new clutch, flywheel, halfshafts, and now even bigger problems!

[saturnspeed_12]

well i have noticed my clutch slipping at times. with almost 150,000 miles on it i figured its had a good life since i dont know how the last people drove it. well i was doing the work and found when i pulled the transmission away that there was a problem. rear main was leaking which was my whole problem. i replaced the seal and clutch, why not since im already this far, with a centerforce dual friction and a sps aluminum flywheel and a new stock throw out bearing. we got it all back together good other then the halfshafts. the intermediate shaft slide right in but the halfshafts took way too much work(maybe this is the problem). i got everything together and couldnt wait for the test drive. well the clutch pedal had become very soft, someone messed with it when i removed it so maybe the system has air in it, but then i went to back out of the shop and CLUNK, POP. i instantly put the clutch back in and got it back in the shop and it did it again and this time i heard a bit of a grinding noise. well i jacked up the front end and run the egine in gear to see if it would do it again but no luck. i double checked the halfshafts to make sure they were in and everything was tracking right, and everything check out. so i tried to drive it again with the same result. i gave up on it because i have spent 24 hours straight working on it when it should have taking much shorter and the fact my new started broke so i had to get a new one and my ball joint boots busted.

i need help and no one is sure whats wrong other then maybe the new halfshafts didnt seat in or have busted splines. i highly doubt its the clutch or flywheel because we have done many clutches no problem and everything was torqued to specs and i checked for clearance and how the clutch disc rode on the input shaft and everything checked out fine. all i do know is that i had a dowel in the differential to hold the gears up and the other guy who helped me a little pulled it out to check about replacing the axle seal and i told him to put it back in but it didnt seem like anything came loose but i dont know.

[sierrap615]

what year? when is the "clunk, pop" happening, when the wheels are rotating? clutch in? clutch out? all gears? only when shifting? ect. is the clutch dragging? slipping? was the slave cylinder ever raised above the master cylinder? checked all fluid levels? the sound only occurs with the vehicle weight on the wheels correct? what troubles did the haftshafts give you?

i have a theory or two, but am not 100% sure yet. but can you look at the splines connecting the haft shaft to the wheel hub, i beleave at one point they changed the number of splines, i don't know if its possible to jam the wrong one in there, also if you have ABS check the wheel speed sensor clearance.

[sierrap615]

also, check the brake lines for rubbing, did you remove the engine/transmission from the car or seperate them in side the car?

[saturnspeed_12]

its a 97 sl2. i pushed the transmission to the side. i have no abs and no problem with brakes. the other guy i worked with set the slave cylinder above the master cylinder. clunk is only happening when you put torque to the wheels, in other words when trying to get it to roll. my uncle hopped in it to move it out and i watched the wheels and when it happened you can see the wheels jitter but it sounds like the clunking is coming inside the transmission differential area. we towed it home in neutral no problem and you can jack it up and go through the gears easily but it doesnt move when on the ground. i have decided to replace transmission if i can afford one since i spent so much on the driveline already.

just to note, i started doing this all because i felt a vibration in 2nd and 3rd gear at lower rpms on throttle and i figured maybe a joint was going bad. but now i believe it was my differential spider gears starting to seperate and when i removed the old halfshafts and pulled everything apart.

[sierrap615]

you may want to rip open the transmission and inspect it before buying a new one.

you also didn't if the clutch was draging and what was the problem with the haftshafts.

[saturnspeed_12]

well i finally found the problem. since my uncle continued to try and move it with the clunk going on it twisted up the halfshaft boot so i knew the tripod joint wasnt in place. on further inspection, the prefrabicated halfshaft wasnt fully put together. there is no grease in that joint and no snap ring. so everytime the wheel was turned it popped out. simple fix but im mad such a thing could leave a factory like that.

but still having soft clutch problems, even though i just bought a new clutch release system from saturn today. seems to have tighten up a bit after driving a little but lets see tomorrow morning. does anybody know if there is a bit of a break in/adjustment time with a new release system on a saturn?

[sierrap615]

by release system you mean the hydraulic assembly? then there is no break in that I know of. is the fluid full and clear?