Youtube is pretty Spartan when it comes to things that most people don't do. You'll NEVER find a DIY for your own vehicle, for example. Even if it's as common as a Toyota 4Runner.
Search term: "diy clutch replacement w59 transmission" at Youtube:
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The closest is the pickup truck DIY. Clutch replacement Toyota Tacoma Manual transmisson removal 1997
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There are ZERO 3rd-generation Toyota 4Runner clutch replacement DIYs on Youtube.
Like Dean, I regularly find lots of repair videos on Youtube for my BMW X5 covering all kinds of repair jobs, from CV Axles to taking the door panels off. They have sure helped me enormously. Plenty of them there for other models too. Have you tried looking for Toyota forums? The BMW forums have threads were people have done particular repairs and sometimes they even include pics documenting the whole process. If you're planning on doing your own work and keeping the vehicle, a Bentley manual or similar is a wise investment too.
I've never done a 4runner but it's not difficult in a F150. Disconnect the shift linkage and speedometer drive if it has one. Support the engine under the crankcase. Drop the drive shaft. Figure out what you need to do about the clutch/throwout bearing assembly. Remove a cross member as needed. Support the transmission on the jack, remove the bolts, and drop it out of the way. Figure out what you need to do about the bellhousing if anything. Remove the pressure plate bolts. You'll want to do that gradually and sequentially. You probably need to find a way to rotate the engine.
At that point, examine the clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, the pilot bushing, and the face of the flywheel for any problems. You'll need to check pricing but on a Ford the pressure plate assembly isn't that expensive so you might want to replace it while you're at it.
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You'll need one of these and should be able to find it locally. It keeps the clutch plate in alignment while you reinstall the pressure plate. A torque wrench would be real good to torque the pressure plate bolts. After you get back to the point where you removed the transmission, wheel it back in place and bolt it down. Theoretically the shaft just slides into the clutch splines like butter. In practice it sometimes requires jiggling and foul language. The jack makes it a lot easier. I've replace transmissions without one but eventually I saw the light and rented one when need be.
Put all the rest of the stuff back where you found it and you're good to go.
Pitfalls: Older truck in the rust belt, removing the universal cap screws and the cross member bolts can be a challenge. The rest usually isn't too bad. Check to see you have all the wrenches you'll need. The cross member bolts on the F150 are large, can't remember if they're in the usual wrench set range. Make sure nothing is connected to the tranny like a neutral switch, or you'll get it half way down and see something stretched out getting ready to snap.
Many times a particular make, model, and year will have two variants on the pressure plate and clutch. If so, invariably you'll but the wrong set. Have alternate transportation to go back and exchange them for the other size.
Sorry I can't be specific for a 4Runner but that's the generic drill for most vehicles.
I've done hundreds of clutches. Being a RWD vehicle it is a lot easier than a FWD or AWD or 4WD. You will need a set of good metric sockets and wrenches and preferanly a hoist. Changing tansmissions on your back under a vehicle is a PAIN. You will also need a pilot alignment tool - and if you haven't done much of this kind of work a package of BandAids wouldn't hurt,
As for quality of parts??? You only get what you pay for and the OEM clutch on a Toyota is about as good as it gets, for general purpose use. If you go for the cheapest job, you could end up with junk
You have a Bimmer, where the people (e.g., on bimmerfest.com/forums) aren't usually dumb idiotic kids but the 4Runner forum is filled with high school morons.
In fact, the 4Runner forums are filled to the brim with children who can't keep on topic to save their lives. It's disgusting how childish they are.
The minute you ask them to measure something they go off the charts, saying that you should go to the dealer.
It's the only forum that ever advises always going to the dealer for example, since they can't comprehend the concept of sourcing better parts of better materials after measuring sizes.
I don't think any of the kids on the 4Runner forum even own a mic! (toyota-4runner.org)
The Tundra forum, for some reason, contains adults though.
I know the clutch was replaced only once on this 4Runner which has about
150K miles I think (I have to check).
Any idea of how long the clutch lasts?
I'm going to check the slave cylinder and master cylinder for leaks after checking on the youtube videos that were suggested.
I already replaced the patented and overly complex torsion spring assembly on the clutch pedal return mechanism, so it's not that.
The new Red Line MT-90 oil yesterday seems to have made a difference in allowing it to shift when it couldn't get into gear when cold. I already replaced the two bushings at the bottom of the shift lever (which were fine but they're known to go bad so I replaced them anyway).
Is there a way to remove a view plate to VIEW the clutch plate visually?
This is good to know that the RWD (2wd) is easier than the rest, which has been my experience for most things, if not only because there is fewer stuff but the same amount of room, so more room in essence.
I have 6-ton jack stands which give me a decent amount of room, but no hoist. I don't have a transmission jack so I would expect to need one. I have a bunch of bottle jacks and of course a few normal floor jacks. I should have most if not all the wrenches needed but you never know when there is a hard-to-see bolt - but I have extensions and u-joints galore.
Good to know on the alignment bar.
I would get decent parts, just as I put in Red Line MT-90 yesterday. I could have gone cheaper but it's supposed to be the best so that's what I put in there. It made a difference on the ability of cold shifting into gear but the clutch pedal feel is still horrid.
I know what you're talking about, but believe me, there is plenty of stupidity and blind allegiance on the BMW forums too. I saw a recent thread where someone was trying to figure out the diameters of the various vacuum hoses so that they can be obtained locally at a parts store or sourced online. He quickly got responses like if you can't afford a vacuum hose, you shouldn't be driving a BMW. They didn't much like me over there, because when there is some obvious problems that shouldn't exist in a BMW, I point it out. Like having window regulators that are crap. I've had three of them fail, one went while the car was sitting in the driveway, sending the glass crashing down, breaking into pieces. And others have had similar experiences with those, yet the BMW diehards salute the BMW flag and make excuses. "It's a performance car"! ROFL.
There probably are more people there though that even if they are dummies, they take a lot of interest in screwing around with their toy, so they make more videos, posts, etc.
Another example of a dummy, on that forum some guy posted pics of how to change an alternator. Now mind you, the alternator on the X5 is like most today, it's fairly well buried, lots of stuff near it, DC cable connected down under, where you can't see it, etc. So, he tells people he didn't bother to first disconnect the battery. He had a pic of the live cable disconnected from the alternator and hanging by a string from the hood. I couldn't imagine taking a socket wrench down under there metal all around, to take the nut off, with it live. I pointed out how dangerous and dumb that is and immediately got arguments like, "but even if it does hit something, it will just spark a bit....." I'll do some repairs, like maybe changing an electrical component with a simple connector, without disconnecting the battery as the manual tells you. But the alternator cable?
Yes, I think that's a lot of the problem. Most of them are 20 and think they know it all. They are probably a lot more likely to be posting than 50 year olds.
Advance Auto has a tool loan program. You pay for the cost of the tool and I think you can keep it 30 day, anyway it's a long period. When you bring it back, you get the full amount back, it's free. If they have the tool you need, it's a great thing for those ones that you only need once in a blue moon. Harbor Freight can be good too for that kind of thing. Auto Zone might have a loaner thing too, I don't remember.
My Ford Ranger had 307,000km when I bought it with a bad release cyl (inside bell housing). The clutch was only about 1/4 worn, but with all the labour already charged, the new clutch went in at the same tome. My old Tercel had it changed at almost 500,000km just because I had the engine out - it was only about half worn but I couldn't justify not changing it while it was apart.
I once changed a cast iron Powerglide working on my back under the car. Darn near killed me. If you don't have a hoist, at least put the truck up on ramps - I'd put it up on both ends - front on ramps and rear on stands. Get a transmission saddle for the floor jack and chain the trans on firmly.
I wouldn't include diy. All the videos are for diy. Even if they are intended for auto mechanics, how different would they be from what's intened for you?
I wouldn't include W59. Or at least if I didn't find what I wanted I'd take it out and put in 4runner. I don't know if a 4runner has more possible manual transmissions, but a good part of the instructions will be the same even if it does. I don't known if other Toyota cars use the same transmission, but they might, so I'd also try it with Toyota instead of 4runner. I might well specify the year -- youtube is good about also returning hits with nearby years, and iirc will also return a video with the title 2008 - 2012 even if you only specify 2010.
I don't think I'd even put in replacement. If it's a video about clutches, it's going to be either replacement or inspection or ...?
If you get too many hits, then you can put in more terms (but that doesn't seem to be your problem).
Just last night I was searching youtube and I learned a lot from videos that didn't really meet my search terms. For one thing, one that doesn't fit will be followed by something related, maybe something that fits better. In theory you would have found it in the search list, but my experience is that it often works better by letting the sequence find it for you, (until of course the sequence goes way off topic). That doesn't mean it won't get totally misled by terms like diy.
This might be more true because the poster included tags for each year. And most of them probably do, so whether youtube makes it easy to find or the posters do, it's still good for you.
I don't know how many tags a poster is allowed to list.
Did the same with a bus gearbox. The first one I did had an alloy case gearbox, very light, and it was a breeze to handle. The next one in the same type of bus had the same gearbox but with a cast iron case. Now that brute was damn heavy to handle under a bus. At 65, I now leave those to the younger chaps whose backs are stronger than their brains. My most recent clutch effort was one of these a couple of months back;
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Not a difficult job but the tractor needs to be separated. ;-)
I'm thinking if he doesn't know *anything* about the job, including what he needs in the way of equipment, it will be *cheaper* for him to pay someone who does have a clue and, of course, all the requisite equipment.
I had a '49 Chrysler New Yorker with the straight 8 and a Fluidmatic transmission. That was the worst of all world, a torque converter and a clutch, paired with a behemoth cast iron 4 speed with additional solenoids to make it semi-automatic.
I was used to manuals and the '60s era aluminum Torqueflites and never used a jack. Laying under the Chrysler I realized my mistake as soon as I took the weight of the tranny in one of those classic Oh Shit! moments. Somehow I slithered out from under it without doing damage to the transmission or myself. I rented a jack to install it.
They don't make cars like that anymore -- thank you sweet Jeezus.
Not particularly. Sometimes there is a shield on the bottom of the bellhousing that you can remove. You can't really see much but if a lot of dust and pieces of lining are present it isn't good news.
What are the symptoms? Is it slipping when you floor the engine at 50 mph or so? Or just hard to engage and shift. My F150 had a appetite for throwout bearings that gave the latter symptoms. They were good for about 75k miles. By the time you're to the throwout you're almost to the clutch do the last time around I replaced it and the pressure plate. I think it was about $50 for both. Neither were in bad shape but while you're there it's not much more work.
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