About 4 days ago we got the massive Northeastern USA blizzard. I of course, went out and enjoyed it like a true Subaru owner should. Well, with all that proud ownership-driving, i got my car sitting ontop of about 18 inches of snow (God, I love those drifts!!!).

Here comes the bad part. I kind of, *cringe* was dropping the clutch while trying to rock back and forth. I know it's bad...even says in the manual :) but if I didnt slam the clutch in at 2000 rpm or more, the car would stall for some reason....anyways, the car started to overheat. Luckily I caught it before it went too far past normal. at around that time, my car's ABS light came on in the dash. I read this in me good ol' manual, and it says that all that means is that the ABS shut itself off. Well, why would it do that when I hadn't even touched the brakes for 15 minutes before? Also, I smelled tranny fluid coming through my vents. Now i checked the area after i got unstuck, and I didn't see any colored fluid of any sort. So I am assuming it was my clutch making sure I knew it was pissed at me?

Please, give me any info on what i might have done. My car is a MT 05' Impreza 2.5rs, with only 5400 miles on her.

thanx, and sorry for the long message.

~Levvy

it might have just been the diff fluid just getting really hot. i'd still investigate though.

1. check all fluid levels
2. get in / underneath for a visual inspection
3. ???
4. Profit :alien:

I'll bet your rear main seal has a slow leak. You heated up the flywheel enough during your escape that you were burnin off some of the tranny fluid that had accumulated on the back of the flywheel. Rear main leaks are pretty common but they usually are'nt that bad. If the smell does not go away then you'll need to have it replaced. Check tranny fluid level.

The tranny fluid smell went away as soon as I drove away from the site. Hasn't come since, even in the least.
Also, I checked the snow for any signs of any type of fluid coloration...nothing. So leaks don't seem to be the answer. I'm thinking that the smell was a mix of burnt clutch and superheated steam from the dirty snow on my tailpipes.(like I said, I had the engine packed with the white stuff)

I'm gonna borrow my buddies lift and see what damage is done, i already know I broke the furthest Bumper brackets on both sides :(

~Levvy

When the rear main leaks it is absorbed by all the clutch dust and it accumulates on the back of the block. Don't rule it out just yet.