What Else Should I Change When I do My Clutch?

[ethan]

When I did the clutch in my 2001 at 164k miles in 2017, the factory original pin was loose in its socket having snapped halfway down the neck. Had the slave been removed for whatever reason, I'm sure it would have jumped its receiver. Who knows how long I drove with it like that...

Upon removal, the pin friction surface looked mostly normal, but the nylon was quite brittle. My guess is the OE part probably times out before it wears out from deformation. If you're designing a car for 10 years/100k miles, nylon is probably the best choice, but it's the scariest piece of that clutch system in an old car because you don't have any warning (like a noisy TOB or pilot bearing e.g.) I opted for the Rogue stainless pin.

My 2002 had had a clutch job performed and the original pin replaced, but I turned it into a track car and, after building the engine, installed a Rogue clutch kit with the steel LWFW. In the process, I decided it would be a good idea to bulletproof the pin with another Rogue stainless jobbie, but little did I know that when the shop replaced the original pin, they'd ever so slightly overbored the pin receiver (presumably removing the old pin). Pair that with a badly-adjusted adjustable-length slave cylinder pin, and the stainless pivot pin popped right out on me. I had to pull the trans and drill, tap, and hex screw the Rogue pin in place... Moral of the story: if you go stainless, be damn sure that thing isn't going anywhere before you button it up.

[mrgizmo04]

In ours cars or in general?

Believe that is specific to our cars, inline 6 crank is long and has a lot of oscillations...

[Arith2]

pretty decent correlation between light weight flywheels and harmonic balancer failure

In ours cars or in general?

[Obioban]

Interesting how there seems to be so much variation. Maybe it's an effect of failures being more compelling to report? Regardless, I'll update this thread with the condition of my pivot pin when I do all of this.

The vast majority are fine. Odds are yours will be among them.

[heinzboehmer]

This was my pivot pin after 140k miles next to the new one. I think some people are just really harsh drivers

Interesting how there seems to be so much variation. Maybe it's an effect of failures being more compelling to report? Regardless, I'll update this thread with the condition of my pivot pin when I do all of this.

[Dash1]

This was my pivot pin after 140k miles next to the new one. I think some people are just really harsh drivers

[Tbonem3]

To be fair, Nylon isn't ordinary plastic.

[Dash1]

Don't.
There's a reason the factory pin #21511223281 is steel

My factory pivot pin was plastic and wasn't half bad when I replaced it with a new plastic pivot pin.

[Tbonem3]

*checks records to find that I ordered a steel pin (back in 2017) wipes sweat from forehead* 😊

[mrgizmo04]

Hmm, so it looks like the pivot pin I used wasn't actually brass like a lot of the aftermarket pins, but silicon bronze which is a harder material. Made by AGA, bought it from FCP: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...YaAhoOEALw_wcB

Materials guys: think silicon bronze is strong enough vs brass that it wouldn't deform as badly?

I guess we'll see the next time my trans comes down. That'll probably be sometime this year, since I have a leak coming from the GPS to deal with and will probably do a SSK...

Brass is very malleable, so in your case bronze is better. See if you measure deformation once you take it out.

[ATB88]

Hmm, so it looks like the pivot pin I used wasn't actually brass like a lot of the aftermarket pins, but silicon bronze which is a harder material. Made by AGA, bought it from FCP: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...YaAhoOEALw_wcB

Materials guys: think silicon bronze is strong enough vs brass that it wouldn't deform as badly?

I guess we'll see the next time my trans comes down. That'll probably be sometime this year, since I have a leak coming from the GPS to deal with and will probably do a SSK...

[mrgizmo04]

- The rear main seal assembly is the more straightforward albeit more expensive route. Buying just the rear main seal and driving it into the existing aluminum carrier is straightforward, as well as remounting with a new gasket, so long as you work neatly and cleanly. Some say you'll still get a leak. Its personal preference.

RMS is tricky with whole assembly, since you are opening up part of the oil pan gasket and depending on how your oil pan gasket was put on last time (if it is old and brittle or there is a sea of RTV used), that's a whole other story.

[cozmo kraemer]

I never noticed any NVH increase, and it is a stock piece on the 8 series...

[heinzboehmer]

I had a plastic pivot pin get crushed and I had to pull the trans to replace, just the pin with a metal one that I have never had to worry about again. If you ever have the trans out, put the metal pivot pin in. The rest I agree with.

Good to know. I think I'll end up going with the metal one too. The increase in nvh is probably worth the peace of mind.

[heinzboehmer]

Great list, very helpful. You've got a minor math error about 2/3 of the way down - money saved!
- Agree on the flywheel; you may find the DM worn even if the surface is in suitable condition. RockAuto has the LUK DMF for about $100 less at the moment: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...,flywheel,5348
- You've got the OEM pilot bearing and that's the right call. I once bought a FAG (OE) and the fit was poor (too loose).
- The rear main seal assembly is the more straightforward albeit more expensive route. Buying just the rear main seal and driving it into the existing aluminum carrier is straightforward, as well as remounting with a new gasket, so long as you work neatly and cleanly. Some say you'll still get a leak. Its personal preference.

Thanks for pointing out the math error, I've fixed the table. Also thanks for the RockAuto link. Trying to decide if I should still buy it through FCP because of the lifetime replacement.