Clutch replacement
A guide to changing the clutch.
It is inevitable that at some point you will have to face changing the clutch. It dips in and out of the mud on a regular basis as the bell-housing is not sealed. Eventually the clutch thrust bearing will start rattling and the action will become stiff and heavy. Changing the clutch on a Jimny seems to be not for the faint hearted. It’s a very physical task and it is not pleasant struggling with the gearbox under the car, it is a very tight fit in the transmission tunnel.
No special tools are required, but a good toolkit is needed. You will need extension bars for a socket set as some of the bolts are well hidden and difficult to access. A breaker bar is also needed as some bolts are very tight.
If this hasn’t put you off then its time to start work. It goes without saying that you should jet-wash the underside of the car if possible to remove as much of the muck before it drops on you! There are two ways of changing the clutch, one is to take the engine and gearbox out and the other is to drop the gearbox off. The Suzuki factory manual suggests the gearbox dropping method so that is the way I have gone.
The factory manual suggests it is not necessary to remove the transfer box, but I have removed it as you will need all the space you can get, I thoroughly recommend that you also remove the transfer box.
If you have the luxury of a bit of time then spray the visible bolts with WD40 a day or so before. In particular you should try and spray the bolts holding the exhaust front section and the bolts around the gearbox housing as these are difficult.
Starting inside the car it is necessary to remove both the gear lever and the transfer box lever.
To remove the gearbox lever you have to remove the centre console. This is held on by four screws on the side at the front and back.
The console then lifts out. Mine was more of a problem as I have a switch panel fitted so I then needed to remove the gearlever before the console would come completely away, but this has to be done at some point anyway. Pull the gaiter away to reveal the three bolt heads around the base of the gearlever, undo the bolts and carefully lift out the gearstick, note that there is a small spring and a cup that should not be lost!
