99 Zx2 May Need New Clutch ? Is It A Big Job ?

[Bob1942]

My son in Grand Rapids Michigan has a 99 ZX2 5 speed he drives to work...Around 140,000 miles on it ... Today my son says The clutch appears to slip and grab (He needs the car for work )...He says The car acts like it is lugging like if you had it in 5th gear while you are going real slow but it does it in all gears at all speeds and it is difficult to keep it going ... I have two questions for you guys ...#1- How do you determine the clutch is really bad and #2 - Is the clutch a big job to change ? I mean do you have to pull the engine or something to change it ?

Then again
Maybe we are all wrong about this to and it is some other problem ?

THANKS ! BOB

[AltecZX2]

You have to pull the tranny and the axles to change it.

If you try to accellerate, and RPM's go up ffaster then they should or your MHP doesnt climb liek it should then you need a new clutch.

I suggest a Centerforce, or a Spec Stage-2, they are a little heavier, but they are very high quality.

[zx2guy]

its deffinitly a job where if you want to do it at home. and you have the tools and the knowhow (and by knowhow i dont mean one of those hand books, i mean you are comfortable enough with your knowledge that you want to take it on)give her a go. personnally since its for work... take it to a mechanic, those guys have lifts and specialty tools,best of all the experience, and can get it done in one day if he doesnt have interuptions (but it ussually takes the whole day). i helped a friend pull the clutch out of his pos crx in his garage and it was utterly miserable. not to mention it took longer and we had the fabled "extra pieces" when we finished. if you need it done quickly have the parts ahead of time (include a flywheel to what altec said just in case) and have a mechanic install it... plus then you dont have the stress of having the problem of tracking down all the little bits.