Hi everyone. I've been using this site for over 13 years and I finally decided to register. I've gotten tons of great info from this site over the years, and now I'd like to ask for some help. Soon after my '98 Sunfire 2.2L hit 199,000 miles, I noticed that I had to press the clutch pedal further in to change gears. Like usual, I checked j-body.org and everything pointed to a bad clutch disc. So, I bought a clutch kit (pressure plate, clutch disc, slave cylinder) and a I removed the transmission.

Now that I have everything out, I'm hoping someone can verify that the clutch disc was actually bad. Or, maybe the slave cylinder was bad. Either way, can someone tell what was bad by looking at the pictures? Is there a way to tell for sure what the problem was. Before I started the work, I had to press the clutch pedal all the way down to shift gears and after 30-45 minutes of driving, it would get really hard to shift. Could my problem actually be something other than the clutch?

I'm also looking for advice on what else should be done. I've seen posts where some people say replace the flywheel, and some say re-surface the flywheel and some say leave the flywheel alone. What's the difference? What is a rear main seal and why should I replace it?

Old Clutch Disc


New and Old Clutch Discs Top View


New and Old Clutch Discs Side View


Flywheel


Tranny with Old Slave Cylinder/Throw Out Bearing Still Installed


Close-Up

Yes definitely bad clutch you can tell by the angled cuts across the disk. On your old one the wear lines are almost gone. Be sure to put some grease on the splines before reinstalling the tranny also be sure to change the pilot bushing in the crankshaft. Good luck.

The rear main seal is on the engine side... behind the flywheel. It is the rubber ring that goes around the crank. It's job is to seal oil into the engine while the motor turns. If it leaks, it leaks all over your clutch and flywheel, which is kinda bad. I always replace that every clutch I go through just to be safe... Preventive maintenance. HERE is a link to show you the seal and how to replace it.

It might have only need to have been bled, but that stuff does look pretty sore.


- Your not-so-local, untrained, uncertified, backyard mechanic. But my @!#$ runs

Hey everyone, thanks for the input. This kind of info is a great help to someone doing this kind of thing for the first time. I'll look into this tonight.

Any thoughts on the flywheel?

If it has any grooves in it (the flywheel) then you should get it resurfaced or replaced.