After an exhaustive search, I've come up empty. Hopefully someone can chime in. Quick question. Well, maybe not. We'll see. Replacing a clutch on an `86 2.8 (4-speed). Manual says to line the paint mark on the new pressure plate to the "X" on the flywheel. There's no discernible mark like that on the flywheel anywhere. It's been resurfaced before, so might be long gone. Any suggestions on how to index the pressure plate to maintain balance? Should the paint mark be facing or away from the balance weight? Or should the mark be facing or opposite of the holes/dimples in the flywheel? Is it even a concern these days? Using a LUK clutch kit. I'd like to do this job once and only one LOL Thanks in advance!
The flanged side of the disc goes toward the pressure plate while the flat side goes against the flywheel. Do not reverse the sides
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PP are Not index for combined balance and doesn't care about "which way up" type of thing. FW Location Pins only make sure the PP is Centered on FW and Crank. W/o them the PP mounting bolts have enough slack to majorly F'd the balance etc by allowing off centering the PP.
PP and disks are balance separate from FW because New PP/disks at clutch job time won't balance w/o that.
Many disks won't fit mounted backward but some do or seem to and hate you. Many are marked in someway to tell you FW or PP side of disk for this reason.
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The flanged side of the disc goes toward the pressure plate while the flat side goes against the flywheel. Do not reverse the sides
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for the reply! The new disc has "flywheel side" stamped on one side, so I'm good there. It's the orientation of the pressure plate with the flywheel that I'm worried about. There's a paint mark on the new pressure plate that supposed to line up with an X mark on the flywheel. There's no such mark to be found, so that leave 6 possible ways to line it up. That's what I'm trying to determine.
PP are Not index for combined balance and doesn't care about "which way up" type of thing. FW Location Pins only make sure the PP is Centered on FW and Crank. W/o them the PP mounting bolts have enough slack to majorly F'd the balance etc by allowing off centering the PP.
PP and disks are balance separate from FW because New PP/disks at clutch job time won't balance w/o that.
Many disks won't fit mounted backward but some do or seem to and hate you. Many are marked in someway to tell you FW or PP side of disk for this reason.
There are no such pins on the new or old PP. Just the bolts to line it up. Using LUK kit 04-088
As luck would have it, we have an 86 2.8 four speed in the shop getting a new clutch. It has the original clutch in it, the flywheel has never been resurfaced.
There is no 'X' stamped into the flywheel. There is an 'X' cast on the back of the flywheel, but I discount that as the FSM clearly states the 'X' is stamped in the flywheel.
Questions..... Does your LUK pressure plate have a balancing tab on the cover? - If it does not, I would just install it and not worry about the alignment 'X'. Can you determine from witness marks on the flywheel the original orientation of the pressure plate? If using the FSM as your repair guide, did you not mark the pressure plate and flywheel prior to disassembly, as it states in instruction #2?
Here are some pics showing the cast 'X' on the engine side and the corresponding hole on the friction side.
Hope this helps out.
[This message has been edited by olejoedad (edited 04-22-2020).]
I've been using LUK clutch kits since back in the 90's. Never had to worry about matching anything. The only other one I used on someone else's car was a Sachs clutch kit. Just line up the bolt holes and bolt it down. As Ogre said, they should already be balanced individually.
As luck would have it, we have an 86 2.8 four speed in the shop getting a new clutch. It has the original clutch in it, the flywheel has never been resurfaced.
There is no 'X' stamped into the flywheel. There is an 'X' cast on the back of the flywheel, but I discount that as the FSM clearly states the 'X' is stamped in the flywheel.
Questions..... Does your LUK pressure plate have a balancing tab on the cover? - If it does not, I would just install it and not worry about the alignment 'X'. Can you determine from witness marks on the flywheel the original orientation of the pressure plate? If using the FSM as your repair guide, did you not mark the pressure plate and flywheel prior to disassembly, as it states in instruction #2?
Here are some pics showing the cast 'X' on the engine side and the corresponding hole on the friction side.
Wow! Thank you! I have two flywheels and neither has the x on the engine block side.
I don't think it has a balancing tab. See attached pic.
Unfortunately, I did not mark it. I'm kicking myself. I took pictures, but they came out blurry. GRRR.
I've been using LUK clutch kits since back in the 90's. Never had to worry about matching anything. The only other one I used on someone else's car was a Sachs clutch kit. Just line up the bolt holes and bolt it down. As Ogre said, they should already be balanced individually.
Good to know. Probably not going to be an issue. Thanks!