ontos Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 hey all. clutch stopped clutching on my 88 DL 4wd. thanks to lurking around on this forum and miles fox's videos on youtube, managed to pull the engine. found the clutch fork was cracked nearly in half. got new clutch fork from subaru dealer, installed new rear main seal, new clutch disc/pressure plate, new pilot and throwout bearings. got the engine back in thanks to friend with muscles and amazing pilot/wife. found clutch cable was now apparently too short (wtf?). could maybe just barely make it fit, but in the process of maybe just barely making it fit managed to drop the adjusting nut through the broken clutch fork gasket (oops) and into the bell housing. now, after a bunch of fishing with a magnet on a stick, i'm thinking i'll have to pull the engine again. is there an easier way? is there a way to just get enough room to reach under into the bell housing and fish the nut out? can i take out the housing bolts and pull the transmission back a little? should i just stop whining and realize it's not going to be that big of a deal to pull the engine up and back a little to score enough room to find that damned nut? anyway, thanks. i think this is my first post? hi everybody! i just want my subaru back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 There is an access plate on the bottom of the bell - housing. Jack the engine up off the cross-member and remove the access cover. Should be easy to get the nut out from there. If there isn't enough cable to get the fork on it's likely that the pressure plate isn't tight to the flywheel or something isn't right with the fork. Typically I tighten the pressure plate through the starter hole as it's easier to get the engine mounted to the tranny with the disc a little loose. Don't need an alignment tool that way either. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontos Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 thanks for the quick reply, GD. good to know about that access plate. car is twenty miles away parked in front of a friend's house, but i'll check it out soon as i can. the new fork was slightly different from the one that came off, but that was the one the dealership sold me. i made sure they had exactly my model's fork ordered, but it's just a little off. pressure plate should be where it ought. everything torqued down just fine before i put the engine back in. before i dropped it, i got just the adjusting nut threaded on, had friend push in clutch pedal, and then held the fork back with a big socket. it looked like i might be able to get everything on after that, but then i dropped the nut. i don't know if doing that is even remotely like "something that might work," but i was going to give it a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Placing a thin magnet on the pressure plate and then spinning the motor over slowly may pick up the nut also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oskar_subaru Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 or just stop thinking about it and drive the car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94Loyale Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Cougar, I just have to say, that's a pretty damn cool idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontos Posted July 8, 2010 Author Share Posted July 8, 2010 (edited) finally managed to get to that access plate on the bottom of the bell housing. calling it an "access" plate is maybe a little bit of a misnomer. all that's revealed is the underside of the flywheel and the smallest of cracks to get through into the bell housing. i'm assuming this is the way its supposed to be. but now i'm curious what this access plate is meant to give you access to? on the subject of just ignoring the problem, how bad could this be? what's the worst that could happen? Edited July 8, 2010 by ontos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 finally managed to get to that access plate on the bottom of the bell housing. calling it an "access" plate is maybe a little bit of a misnomer. all that's revealed is the underside of the flywheel and the smallest of cracks to get through into the bell housing. i'm assuming this is the way its supposed to be. but now i'm curious what this access plate is meant to give you access to? on the subject of just ignoring the problem, how bad could this be? what's the worst that could happen? Well since you do not know the secret handshake we can not tell you what the purpose of that cover is What happens to the nut? Well if you are the nut it is not a good prognoses. For the car it doesn't mean a thing. It will either sit there where ever it is stuck untill things are taken apart again, or get kicked up by this huge high speed rotating mass and be rendered useless. I would just drive the car in this case. You can leave the cover off for a while and let nature take its course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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