A while ago I was driving along and decided it would be nice
to do a burnout.  I put it in first and reved it to about 3-4k
befor letting off.  The tires spun for a second and then a big
"Cachunk!" and then nothin to the wheels.  I feel
pretty stupid about it so there's no need to put salt on my
wounds.
The engine still runs and I can still feel it go into gear. 
The problem is that the power isnt getting to the wheels and I
hear some slight clanking noises from what I think is the
transmission like something is bouncing around.  I think it's
the clutch and I've decided to try and replace it myself.  I
have the Chiltons Eclipse book but I'm still pretty
intimidated. Any advice or even how to do it from anyone?

It's either your clutch or your differential. Look around under the car for holes in the bellhousing and oil on the ground.

Find the problem first before you tear into it, otherwise you might be wasting your time and money going in the wrong direction.

Did you check your axles?

Yeah, actually I still need to check out the under side.  I
wont be able to till this weekend though.  I had to leave my
car back at home while I'm here at college.  If it is the
clutch I was going to get a stage 1 SPEC clutch.  Those are
good right?  I really dont have very much money and what with
my mod list being nothing except for an exhaust leak I figure
the SPEC stage 1 should be just fine.  I hope it is though if
it is the diff or something serious I might have to give her
up.  She already needs a new exhaust system, drive shafts, and
a front end straitening from an insident.

Don't do burnouts.

Alright, I checked under my car and the driveshafts are fine. 
The bell housing and tranny was also fine but it had some
fluid dripping down it.  I think it was just motor oil the
leaked out my valve cover and flowed down the tran but I'm not
to sure.  It looks like it is the clutch but how would I know
if it was the differential or not? Also when I make sure it is
actually the clutch, Would I need any special tools to replace
it with a Spec stage 1 modular clutch?

PS
Yes, Thank you. I know not to do burnouts now. 

Well, either way it looks like your going to have to drop the
tranny to find the problem.  When you do this you are going to
be able to check out your axels, your clutch, and if you have
to the tranny very easily.  To me, it would be awfully hard to
"break" a clutch the way you described it.  I'd be
more inclined to think it's your diff., but hey, that's just a
guess based on nothing.  If, when you drop your tranny you
don't have anything wrong with your axels or clutch your going
to have to open your tranny. There is a series of bolts
running around the outside.  Remove all of them, and them pop
the top of the bell housing off.  It takes a bit of LIGHT
banging with a rubber mallet to get to open.  Carefully lift
it off ... and hopefully you won't find a whole bunch of
spagetti.  Good luck.

Man, That sound rough.  I'm still trying to find out when,
where, and how I'm actually going to do all this. I have no
equipment and it looks like me and my friend are going to have
to perform all this in my backyard and make do with whatever
equipment we have.  Also, while I'm down there I was going to
replace both motor mounts with the new Energy Polyurathane
mounts.  And since I might open up the transmission I remember
reading in this sight about some site that sell large and
small transmision rebuild kits for our trans.  Does anyone
know where it was?
I am really gonna have a rough time with this.  Bless this
site and everyone within it.

A good start would be to start the car, put it in gear, put on
the parking brake, and letting the clutch out. See if any part
of either axle is turning. If so, then you have a cheap
solution on your hands. It isn't a clutch problem, though. It
will be an exploded differential or a broken axle.

-=B-=

I decided to jump on this thread instead of posting a new one.
Does anybody have a detailed explanation on how to change the
clutch from begining to end? I have no idea and want to learn.
Can you do this by yourself or do you need somebody with you?

In the middle of doing a tranny and clutch right now... I have
the factory service manual (about $100 or so from the dealer
or someone sells CD manuals on ebay - usually can get one for
about $15-20 shipped)

The manual says to disconnect all the control arms/ball joints
and the center member assy. but I am gonna try to just
disconnect minimum amount of suspension and leave the center
member assy inplace.  It should work but if anyone knows for
sure these steps need to be done, please let me know asap!!

Good Luck!

Jim
jracer@myvine.com
'96 RS Copper Durango Pearl

Oh jees,  I'm not even sure anymore now.  I have started the
car and put it in gear and let the clutch out.  Nothin really
happens.  I havent looked under car while I was doing all this
but when the car is running I can actually put it into each
gear with out any clutch action effortlessly.  The speedometer
also goes up by which ever gear I'm in and even responds when
I rev it.  I really thought is was the clutch.  Both axles are
fine I'm pretty sure.  But if it is the axles or the diff
would it really be a cheap solution?  Man I am so confused.
:twitch :censored :cry ;( :shrug :scratch :wallbash :squint 

Ok, I was at home warming up the car like I usually do and
having some fun putting it into gear and reving it up
whatching the speedometer go up.  Then while it was in nuetral
I gave it a few more revs and the speedometer actually still
went up a little while I was in nutral!  Where is the speed
sensor located in our cars?  Does this mean it is a problem
with the differential?  This is weird but I still cant find a
way to get my car up.:scratch 

Well, is any part of the axle turning when you rev it in gear?
Don't come back and ask what it is until you do that much. We
can't read your car's mind.

-=B-=