95 5.0 clutch

[OldZeuski]

Hello guys,

I was wondering if it is possible for the pressure plate to be installed incorrectly as far as orientation goes. I had the engine out for some strut tower repairs and I decided to do the rear main seal while it was out. I am concerned that I may have re installed the pressure plate in a different orientation. I know there are dowel pins, but is it possible to misalign it even with the dowel pins?

My suspicion is because the car shakes at start up and idle, which it did not do before. I did not do any other work to the engine while it was out, and only replaced the motor mounts with OEM replacements. Unless the harmonic balancer coincidentally gave out right when I put the engine back, I'm at a loss for ideas. The car runs great otherwise.

Thanks in advance.

 

[07GtS197]

Did you touch the flywheel? It’s possible to put the clutch plate in backwards but you wouldn’t be able to shift.

 

[OldZeuski]

I had the flywheel off, yes. I lined up the non uniform flywheel bolt holes though and the bolts went back on without any force. The clutch should be the correct direction, I was aware of that when I put it on, and the car shifts fine. The only thing I was not aware of was the orientation of the pressure plate in regard to the flywheel. The last time I did a clutch in this car I don't remember lining up the pressure plate with dowel pins, I just put it on. I'm wondering if i just got lucky last time, and this time I got it wrong.

I'm pulling the trans Sunday to double check my work, but if someone here knows whether or not its even possible to misalign a pressure plate, It would save me the trouble.

 

[07GtS197]

Is it only shaky at idle or throughout the rev range and gets worse as the rpms rise? I’ve seen people get new motor mounts and it cause vibrations, even rubber mounts.

 

[OldZeuski]

It’s shaking at idle and free rev to like 2.5k. However, it doesn’t seem to shake at all when I’m driving it. So maybe it is the new mounts. It just seems a little intense. Less intense than when my harmonic balancer exploded, but similar to a bad miss.

 

[07GtS197]

Did you change your trans mount too?

 

[Daryl]

Out of balance? Wrong tooth count on the flywheel ? Just spit ballin…

 

[OldZeuski]

New trans mount. Also OE rubber style.
The flywheel, clutch and pressure plate are the same, I didn’t replace them, just took them off to do the rear main.

 

[OldZeuski]

I’m going to get a new pilot and throw out bearing tomorrow, just to be safe. And I’ll double check that the pressure plate is installed correctly.

 

[07GtS197]

Sometimes new mounts need to be broken in. When you have it apart make sure all the flywheel bolts are torqued to spec and the flywheel is flat.

 

[OldZeuski]

Just an update, I decided to take a look at the harmonic balancer and it appears to be wobbling. Ive got an OEM balancer on the way. I suspect this was an issue before the new motor mounts, but because the old mounts were so soft I was not feeling the vibration as much.

 

[OldZeuski]

Harmonic Balancer was bad. Pulled the old one off and it was clear that the rubber seal was cracking and with a straight edge I could tell the balancer had started to shift. I never got around to installing the pilot and throw out bearing yet, so these were not the issue. I still haven't gotten an answer about whether the pressure plate can be installed incorrectly, but I am going to guess the answer is no.