I thought an aftermarket flywheel wasn't worth the excessive chatter...

I have very little chatter. Frankly I found it to be one of the absolute best mods as far as bang for your buck. The needle bearing pilot helps.

Which flywheel did you purchase?

The dxd billet. I think it's 13lbs or so

im gonna need this soon... Subbed so it doesnt run away

djtodd sending you a PM

Crank Sensor
 

If you have the HR version you do not need to pull the crank sensor.... this is a HUGE pain in the *** you dont need to deal with.

I pulled it and spoke to Joe as well as looked it over and there is no need to do so. I put it back in BEFORE i bolted the trans up. no problem. I mention this because it will save ya an hour of cussing.

Also the top are a lot easier to get to if you drop the tail down a bit (fluid loss or cap) this also lets you get to many of the sensors easier.

TIPs: Make sure the tail is back up before you try and mount the start or it will be at the wrong angle to start those two bolts.

Take pictures of all the brackets in place to help you remember where everything goes. Any bolt nut, which can be screwed back in/on after removal, do it.

Trans seating is much easier when you figure out that you need to lift up on the header pipe as the back of the motor sags without the trans to hold it. Have a guy lift up on it to varying degrees as you try and slide it forward. DO NOT use the bolts to pull in a trans that is not seat properly as someone here did. Trans will mate perfect without it, if it doesn't then something is off!

Doing this one on jack stands blows. If you can get one done for $500 labor do it. This was by far the biggest pain in the *** of a trans I've done. Tow bolts holding on brace for FI exhaust were 292 LT into the trans... even with heat they broke and had to be drilled and tapped. Nasty business laying on the floor.

If you are an older guy then I would look at this job in terms of days and not hours, esp on jackstands. It's doable, but I give it a solid 9 on the pain in the arse scale.

Actually you can remove it from the top in 15 minutes tops. I learned that the hard way too


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I removed it from the top. You have to pull the T-Brace and intake tube then you can just barely get your arm in there to unplug, but you can not get two hands and it's a mofo to get a ratchet on it and when you do you can't hold it in place with the other hand so it wants to round the shallow bolt. (10mm btw) I got it with an air ratchet, but still... it's a pain in the *** and does not need to come off anyway.

Also, it's a simple thing, but remember to mark your drive-shaft before you take it out. :O I have done many and spaced this out, I may have to rotate it, won't know until I try it. If you forget, and get vibration, rotate by 90 until it's in balance.

They also want you to replace the nut and bolt on these whenever you remove them... 4x 37000a 4x 37000B

Never mind...just needed a lot of bleeding. Great clutch kit BTW.

I just used a 36" extension with a swivel to get to those top bolts. Was a piece of cake.

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So you don't need to take the crank sensor off? I did it when I pulled the trans just incase months ago.

And AGREED to who said it's a pain to do on jack stands.. sucked so bad.

I didn't pull mine

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Very Nice
 

Thanks!!!

Your write up was just what I was looking for to size up the job. The pics helped immensely in understanding what is being done.

Kudos

What torx bit should I use for the flywheel bolts? T55?

So I've just done this one on jack-stands... and I have few things to note:

Firstly, thanks to djtodd for this post, as without this I would have had serious problems ever completing this task!!

This was by far the biggest PITA mechanical job I have ever completed. Having done numerous complete engine and transmission swaps on jack stands before (4wd iron block sports cars too) I thought north-south RWD would be a walk in the park... Oh how wrong I was. I don't know if was the age of the car that has made everything just that little bit harder (rusted bolts etc) but even if I had a lift and 2 people this was still at least a long day's work.

In total it took 4 days over 2 weekends to get done on my 2010 w/50K miles...

*IF* (and I say IF, because I would STRONGLY recommend not even considering to attempt this without a lift, transmission jack and a weekend) you decide to DIY, here are some things to note:

1. In case I wasn't clear, I cannot recommend enough against DIY this if you have a 370Z that is anything but new from the factory and don't have a lift :)

2. This is not possible with 2 jack stands. You MUST have the car level to re-mount the transmission (so jacked up on 4 stands).

3. The transmission weight guestimate of 65-70lb's is inaccurate (Sorry djtodd, couldn't have done this without you but the weight guestimate was a bit off :). I initially attempted this without a transmission jack as I thought I could muscle 70lb in with 2 people. In reality this is easily a 140lb transmission - The empty weight is rated 130lb, so add transmission fluid and whatever other bits and pieces are hanging off it and you have one heavy lump of metal.

4. Going on from above, this is not possible without a transmission jack.

5. You must have a high-lift jack, mostly for access but it is essential if you want to remove the transmission from under the vehicle (though it is possible to complete this keeping the transmission under the car). A 480mm lift (19") hydraulic jack did not get the car even close to high enough to remove the transmission. If you decide to leave the transmission under the car, as I did, you will need to remove at least one of the downpipes to push it far enough back to work on.

6. Removal of the top 2 bolts on the transmission was not possible for me even with about 50" of extensions and a breaker, I was getting far too much flex in the long extension. It may have been OK if I had 50" of 1/2in drive but I was bending 3/4" Cr-V extensions and the bolts were still not breaking free. I ended up doing these with a 1/2" drive socket wrench directly on the bolt, and only exerting as much force as I could with my arms in the limited space around the bell housing. These bolts aren't actually on that tight, just burst a few veins in your head and they will pop off with just your arm strength.

6. If you have a tap & die set you can easily remove the old pilot bushing with a tap the same diameter as the bushing, just throw it in, tap away and keep tapping until it pops out. (I tried with the grease method first, but the bushing would not budge)

7. Do yourself a favour and buy an OEM brass (oillite) pilot bushing from Nissan, and save yourself the headache of trying to seat the cheap aftermarket ones. My Southbend-provided one didn't feel like oillite and was roughly finished (no chamfered edges, looked like a cheap bit of cut brass pipe). After having to hammer the hell out of it just to get it starting to go in, I realised the input shaft may well have the same issue seating inside it. I decided it was of questionable quality and bought a Nissan-OEM one (FAR nicer, all chamfered edges and came obviously well internally-lubricated in a sealed packet). The Nissan OEM one slid in with a few taps from a rubber mallet and provided no headaches for re-seating the input shaft.

8. Make sure you have a perfectly level car when you re-seat the transmission. Get the input shaft ligned up, then wiggle it until the input shaft splines line up with the clutch plate. Then keep wiggling until it seats against the pilot bushing. Once this has happened (you should have an even ~3/4" gap between the bell housing and engine the whole way around) you can either slowly and evenly tighten one bolt on either side (they should give you no resistance as the input shaft seats - if they do, something is not lined up) or if you have phsical space you should be able to just push/pull the transmission the last 3/4" into the bushing.

9. As a couple of people have noted, removal of the crank sensor is unnecessary - It is mounted to the engine not the tranmission and I can't see a way you could damage it, as reseating the transmission without it being aligned is impossible

10. Pay someone else to do this!!!! :)

Be careful when you suggest a "hi lift jack" this is what comes to mind for me and could be for others that just google it when looking for one ;)
https://atozfabrication.com/images/p.../10175-lg.jpeg

PS I'll be doing mine in the garage with 4 jack stands very soon. They are heavy duty 28" tall though so that will help some... still can't say I'm looking forward to it though lol. It helps that the car is only one summer old. No rusty bolts thank goodness

Bringing this back to life! This DIY was amazing, enabled me to just do my clutch flywheel and CSC with relatively little difficulty!

However, on the home stretch now, and reinstalling that infernal crank position sensor. I CANNOT for the life of me determine if it is installed right. It looks like something is missing... the hole is bigger than the sensor, and no gasket?!? I didn’t take a picture before removal as it was outlined as a single bolt and pull out, which I did.

But there is no gasket or O ring even that I can find anywhere, and the fit looks like something should be there ‘sealing’ things, no?

Literally just have the plastic sensor itself and the screw.
This is how it looks installed right now:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d70273e417.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...720da3909b.jpg

What am I missing?

Hmm. Let me go take a pic and see what mine looks like. It’s been so long since I’ve had to mess with it.


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Is it ALWAYS recommended to change the clutch when servicing the CSC ? I've heard mixed reviews, "you have the trans pulled why wouldn't you change it?" is going to be the common response, I dont usually keep my cars long, just wondering if, other than previous comment, if its okay to JUST service the CSC and move on?

Yeah you can leave the clutch disk and pp if they are in good order. No worries st all. It’s the csc that isn’t serviceable.


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Yeah, I mean they were working fine prior to the CSC going ... so I'll just keep it for now...

Also, apologies for not thanking you very graciously for this DIY !! PERFECT!!

Was going step by step from the FSM and it was taking forever, this will definitely help save some time!

FYI on Pilot Bushing removal...
The bread trick works awesome. Similar to the grease trick but not messy at all. Keep packing bread with a tight fit bolt. Used it for the first time on my Taco a while back and worked like a charm.
Also...
If I was in there I'd put in the NISMO pilot bearing rather than the bushing.:tiphat:

Is bread and taco code for something?

Can anyone help me locate what the FSM calls the "Park/ Neutral Position Connector" - Im sure I just know it by a different name, and its escaping me, the FSM says to disconnect and I just want to make sure its disconnected.

Thank you !

Neutral safety switch is another name for it. It might be the switch on the clutch pedal. Hope that helps.

That is one of the sensors on the harness that wraps all the way around the trans. Disconnect them all, along with the brackets, and you can lay the entire harness to the side.


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Okay, great, having some trouble getting to the one on the drivers side of the trans but high up on the trans, tried lowering it but cant get enough leverage or a tool on the bracket to disconnect the whole harness itself ....

Ive loosened the 4 smaller engine side bolts to the bell housing, is it okay to lower the trans with those loose? Im guessing the only way to get to those higher plugs is to have the trans as low as it will go by unbolting the trans crossmember...

Got it out!!! And actually getting it out was harder than back in, guessing I just got lucky ... however like an idiot I completely removed the starter and I’m having an extremely hard time getting it back in... I pulled it out thru the front so I’m guessing that’s how it would go back in but I can’t figure it out for the life of me.... any tips/tricks???

One additional note, you'll need a T55 Torx bit for this project. It's mentioned indirectly by the OP, but not on the list of tools. I missed it in my read through and ended up having to make a quick stop at Autozone.

Great write. I pulled my trans this past weekend and replaced my failed CSC with Zspeed CSC. I wouldn't say it's difficult. The hardest part was putting the trans back alone.

Pilot bushing removal - I have to admit I was highly skeptical about the large bolt & bread (or grease) technique, but it just worked! It only took a couple of minutes. We didn't have any white bread, so I used a flour tortilla. ROFL. Saved me a trip to the parts store. I still can't believe it worked!

Great guide, thank you! I've replaced my stock parts with ZSpeed 20lb SMF flywheel, Stage2+ clutch and pressure plate, OEM CMS and heavy duty CSC off Ebay. I've also bought brand new flywheel bolts from Nissan.

One thing to add removing driver side CAT/Pipe makes a huge difference in reaching the tranny top bolts.

I had access to the hoist, electric power tools, tranny jack and it took 9 hours with some short breaks. I had all day so I wasn't in a particular rush and wanted to do things slow and right.

Very happy with a final result, this project was prompted by the fact that the OEM DMF was making lots of noise and vibrations due wear at the track and the stock clutch although having lots of meat couldn't hold the power anymore. Also OEM CMS and CSC were failing. So pretty much the entire clutch system needed a replacement.

My transmission wont go back in. I've spent the last I hours using two Jack's working it up and down and it wont line up. I can get it half way but the splines wont go. The engine is also rocked backwards at a downward angle.

My transmission wont go back in. I've spent the last 8 hours working two Jack's up and down trying to match with the downward angled engine.

How close can you get it before it binds?


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@djtodd It feels like it's going up to where the splines meet and then stops. I've tried turning the shaft from the rear of the tranny but it wont budge when I'm that close but spins freely when separated. From what I've read on the internet it's supposed to slide in like butter if the splines are lined up so I think that's the problem. I dont know and I'm pissed this is the only thing that keeps me from finishing the car.

Hmm. Pilot bushing is good?

You don’t have starter installed still do you?


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Yeah got the Zspeed EZ clutch kit that came with everything because CSC failed. New pilot ushing. Started is detached and tucked back.

Got it in. Just had to put on my favorite music and make a small jack adjustment and then shoved it in.