in, biggest PITA was bleeding that thing.

Thanks for replying. This Astra is a 2007 model and it already has several seized bolts which I've had to work around to do normal routine servicing jobs. TBH I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew with this job. I'm very organised, I clean and label the parts as I go, but I have no gas to put heat on seized parts and the clearance once the gearbox is separated looks really tight, like keyhole surgery.

Jonny ///M · 20 Sep 2021 at 23:56

Might be worth paying someone to do it as once you start it's a pain if you have to get help.

My steering rack is leaking fluid so I've booked it in to get it swapped out for a recon unit at £370 all in, I could do it but can't be bothered messing about with the subframe again and/or seized bolts.

Scania · 21 Sep 2021 at 04:54

watercooledman said:
the cheapest will be fine in that car

If you just want a quick fix to move it on, perhaps, not in something you intended to keep.