Last weekend I've replaced the clutch set.
First I had to tweak the new release bearing after doing a test assembly on the bench. There was a notch on the new one limiting how far the retainer spring could be closed, which had to be removed otherwise I couldn't easily fit the bearing in the pressure plate. Also the retainer didn't properly sit inside the pressure plate, after further inspection I realized that the groove inside the bearing also slightly differs. Looked careful if it's not a wear, but I saw machining mark, so after slightly chamfering the edge with a dremel, the bearing fitted fine with a slight play.
My original disk a thickness of 7.5mm. The manual calls for a replacement below 8.5mm, possibly to avoid the breakage of the flimsy ears of the release bearing. During relining we went for 9mm. CO.ME disk had 8.5 but after comparing the two devices the CO.ME one sits closer to the surface and I think that's another reason why it won't disengage on the same fork travel as the Sachs.
\
When removing the gearbox besides of removing the center exhaust section the steering rack also needs to be removed. Instead of fighting with hard hard lines and he low pressure hose, as I did, it's better to just pull it down and push aside. This will save a lot of time and cursing. Also as stated in the workshop manual loosening the engine mount bolt and inclining the engine it not enough. Below the subframe will be in the way of the bell housing, above the chassis. So i had to drop the back of the subframe by 1-1.5cm then the gearbox just barely but come out.
Original set then went in
After putting back the gearbox (it's heavy, especially while lying and trying to lift it back up on the trolley jack) I bled the clutch lines and checked if I can turn the disk by hand when pressing on the pedal to make sure the clutch works properly before continuing. The hardest part was putting back the starter, which is definitely not a single person task. I had to remove the intake manifold in the end so the whole replacement took much longer than planned.
Before putting back everything I wanted to double check everything one more time so started up the engine without the exhaust to test shifting. Probably out of excitement I didn't realize on the first start how loud it is without the exhaust. I think that's why I didn't hear the rattle of the clutch back then. But this time instead I faced with a lot of oily water coming out of the turbos. It was nearly 10pm after working two full days non stop under the car. Instead of setting the whole thing on fire, closed the door and tried to forget about it for at least week.
When I was trying to inspect why the initial clutch set doesn't work I did let the car heat up to operation temperature. After this I a small water puddle on the floor below the connection of the center exhaust section and the mufflers. Thought it's condensation, or something similar, and ignored it, my attention was at that clutch.
Today I started with a leak down test. I wasn't looking for exact numbers (rings didn't seat yet) but mostly bubbles in the expansion tank. I found water droplets on the spark plugs and on the top of the pistons too. During the test couldn't see bubbles, but the level of the coolant increased, slightly after testing each cylinder (only did the right bank).
I'll first try to retorque the heads. When I was installing the heads two weeks were spent between the first and second round of torquing, maybe the nuts were sticking down? Not sure, but the gods of mechanics are definitely not smiling on me. I would appreciate any insights what could be the problem.