HOW TO REPLACE THE CLUTCH ON A SERIES 4 (B40) L200

I wrote this guide after replacing the clutch for the first time on my L200. Therefore, it may be that
my method is not necessarily the quickest. However, I based it upon the guidance from the
Mitsubishi workshop manual, so hopefully it is correct! It worked well for me. Also, my truck is a
manual transmission with the super select 4WD system. If you have a different model, then there
may be some variations to the setup of mine.

Time:

It took me about 6-7 hours. I am sure with experience, it could be done in around 4 hours

Tools:

 A large jack – you are going to balance the transmission on this. Therefore a proper
transmission jack would probably be best. I just used a very large, high reach floor jack
which had quite a large pad on it. Be careful, you don’t want the transmission to fall off it!
 A good socket set with some wobble extensions.
 Spanners
 Torque wrench
 A pilot bearing puller – I am sure you can do it with bread(!), paper or grease (see youtube if
interested in these methods) but a puller is cheap (£15-20) and cleaner and also much easier
for a confined space.
 A clutch alignment tool, or you can use an extension bar or ratchet handle with tape
wrapped around it.
 Something to drain transfer case oil into (2.5 litres)
 If you have an impact gun, it will make your life so much easier 

Consumables:

 New clutch kit which should contain spline grease and a release bearing.
 A new pilot/spigot bearing
 New oil if you are going to replace the oil (GL4 75w-90 is fine. You will not easily find GL3
75W-85 which is what is detailed in the workshop manual). You will need 2.5L for the
transfer case. If you also decide to do the gearbox, then you will need an additional 3.5L.
 1. Drain the transfer case oil

Torque for both plugs is 32 +/- 2nm

If oil is good condition and you want to reuse it, then drain into a suitable clean container. If you
want to replace it, you will need new oil. If you are going to replace it, then why not also do the
gearbox oil although it is not essential to drain the gearbox to do the clutch.

If you do decide to do gearbox:

Both gearbox plugs torque to 37 +/- 11 nm

Reinsert the drain plugs and torque to settings above.

2. Remove propshafts (front and rear)

- Mark one of the bolt holes where they join the diff so that when you reassemble later,
they are bolted back in same position as they are balanced.
- Transfer case ends just gently pull out. They will leak a bit of oil so have a suitable
container ready to catch it.

3. Remove gear and transfer lever assembly.

- Open arm rest and remove two bolts at bottom.
- Unclip 12v socket/rear electric window switch panel
- Lift armrest assembly up and move rearwards a couple of inches to reveal 2 bolts on
gearstick console
 - Undo 2 bolts you revealed. Now undo the plastic clips in either footwell (one in each
footwell holding centre console in place.
- Unscrew the gear and transfer knobs and lift the console off.
- Undo the 6 screws holding the metal square plate around the sticks. Remove this plate
and lift the rubber gaitor up.
- Put truck into neutral and 4wd (4H).
- You can either remove each stick individually or just remove the 8 bolts that hold the
mounting plate in and then remove this as a single unit – this is the option I chose as
getting the transfer lever back into the unit is fiddly. The 2 bolts on the passenger side
may be easier to undo from under the truck. Note that some bolts are longer. Once you
have removed the 8 bolts, it may take a little force or prising with something to separate
the gasket material. Lift the stick assembly out.

4. Unbolting the transmission (see diagram later for location of bolts and tightening torques)
- Wiring harness at rear of transfer case. You don’t need to disconnect any of the
connectors, but just undo the first 2-3 clips where attached to the vehicle floor above –
that will give you plenty of slack.
- Roll stopper assembly – I just removed the L-shaped bracket from the chassis (4 bolts I
think) and then disconnected the single bolt underneath the L-shape brack connecting it
to the rubber roll stopper. Note the gasket will have split into two – this is normal and if
it otherwise looks good, you can reuse it.
- Leave the cross-member attached for now.
- Go to passenger side of bell housing. Note that all the bolts are different lengths on
the bell housing so label where they came from.
- Undo 2 little bolts at the bottom.
- Undo the 2 bolts that hold the clutch release cylinder to the bell housing.
- Undo the 2 bolts that hold the starter motor in place. You don’t need to disconnect the
starter motor wiring – it will rest in place.
- The 2 hardest bolts are those on top of the bell housing. You can either use a series of
wobble extensions, or you can just about get an impact gun in there (the easiest option).
 You will need to feed the gun in from the passenger side as there is less room on the
driver’s side.
- Now move to the driver’s side.
- There is one bolt holding the exhaust pipe in place – remove this.
- One final bolt on the bell housing on the driver’s side.

5. Moving the transmission

- Do a final check to ensure you have undone all the bolts above.
- Place your jack under the cross member. I placed a square piece of wood approx. 6x6
inches onto the jack first. The transmission is slightly heavier on the passenger side so it
has a tendency to tip that way if you are not careful so maybe put your jack very slightly
off centre – towards the passenger side.
- Also, the transmission will have a tendency to tilt rearwards. If you see the photo
below, my jack has a flat area on it and I placed a bottle jack on there and supported the
rearmost portion of the transmission. There was not much weight on the bottle jack,
but not only did it provide extra stability, but it also allowed me to adjust the angle of
the transmission – useful for when reassembling. Note the axle stands – I put those in
place once the transmission was moved rearwards.

- Once you are happy your jack is in place, then undo the 3 bolts on either end of the
cross member. It may be worth having a friend to help ensure everything is balanced
safely on the jack.
- Move the jack rearwards a few inches – the transmission will then catch on the
underside of the truck. I lowered and went back a bit further. Make sure there is still
plenty of slack in the wiring harness.
- Put some jack stands in place whilst changing the clutch.
6. Changing the release bearing
- Grab the external end of the clutch release fork and pull it straight out, perpendicular to
the transfer case as according to arrow on diagram below – it requires a gentle tug as
there is a sprung clip holding it in (see photo below) but do not force it or pull it the
wrong way as you will damage the clip. Once released, then just slide the bearing over
the input shaft and gently extract the clutch fork from the rubber gaitor – take care not
to tear it.

- Without damaging the 2 little clips holding the release bearing in place, using pliers
gently pull the end of the clips that is inserted into the clutch fork. (If you decide to
remove the end inserted into the release bearing, note it goes into a slit as that end of
the spring clip is L-shaped, so you would need to lift up and then out). Note the
orientation of the release bearing.
- Take your new release bearing and fill the central groove with some grease – I used a
high melting point grease. Then smear a very very small bit of grease on the surface of
the bearing where it slides on the input shaft:

- Reinstall it onto the release fork using the 2 little wire clips
- Also clean and then put a bit of grease on the fulcrum point and on the end of the fork
where it interacts with the release mechanism
 - Reinstall the release fork from the inside of the bell housing and through the rubber
gaitor and slide the release bearing over the shaft. Once in place, push the external end
of the release fork so it clips onto the fulcrum.
- Wipe any grease off the splines on the input shaft.

7. Changing the clutch

- Remove the pilot bearing. I used a puller – it was quick and easy and although I bought
specifically for this job, I have already used it subsequently for removing oil seals on my
diff. This is the type I used and it cost me £17 on ebay including P&P

- Wipe clean the hole the bearing came from. Take your new bearing and smear a very
very tiny bit of the clutch spline grease onto the outside of it. Gently tap the new
bearing in keeping it level – use something like a piece of wood to protect it as you tap it
in
- Now clean your hands well and put on clean gloves.
- Clean the flywheel with some brake cleaner or equivalent. Apparently it is good to rub it
with a bit of sandpaper but I didn’t do that.
- Take your new clutch friction plate and using a brush put a very small amount of the
spline grease on the centre splines. Wipe away any excess. Do not get any grease on the
friction surfaces. Only use the grease that came with the clutch kit.
- Using a clutch alignment tool, align the friction plate with the pressure plate and the
pilot bearing. If you don’t align it carefully, then you will have difficulties reassembling
it. I used a proper alignment tool like below – it cost me about £13 from Amazon.
Alternatively, you can use an extension bar or ratchet handle wrapped in a suitable
thickness of tape.
- Once everything is aligned, bolt on the friction plate in the sequence on this diagram.
The torque values are 19 +/- 3nm:
8. Reassemble everything.
- Please see diagram at end for all the torque values. Torque value for exhaust bolt is 25
+/- 4nm
- Just manoeuvre the gearbox back into place – it may take a bit of wiggling but if you get
the input shaft going straight in, then it shouldn’t be too hard.
- Bolt everything back together.
- Once you have attached the cross-member bolts, then you can remove the jack.
- Note that when you reassemble the gear and transfer lever assembly, you will need to
degrease the mating surface (eg with white spirit or meths) and use a bit of RTV sealant.
- Reconnect the prop shafts in the correct orientation. Torque values:

- Refill your transfer case (and gearbox if you emptied that). Torque values as mentioned
previously.

If you notice any errors them please just contact me via the Facebook forums or on
L200.org (username: benshepherd).

Also, the the workshop manual can be found online here.