29 Jan Do You Even Lift (Engines)?
Today, we return to the Lamborghini Murciélago clutch replacement. It’s time to do some lifting of the motor variety.
In the last blog post for this job, we highlighted the steps we took to disconnect the motor from the car’s body in preparation for removal. You see, the clutch on a Murciélago V12 is situated between the transmission and the motor, like most every other motor out there. However, thanks to the Murciélago’s motor position, that clutch location is somewhere in the middle of the vehicle, and the engine must be removed to access it. With most everything disconnected from the vehicle, we set about disconnecting the motor from the transmission. We unbolted the axles from the rear differential, as well as unbolting the torque tube that transfers power to the front wheels. This would give us enough room to slide the transmission away from the motor, permitting its egress.
From there, we removed the bellhousing bolts (some of them were right up against the firewall — oh, the joy) and hooked up the engine crane. It’s the same style of crane that the Lamborghini dealers use, mostly because it’s one of the few that are large enough to reach into the middle of the Murciélago. After attaching the chains to the correct points on the motor, which are very visible, almost as if Lamborghini knew you’d be doing this eventually. We slid the motor backwards and began removing it.
Now, we only had to lift it a couple feet up and away from the car, as the clutch is easily serviceable once you actually get to the damn thing. Now that we have access to it, we removed the old rusted one (surface rust is common on most steel components that come in contact with moisture — take a look at your brake rotors after a rainy night on the driveway) and inspected the throwout bearing. The customer declined to replace it, so we won’t be showing you that job, sadly.
Seeing as how we were replacing the plugs and coilpacks to fight off a misfire issue, we went about replacing those when the motor was up in the air. Simply put, it was much easier to reach everything at this point.
With the coils and plugs replaced, it was time to refocus our attention on the clutch. After removing the old unit, we bolted in the new one. Clutches aren’t really that tough, it’s the access that kills you with this one. As we mentioned in the previous posts, we’ll be replacing the OEM clutch with an upgraded unit from Exotic Clutch Technologies. Their Murciélago upgrade kit comes with a kevlar-based friction material with up to 300% the lasting power of the OEM setup. That means this clutch should get roughly 100 miles before it needs replacement. We’re kidding, obviously, but supercar clutches tend to burn up much faster than lower-powered offerings, so longevity is clutch. Pun totally intended.
That’s all for today. Check back tomorrow for more shop shenanigans! In the meantime, if you’re in Chicago, enjoy this 60-degree weather for the one day we’ll have it.
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