Is there any way to inspect the clutch with out removing the tranny? I know my clutch is almost done at 167,000 miles on it, and had a problem today where it took a second or 2 to release after shifting, so I wanted to see how bad it is. Is changing the clutch as much work as a motor swap? I wanted to put a 2.4l in my cavi instead of the 2.2. Thanks
On the highway, or any road you can get it up to 5th gear at around 2000 rpm, gun it. If the clutch slips, it's time to replace it.
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It already slips bad, and I can hear the throwout bearings ticking when it idles until I push in the clutch pedal. I was just wondering if I could see how much more life it has before I cant drive it anymore, and if it was more beneficial/easier to change the clutch or swap a 2.4l.
Theres really no precise way to measure how much life a clutch has left in it. You just have to go by the overall feel as well as how it drives. If its slipping as bad as you say it is, chances are it is pretty shot. Its not worth driving around with a severely slipping clutch, because chances are its going to leave you stranded sometime in the near future.
As for changing a clutch or swapping engines, no doubt that changing out a clutch is much easier. Its a direct replacement, unlike an engine swap which is much more involved, especially considering all the things that need to be changed over or modified.
If you really want more performance, your best bet is to just buy a new Cavalier. They can be had for as little as $8500 with rebates; you get the piece of mind of a factory warranty, the performance of the new Ecotec engine with Getrag trans, and all the benefits of a brand new vehicle. Basically, with all the time, energy, and money it takes to do a 2.2 to 2.4LD9 swap, you could have just bought yourself a brand new J-body
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Well a new cavi is out of the question, I has searched and found that the 2.4l swap was pretty much all swap over if you have everything from the firewall foward, obviously its time consuming, but I thought it was very possible , but if I must I will just change it when it dies. Thanks for all the help.
The longer you drive on a slipping clutch, the more damage you'll do to the flywheel. You should get it resurfaced anyway, but you don't want to deal with heat fractures.
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