CTS-V Clutch Swap

[V]

I'm finally getting around to doing the clutch swap in my CTS-V...

I'll be posting pics of my progress.

I am almost positive my stock dual-mass flywheel has begun to fail and come apart. I have a considerable vibration in the drivetrain which is still present with clutch engaged as well as while parked and in neutral. That rules out the trans, driveshaft, rear, and tires. Also for a while now the clutch had hydraulic issues with the slave not fully disengaging, or so it feels.
To solve all this, I'm installing a new GM ZO6 LS7 clutch setup with new one piece flywheel and new hydraulics. I also have ARP flywheel bolts and ARP pressure plate bolts. And I even went ahead and got the remote bleeder line from LAPD so future bleeding will be much easier and I won't ever be dumping old fluid inside the bellhousing.

Tonight I just put the car up on jack stands. And gave it all a quick look over underneath. Tomorrow I'll be dropping the exhaust and pulling the driveshaft. I gotta make sure to mark driveshaft in order to ensure everything lines back up the same way to avoid and other possible vibrations. I'm in no rush to do this so I'm taking my time.




more to come tomorrow...

[V]

I made some progress today.

First I removed the cat-back exhaust. Since I had it unbolted not that long ago, it came off easy. Just the size of it was annoying.

I then unbolted the driveshaft. all 6 bolts at the trans, 6 bolts at the differential, and the 2 carrier bolts. It was stuck at first on both end but with a little persuading, it came off. I also had to make sure not to bend the driveshaft to too much of an angle, in order to preserve the carrier bearing.

Once that was out, I removed the transmission crossmember and went up top to remove the shifter boot and knob, and then unbolt the shifter from the trans tunnel.

I removed all the wiring connections and tabs, and the 8 bolts that hold the trans to the bellhousing. However, the trans will not budge... It is stuck to the bellhousing. Most likely it is due to corrosion of the dowel pins. So, I sprayed down the seam with PB Blaster as well as into the 8 bolt holes. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon when I have the time to work on it again, it'll break free and I can then drop it down.

and so it continues....

[LS1ow]

good progress so far paul. ill got nothing to do on sunday so if you need a hand lugging that trans out or wrenchin shoot me a text.

[Jersey Mike]

I'm lost; Are you selling this thing, maintaining it, or blowing it?


As far as the trans being stuck to the bellhousing, you may need a second hand. And make sure it's level. I had to pull a T56 last week and it took 4 sets of hands, a trans jack under the lift, and a decent bit of tugging. I think there are 10 bolts in total, but don't quote me on that, it was like 11pm and after a long work-day

[V]

Originally Posted by Jersey Mike

I'm lost; Are you selling this thing, maintaining it, or blowing it?

I have to fix the clutch in order to sell it anyway.

If i blow it, then i'll keep it. Till then, it's for sale.

And i got all the bolts out its just that I don't think the trans has ever been out of the car, so its just being stubborn.


The trans-bellhousing is 8 bolts, and the bellhousing-engine is also 8 bolts. I have all 8 out and in a pile i counted several times. There are no bolts left in.

(not mine, just a pic off Google)

[Jersey Mike]

Alright, good stuff. See how tomorrow goes and if it's still being stubborn and you need a second set of hands feel free to give me a buzz; I need to swing by there anyway for my own project. 4 weeks, my ass!

[V]

Originally Posted by Jersey Mike

I need to swing by there anyway for my own project. 4 weeks, my ass!

honestly, i think what will kill your idea is fitment issues. There's no point in going into it further until that is addressed.

[Jersey Mike]

Story of my life; But what I've learned is that where there's a will, there's a way. /offtopic




And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[V]

Trans is finally out. It was the dowel pins that seemed to have hung it up. One came out with the trans, the other stayed in the bellhousing. Speaking of the bellhousing, that's still stuck to the engine now too. I'll try more to get it off tomorrow maybe, or next week.

[V]

Got the bellhousing off this morning. Once again, the corroded dowel pins were to blame. I'll be sure to put anti-seize on the when i reinstall everything.



I also think i may have found the cause of my vibration and partial clutch issue...
I'm not 100% sure how this should look but after i pulled the pressure plate and disc, I wasn't even able to line up a socket on the flywheel bolts. I had to use a prybar in order to turn the outer ring enough so that i could remove the bolts. This was the oem dual-mass flywheel which is known for occasional failures.




and yea... i had to use the trans jack to help drop down the massive 40+ lb flywheel..



CTS-V flywheel on right... C6 ZO6 flywheel on left.



In this whole process, I came across an exhaust leak in the works... passenger side cat flange was starting to break off. The drivers side broke and i fixed that during the motor mount install. So at least I can fix it now easily.

[V]

The car is all back together, All i still need to do is to bleed the clutch.

Flywheel was defiantly bad. After looking at it yesterday, I noticed the dual sections have compressed in on one side causing the whole flywheel to be tilted. Due to that, the movement of the dual mass was locked up and doesn't "rock" as its designed to. Hopefully the messed up flywheel and vibration didn't do any damage to the bottom end. I didn't notice any oil leaking from the rear main seal or the front seal either.
I'll post pics of the angled flywheel on Monday.

I would have had the car done last night, but having National Guard drill this weekend and the desire to actually see the girlfriend, I figured it could just wait till Monday.


Here are some pics....

[V]

OK... I finally finished connecting the clutch master/slave line and bled the system. SO much easier with the remote bleeder line. I then put the carbon fiber engine cover and strut tower brace back on.





In a few minutes I'm going to take it out for the test drive and start breaking the clutch in.

Here is the pic of the old stock flywheel. It has NO spinning movement like the limited amount a dual mass should. And it is obviously collapsed on the one side. You can see the gap on the top and none on the bottom.

[sweetbmxrider]

Nice....

[LS1ow]

carbon fiber looks so pretty

[V]

Car drives great, all is well once again in V world...

Originally Posted by LS1ow

carbon fiber looks so pretty

and they are OEM Cadillac parts, so they are completely high quality REAL Carbon fiber.

Next I just have to find the radiator shroud to make it all match. Then I may add some billet caps and stuff.

[The Fixer]

Nice, it looks great Paul!! Glad to see her up and running again!

[V]

nice and clean now too

[LS1ow]

really love a nice and clean Gen 1 V !

[maroman88]

thats one sexy beast...

did u black out the bowtie on the cruze lol

[V]

Originally Posted by maroman88

did u black out the bowtie on the cruze lol

haha, yea. i put black vinyl over the front and rear bowties as well as the lower sections of the taillights in order to hide the odd shape.