Yeah, it chewed up the crank end, and required some prying to get it off.. I had just replaced the bottom end due to a spun bearing a few weeks before, and figured it was that again.. After I found the loose pressure plate it made sense,
well, hopefully mines ok. now i am more concerned.
so i got to work on this a litte bit past noon, and i had everything out before 2pm and that was while working at a very leisurely pace. i was pretty surprised how quick everything went


i guess this is why you must use the newer stretch bolt style flywheel bolts with the large clutch setups since mine were apparently rubbing on the edges of the pressure plate, i am not sure maybe this normal for either style bolt??

the next 2 pictures i took because i wasn't sure if maybe this strap had stretched judging by the marks around the rivet


and here is the actual damaged parts, bolt holes are ovaled out, and the mating surface is marred up, crank surface looks the same as the pp so i will have to clean that up before installing the new one.


the crank bolts threads looked fine other than where the pp had obviously beat them up, and they all came out nice and smooth so i am not concerned about the crank threads, and i'll obviously be using new bolts, the part i am concerned about is cleaning up the crank surface before install the new pp to make sure it is totally flat, i can use a file and stuff, but i am open to suggestions as i am no machinist and i dont have experience with something like this.
so i got to work on this a litte bit past noon, and i had everything out before 2pm and that was while working at a very leisurely pace. i was pretty surprised how quick everything went
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Wait the minute. You pulled the tranny/clutch out of a running driving VW in less than 2 hours? Do you have a lift? Please list your procedure.
I did a tranny swap AVX to ACN approx 3 years ago in my Jetta and it took me a few weeks working on jack stands. I took my time with help from this forum (first time doing it and had to make tools like flange pullers etc). Getting the ACN in was no fun working on my back.
I need to do a clutch soon and was considering farming the job out to a VW shop who quoted me at least $700 labor says the job is minimum 7 to 8 hours (he has a lift and all the tools). With that price tag I am considering doing it myself for punishment.

worst part of the clutch job is getting the cv's in/out with the triple square bolts and propping the engine up on the trans side as I only have 2 jack stands. After that MKI and MKII is pretty easy. If you have new parts to go in you should be able to finish it in a day or less.
i just did it in my car port with 2 jack stands holding up the front of the car and 2 jack stands with a 4x4 across them holding the engine up. i've done it before so maybe that helps because i already know how to do each part and what tools to grab before i start. it will take much longer to put it back together because of the cleaning and torque procedures. but still a clutch is not too bad of a job even in a mk4
........... 2 jack stands with a 4x4 across them holding the engine up. ....................
Do you have a pic? I borrowed a HF engine support from a friend that has a come-a-long built in that rested on the fenders when I did the swap but he moved away so I would be interested in your setup.
9 mm 12-point standard socket
Is N10013401 the correct flywheel/ pressure plate bolts? Dealer says 9 are needed and they are $1.77 ea. FCPEuro have ones made by Febi at $1.09 ea. Are they OK? What type of socket is needed on these 12 point jobbies?
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vw-clutch-pressure-plate-bolt-n10013401
yes those look like the right ones, but i did not use those, the old old flywheel bolts were 6 point, and reuseable, so i found 9 of them and used them since they were free, i didn't have an issue with the 6 point bolts other than that they rubbed the contact plate of the pressure plate. but when i put it back together i will be using the 12 point ones you posted.
i think to fix this i will take an old used pressure plate i have, and drill out the rivets and remove the contact plate and membrane/spring then put my clutch net membrane/spring contact plate and straps over on to the used backing plate and bolt the straps on. clutchnet has like a month lead time and it will also cost me atleast another 200 dollars to replace the pressure plate, if i swap the backing plates it should only cost me a few nuts and bolts.
here is a picture of how it sits now, i have done the same thing with a mk3 2.0 and a mk4 1.8t as well. i don't know how well it would work with a mk2 or mk3 that didn't have ac since the compressor rested on the front cross member and kind of kept it steady, but it should be fine i'd just be careful since the motor mount is on the back of the engine and not on the side like a mk1 or mk4.
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i think to fix this i will take an old used pressure plate i have, and drill out the rivets and remove the contact plate and membrane/spring then put my clutch net membrane/spring contact plate and straps over on to the used backing plate and bolt the straps on. clutchnet has like a month lead time and it will also cost me atleast another 200 dollars to replace the pressure plate, if i swap the backing plates it should only cost me a few nuts and bolts.
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I'm no expert on this but not sure if that's a good idea. Rivets are low profile and meant to not come off. Bolts will be much higher profiles and could come loose even with loctite.
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i think to fix this i will take an old used pressure plate i have, and drill out the rivets and remove the contact plate and membrane/spring then put my clutch net membrane/spring contact plate and straps over on to the used backing plate and bolt the straps on. clutchnet has like a month lead time and it will also cost me atleast another 200 dollars to replace the pressure plate, if i swap the backing plates it should only cost me a few nuts and bolts.
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I'm no expert on this but not sure if that's a good idea. Rivets are low profile and meant to not come off. Bolts will be much higher profiles and could come loose even with loctite.
it's been done a lot by people who kept ripping straps, so they would drill out the rivets and install 2-3 straps with bolts. it's worth trying atleast since it could save me 2-300 dollars. but it's a well tested and proven thing to do. i could always use some button head allens if clearance is an issue. and definitely will use red loctite.
OK, hope it goes well and good luck. How high are those jack stands set at? What kind of creeper is that? I don't even own one and always crawl on cardboard because my floor jack is only 16" (I think).
hmm i'm not sure, the transmission was probably 3-4 feet off the ground.
it's been done a lot by people who kept ripping straps, so they would drill out the rivets and install 2-3 straps with bolts. it's worth trying atleast since it could save me 2-300 dollars. but it's a well tested and proven thing to do. i could always use some button head allens if clearance is an issue. and definitely will use red loctite.
FWIW, the ACT pressure plate I recently installed has doubled-up straps. ~$222 shipped via amazon.
Regarding jackstands and engine support, I usually put a floor jack under the oil pan (cushioned with a piece of scrap wood), which enables me to raise or lower the engine a bit to get the desired angle for tranny installation and removal. Of course, that ties up my floor jack, so I'm relegated to bench pressing the tranny into place, which is a lot of fun when it takes a couple of minutes to get the splines aligned.
You could always put a dab of weld to the bolts or straps if one was really concerned.