I changed the clutch fluid to VALVOLINE DOT approved. (500*)

I changed the clutch cable. (blue ofcourse http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/rolleyes.gif

I greased the part that was squeaking as directed in ARG's "clutch fix"


Why am I still plagued with the clutch problem? It's just as worse as before, and SUBARU won't do **** about it.. I've complained repeatedly and no one knows what to do. My warranty is expiring in 1,000 miles, and I want to take advantage of it before it expires.

Help

anyone?

[This message has been edited by STi Sev (edited October 09, 2000).]

I'm also having a squaeky clutch problem... mine is from the little lever that goes around the hydraulic pull thing. That squeaks like mad at an idol. It also squeaks when letting the clutch in and out. I'm going to pick up some milibdenum (sp?) grease today and try and fix this damned thing. It's soooo annoying. Is this the same as your problem?

Yes and trust me. Grease will not help, since me and imprezer tried it on my car.

We need to get the National Highway and Traffic Safety organization into this, since it IS a safety related issue with a large number of the imprezas on the board.

Why is this a safety-related issue? Every manual tranny car that I've owned/driven has had a squeaky clutch at some point.

Neither my wife or I have ever had a squeky clutch in the last 10 years so I think it is a problem.
As for the warranty - as long as you have documentation that you have tried to resolve this problem with the dealer and with Subaru BEFORE your warranty expires then I wouldn't worry about having to pay for the fix out of your pocket. BUT, (there's always a 'but') you have to keep nagging the dealer and Subaru about the problem. A noisy clutch is NOT normal. I think the back of the owners manual has an address to write to about unresolved problems. Send your letter certified mail, return receipt. One last thing - when you go back to the dealer, don't let the rat bastards write "no problem found, operating normal" on your receipt. Refuse to accept that until they write "problem not resolved to customer satisfaction" or "no repairs made, problem not fixed". they'll use the "no problem found" phrase against you later if your clutch fails and you try to get them to pay for it.

Wait, is this a squeaking sound when you depress the clutch pedal?

MY00 2.5RS: nothing yet
MY97 2.2CL: Squawk (from the engine room)
MY95 325i: Squeeeeeak (from the pedal)
MY91 Escort: Squeeeeeeeeeak (not just from the clutch)

[This message has been edited by RidinLow (edited October 09, 2000).]

where is it coming from?

check the pedal linkages, my cruise control switch spring required a little grease to get rid of a certain kind of squeaking when the pedal is first stepped on.

It is still squeaking? Did you lube both ends of the push rod coming out of the slave cylinder? Did you use the motorcycle chain lube? The reason I used the chain lube is because it comes out of the can as a very thin liquid and will run down the clutch fort to the pivot ball. After the solvents evaporate the liquid turns into a thick grease. If you are brave enough, you can direct the spray onto the release bearing. Just spray strait down. There is a very very slim chance you may get some onto your clutch disk but it would burn off after a couple of miles. Let me know.

ARG

hey Sev...if you get that thing fixed...ICQ me...mine isn't bugging me yet...but I don't want it to get to that point...hehe

I've been having squeaky clutch problems since 5k miles. There are three squeaks...one from the pressure plate, one from the throwout bearing and one from the clutch pedal itself. I'm having a complete warranty replacement done on Wednesday because they've "fixed" it 11 times and it keeps coming back.

New clutch, throwout bearing, flywheel, clutch cable, clutch fork, pressure plate, clutch pack, clutch assembly, everything. Car now has 48k miles (100k warranty) and it took them over two years to fix it. Check out my "light at the end of the tunnel" post in the General forum.

/Sean/

Heh, we're not the only ones: http://www.corral.net/Forums/Forum2/HTML/019313.html

I dont think we used chain lube.
We used some bearing grease. I will re-do it this weekend and tell you what happens.

RidinLow,
You're joking right? Come drive my car for 1 day in traffic and then you'll understand. Oh yeah, one more thing I'm sick and tired of the "Cold weather clutch problem" as well. A van almost hit me because of that. (im not joking)

the problem with the act clutch is that the disk will not move freely on the spindle. the center of the plate needs to be grinded out so that it will be able to "float." you need to remove the disk and rub down the inside edges, but for now i would adjust your clutch pedal out to aid moving the disk off the flywheel.

i just thought this might apply to your problem as well.

hahaha I wonder if Subaru will have the guts to do anything about it.

My wife's forester has the same problems. We were brushed off as well...

Hey, does anyone have a sound file of that "sqeak?" I'm noticing that my clutch PEDAL squeaks like the petal joints aren't lubed enough. Is that the "squeak?"

Also, I once noticed this chattering/tapping http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/frown.gif noise from under my car after some normal driving. I only noticed it when the clutch petal was still in, I was stopped, and I opened my door so I could hear the car. I released the clutch and the noise went away. Pressing the clutch made the noise again, although less pronounced. Should I bring it in to get a checkup?

Oops. Forgot to mention. MY00 STM RS. Bone Stock.

[This message has been edited by chomer (edited October 10, 2000).]

My entire clutch assembly was replaced yesterday at 43,000 miles due to a bad throwout bearing. I've had the squeak since 12,000 mi. and the dealer told me it wouldn't be covered under warranty even though it had been checked several times in the past (including replacing the cable/lubing the pedal). A few weeks ago, I opened a case with SOA and met with the district service rep. last week. He was even under the hood spraying lubricant (slave cylinder maybe?). I mentioned the ARG's previous post here and he didn't say much. He told the dealer to take it apart again and install whatever was needed.

Unfortunately, the squeak returned today after 100 miles with the new clutch. Even a little louder this time. A couple of months ago I was at a different dealer speaking with a tech(Flemington, NJ), and he was aware that the TO bearings get really dry. SOA called me today and asked for an update. They're getting in touch with the district rep. again. SOA has been providing me with excellent service (just wish the dealer would as well).
If your dealer doesn't fix it to your satisfaction, definately tell them you want to speak with the district service manager. If that doesn't help, call SOA yourself and tell them you want to meet the district rep. about your problem.
Sean - keep us posted on your install.

Dennis

> No luck.

Dammit. Me too. They replaced everything, the squeak was back within 8 miles along with some noises I've never heard before. It squeaks when I shift and I still feel this scratching and now some new sounds.

When I'm not shifting, I feel a vibration in the clutch pedal and a squeak coming from under the hood. When I press in the clutch, the vibration and squeak goes away but I then feel a scratching on the pedal with a squeaking from the movement of the pedal.

Tom Todaro from Faulkner in PA will be making my car his pet project. He's seen a Forester do this and a few others and he's certain a recall is coming. We just have to prove it. He'll start by checking my clutch pedal travel, then the setting on the clutch fork and some other stuff.

Frustrating. And I'm starting to babble. I'm about two hours from you. You're about an hour and forty minutes from Camden, NJ. If possible, I'd like to get together so I can drive your car and you can drive mine. I'd like to see if we have the same problem or if it just sounds the same. There's an AutoX at Camden on Sunday that I'll be at. I'll be running third heat (noon) if you're interested.

Otherwise, I can try to drive to your place or you can drive up here (Palmerton, PA, 20 miles North of Allentown). I really want to drive another car that's doing the same thing as mine and get it on tape. It was my video camera that convinced Faulkner that I really had a problem. They couldn't reproduce it but the camera amplified the sound enough so they could hear it.

Sending this via privmsg and posting to the other thread.

http://www.trunkmonkey.com/pics/lil.gif Trunkmonkey is here! There is no cone... (http://www.trunkmonkey.com/)
Sean Sosik-Hamor (http://projects.shn.nu/sean/) < sean@trunkmonkey.com >
Epinions Automotive Reviews by `Sean (http://uberauk.epinions.com/user-hamors?start=1&stop=2000)
47STS MY98 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport

Sean, I also have the squeak at the pedal. It sounds like we have identical squeaks. If your dealer wants to speak to SOA about my case, the number is 253349. My dealership is Bell Subaru in Rahway, NJ.
PM'd you with other info.
Dennis

Edit: It seems to be more intermittent than before. I have to drive it for 5 miles or so before it starts to squeak. Before the new clutch it was constant.



[This message has been edited by bluesubie (edited October 13, 2000).]

I think I may have this problem too, but I'm sure, maybe someone can help me.

It doesn't do it all the time, but I push the pedal down, no noise, but then I can push it farther (all the way down) and I feel sort of a resistence/noise coming from the pedal. If I'm at idle and I do this with the windows down, I can here a squeeky sound from under the car.

Is this the same thing you guys have? Can the dealers not fix this? Thanks

Oh yea, I only got 19K on the car too.

[This message has been edited by Ethan (edited October 16, 2000).]

Ethan,
That sounds very similar to my squeak. At first, my dealer thought it was just the pedal and lubed it up. That didn't help so they lubed and eventually replaced the clutch cable. Mine still squeaks like crazy after everything was replaced. I open the door when I'm parked and can hear it coming from underneath. I was emailing someone from the OB/Forester forum at vmag that has a Forester, and they still had the squeak after a new clutch assembly as well. In his case, he went back to the dealer and the dealer took the clutch apart again and lubed it up more. I'm waiting to hear back from SoA since I had to go through them because my dealer wanted $1200 for a new clutch.
Definately bring up your squeak to the dealer and see what happens.
Dennis

blue - I gave Tom your case number and he'll be contacting SOA to get your info. There are a bunch of cars he's seen that can help with our case. He said he's seen too many Subarus blow their throwout bearings for this to be a coincidence.

He'll be at the GMC show and will be busy for the next few days but will continue his research Thursday...

http://www.trunkmonkey.com/pics/lil.gif Trunkmonkey is here! There is no cone... (http://www.trunkmonkey.com/)
Sean Sosik-Hamor (http://projects.shn.nu/sean/) < sean@trunkmonkey.com >
Epinions Automotive Reviews by `Sean (http://uberauk.epinions.com/user-hamors?start=1&stop=2000)
47STS MY98 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport