2009 WRX Clutch Pedal Vibration and Rotational Squeaking Sound

[Rocko15]

Took a drive with a Tech again today, and again couldn't replicate anything. This getting annoying

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[Subirex09]

It is annoying, I complained and had the problem documented so many times to SoA and the Dealership that they said even if something went wrong after the 50K powertrain warranty expired, it would most likely still be covered. Once I took a ride with the shop foreman, they were like "your claim is as good as gold now." Now that I had explained the issue to him and taken a ride with him, even though I couldn't get the problem to happen while with him, the fact that they got him involved sounds like it may have been key in case something gives out down the road.

I just have been notating the times it does happen and trying not to focus on it...but believe me, I am not happy about it...I was even considering trading it in for an STi for about a month, but STi's have their own set of problems and more importantly cost more even used ...so I was like well...at least the problem is documented 15 to 20 times and the foreman is aware...let's me sleep a little better at least...

[PaulMtl]

Somebody already said that the noise can be confused with a TOB noise. This is what happened to me.
My clutch went at 20k miles on a 08 WRX. Replaced with Exedy OEM and the noise started less than a week after. The TOB was replaced again, the noise still there. Then we installed a TSK3 kit and the noise came back.
Yesterday, I removed one of the IC brackets to be able to play with the fork while the car was idling. The noise goes away as soon as any pressure is applied to the fork. No matter in which direction, to the front, the back or the sides. So the noise is a vibration from the fork.

[black09wrx]

Originally Posted by Subirex09

Has anyone gotten a diagnosis on this problem and had it fixed?

Occasionally, this is only the 2nd or 3rd time it happened, I feel a consistent vibration in the clutch pedal between shifts, it seems to vibrate to the motor rpms, along with a higher pitched squeaking that sounds rotational seemingly under the hood...like the way a bad pulley would sound. I was very worried when I heard it tonight. It is cold out but the car was completely warmed up. I do NOT get this vibration like a lot of others during cold starts. It happened right after I got off the highway...I had kind of a poor shift into gear after I got off the exit ramp but I didn't drive it abnormally in any way. I don't beat on it and I only have a short shifter for mods, nothing else.

This squeaking and vibration happened until I shut the car off. When I restarted, it was ok.

Anyone have a similar experience?

Thanks.

I have a 2009 wrx sedan with just over 41k miles and I just started getting this problem.

To give a little background, I picked up the car in Jan '09. A few months later, I noticed a rotational squealing sound which seemed to go away as soon as I pushed in the clutch, and came back when I let the clutch all the way back out. I got worried, searched online, and convinced myself it was a bad throw out bearing.

So I took the car to the dealership at that time, explained what I had observed, and asked their opinion. Of course by then I was unable to reproduce the problem for them (though they did make a note of it).

The problem basically went away by itself shortly thereafter, as the weather got warmer. I forgot all about it.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. About 20k miles after the first incident, the problem finally returned. At first I didn't think much of it, because it went away after a couple weeks the first time it happened, and so much time had elapsed since then.

Then I experienced the clutch pedal vibration the OP described above. For what it's worth, I also have a short shifter (SPT) like the OP, in addition to the STI short shifter bushing and STI Group "N" Engine and Transmission mounts.

Anyway, the clutch pedal vibration returns when shifting aggressively, at high RPMs. Every time it happens, a "stab" or two of the clutch pedal seems to restore a smooth clutch feel. Without the quick "stab", the vibration can persist through a few shifts, during which time a "squealing" sound can also be heard.

Aside from this issue, the car has been an absolute blast and is by far the best thing I've ever bought for myself. Unfortunately, I've really lost confidence in the car since this new clutch vibration problem started and want so bad to have it fixed.

I noticed an earlier post where a vendor mentioned "The noise is coming from the clutch fork vibrating against the slave cylinder pin. It can easily be misdiagnosed as a bad throw out bearing."

Could this also result in the clutch pedal vibration described?

I have an appointment with the dealership first thing monday morning, and will report back any news. I would just like to go in as prepared as possible.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Rocko15]

My car has 20,000 miles at this point and the TOB is now a constant problem. It is exactly like you describe, shifting at high rpm's is where it becomes apparent. Otherwise, you would never know. Everyone I talk to tells me it is a TOB problem since pumping the clutch pedal or just keeping it depressed makes it go away. From what I've been told, even if you replace it, the problem will still be there. Everyone hates a new car with problems, but there's not a whole lot you can do about it

[Subirex09]

Thanks for keeping this one alive, I always like to hear I am not the only person with a problem.

Black09, I wish I could tell you if the fork could cause the vibration we feel but I have no idea. I hope the dealership can get you some info, I would really like to get this problem addressed. I have just been logging the times it happens in a little notebook. I have addressed the issue with Subaru of America so much already but have never been able to duplicate it for a tech which is extremely frustrating.

I haven't had any trouble throughout the later spring and summer, but the 50 and below nights are around the corner, and that is when I have the problem happen most often. Cooler weather while shifting aggressively at higher rpms. Subaru will start to hear from me again soon I am sure, just wish something would be discovered...I am tired of calling them to discuss it since they won't do anything without their people actually duplicating the issue.

Good luck at the dealership. Please let me know what they say.

[black09wrx]

Originally Posted by Subirex09

Thanks for keeping this one alive, I always like to hear I am not the only person with a problem.

[snip]

Good luck at the dealership. Please let me know what they say.

So I did visit the dealership today, and I did have their lead mechanic take the car for a spin with me riding shotgun. He drove it around the block, even got on it a bit, and at first the problem refused to rear its ugly head. Fortunately, when he got out he did notice a "squealing" sound, which he said sounds like a throw out bearing.

I had already told him what I had found online, that it might not be a throw out bearing, etc. He said the main thing was that he had witnessed the problem first hand and could now officially write it up. When I jumped in the car and went to take off, the pedal started to vibrate. I asked him to jump over and try for himself, at which point he said he believed me and was going to have that documented as well.

So the dealership is supposed to call me in a day or so and let me know what SOA says. I have the "gold" extended warranty with no deductible, so I'm hoping this is covered (the car has about 41k on it now).

I'll post again when I hear back from the dealership.

[Subirex09]

Congrats man....wish I was as fortunate as you with this issue : /.

[black09wrx]

So after a number of days I finally started bugging the dealership for an answer.

The lead mechanic was not available at the moment (he will be in again tomorrow if I want to call back), but the service guy I did have on the phone said he spoke with the mechanic who basically claims SOA hasn't heard enough complaints about this issue on the 09's, so for now they really don't want to do anything about it.

Heck, the service guy I had on the phone recommended that, should I replace the clutch myself (or have them do it) that I go with an upgrade. I asked him how that might affect my warranty, and he says, "Oh, I don't know about that. You might want to see if there is an 800# you can call with the gold warranty to find out."

I would be very surprised if that wouldn't void other parts of my warranty (say I blow a gear or two later and have an upgraded clutch--no coverage?)

So I'm between a rock and a hard place now. The car isn't driving quite right, and I don't want to destroy the current clutch completely and cause more problems and/or be stranded, and winter is right around the corner.

The thing that really ticks me off is I paid around $2,000 for the gold warranty with 0 deductible, and now I'm wondering what would possibly have to go wrong (that SOA would actually cover) that could even come close to making that worth while.

Does anyone here know if it is possible to "cash in" a gold warranty? I bought mine with the car--it's good for 100k or 7 years, and I currently have 2 years and 42k on the car.

Should I end up having to replace the clutch assembly out of pocket, and be silly enough to have the dealership do the work, what should I expect that to cost? I thought I saw a figure somewhere online in the neighborhood of $2,000 parts and labor for a whole new 09 clutch assembly--hope that figure was just a figment of my imagination...

[Subirex09]

I hate dealership techs...I know they don't have much of a choice but to go along with what they are told but my gosh...you described a problem, and they even duplicated it, so it should be their responsibility under your powertrain 5 yr/50K or extended gold warranty to fix or attempt to fix the problem, for them to say they aren't going to do anything is just outrageous.

I would be calling SoA and ripping them a new one daily, duplication of the issue has been my problem but for you they actually did duplicate it.

Makes me so angry.

I am not familiar with any of the gold warranty stuff though, sorry, but usually anything after market voids the part it replaces and the repair of the damage it might cause.

Wow, what a slap in the face. Subaru is a real challenge to work with...but I imagine lots of manufacturers are.

Maybe the lead tech will have better info for you.

Also I doubt you were imagining a $2K price, I once inquired on the price to drop the tranny, and look at the clutch and I think they claimed it was like 6 or 8 hours of labor...don't quote me but I believe that was what I was told.

If you don't mind, I would love to know what they tell you if you ask them what happens warranty wise if you replace the clutch with an after market clutch, it is something I have thought about as well, maybe down the road.

[mtbiker278]

if you're going to replace the clutch assembly I've heard from numerous sources that's it's cheaper to have someone other than the dealer do it. However, you won't have the dealer backing up the repairs so the whole gold warranty might go out the window.

you're looking at maybe $800 to buy a clutch on your own and have it installed by a performance shop.

[VT_Hatch]

I've had this problem happen for the past 16000 or so miles, it's been "fixed" a couple of times and it still keeps happening. I'm fairly sure this will be the final winter for my car ('09 wrx) because I'm sick of the horrible transmission, the **** service, and the records that keep getting tacked on to my car's history, which will make a future buyer very suspicious. Not to mention, this '09 with 27000 miles is on it's THIRD A/C unit, the dash makes more noise than my 1998 Legacy ever did, and something in the back (not the hatch, not the cross bar) rattles and buzzes non-stop.

In short, this is my third Subaru, I love them, but this particular car is a piece of **** and it's going to be gone very soon, not to be replaced with another Subaru. Maybe I've just had very bad dice rolls, but the lack of service at my local dealer (claims to be the "most knowledgable dealer in New England") has just pissed me off to no end.

Oh, did I mention the paint is ruined after 27000 miles? Not only from rock chips and peeling, but the ****ing morons at the dealership "washed" it and scratched EVERY body panel.

VT_Hatch

[Subirex09]

Originally Posted by VT_Hatch

I've had this problem happen for the past 16000 or so miles, it's been "fixed" a couple of times and it still keeps happening. I'm fairly sure this will be the final winter for my car ('09 wrx) because I'm sick of the horrible transmission, the **** service, and the records that keep getting tacked on to my car's history, which will make a future buyer very suspicious. Not to mention, this '09 with 27000 miles is on it's THIRD A/C unit, the dash makes more noise than my 1998 Legacy ever did, and something in the back (not the hatch, not the cross bar) rattles and buzzes non-stop.

In short, this is my third Subaru, I love them, but this particular car is a piece of **** and it's going to be gone very soon, not to be replaced with another Subaru. Maybe I've just had very bad dice rolls, but the lack of service at my local dealer (claims to be the "most knowledgable dealer in New England") has just pissed me off to no end.

Oh, did I mention the paint is ruined after 27000 miles? Not only from rock chips and peeling, but the ****ing morons at the dealership "washed" it and scratched EVERY body panel.

VT_Hatch

Sheesh...I thought I had bad luck man, sorry to hear all this. I think they ran mine through an auto wash last service visit and I made them use rubbing compound on the scratch that was left behind by a little spec of tar that got pulled a foot across the top of my bumper...luckily the compound did take it off.

I make sure I look every time before I leave especially since I found a suspicious small tool dent above my brake light last year, first dent I ever had on the car and it couldn't have gotten there any other way than someone hitting it with something...maybe a jack hand or something.

I also made them replace the large piece of interior moulding that covers the seatbelt beam that they scratched pretty bad when working on my seat one time.

Mine, knock on wood, has had no major mechanical problems except for the irritation of this clutch vibration. The paint in the front of the car does have a fair amount of chipping from rocks, especially on the bumper and factory ground effects, but luckily I have not had any peeling.

Only things I have had to replace are a seat frame that a spring broke inside of which was making noise and lost it's little bit of support, and a brake light switch that was causing my vdc to work improperly, but both things were covered under warranty. I have just shy of 25K Miles now...unfortunately I do not think I will be able to get 3 years out of my bumper to bumper but I am trying : ).

They told me that this clutch issue might even be covered after warranty if something happened after 50K Miles because I have documented it so many times. I am going to give SoA another call soon to give them the dates, weather conditions, and rpm that the clutch vib has happened over the last 6 months. It was pretty good through the summer but it has def typically been worse in the fall and winter.

[mangostick]

I had the same vibration problem on my 2010.
same conditions, hard acceleration .. vibes through clutch pedal. This is the first hydraulic clutch car I've ever gotten vibes through. I know someone above posted that they had the group n motor and trans mounts... this is where mine got interesting.

I have 30k mi on my car (yeah I know I drive a lot) this past weekend installed the gpN trans mount (subframe lockdown/diff mounts and ss w bushings I installed previously).

Since the trans mount install, I've been puttin a hurtin on the poor car and not once has the clutch pedal given me the vibration. I wouldn't think a trans mount would have this sort of effect... but..

I've been wrenching on cars since I was old enough to hold a wrench and honestly I couldn't begin to even wonder how/where the vibration would be caused let alone fixed but for the last 3 days mine hasn't done it once. Dunno.. guess I'll have to wait and see.

[Subirex09]

Very Interesting, please let us know after you drive it for a while if the vibration ever rears it's ugly head again.

If the tranny mount somehow eliminates this issue, I will definitely look into it.

For someone who hasn't been wrenching on cars for long, how difficult of a swap is this mount?

Thanks for your input!

-Mike

[Grahamr]

I just wanted to chime in, i found this thread from a google search.

Like most of you guys, i notice it on cold days - 40-50-60s, and only after a few hard pulls.

I find if i have been driving the car for a while, and have shifted a bit it doesn't happen. If the car is warm, but the hard shift happens early on the vibration in the pedal will pop up. Once i drive for a bit more, it goes away (feels like the clutch needs to warm up.. but i'm not at all technical so i have no clue if that makes sense)

I've mentioned it to my father who, like most of you guys are finding at a dealership, didn't really belive it, and i can't duplicate it when he's around. Luckily for me, he's the service manager at my Subaru dealership so if i can get him to feel it, we can get the tech's moving...

I'll keep you guys posted on what we find here in Halifax. I'm "glad" i found this thread and that i'm not the only one.. (glad i foudn the thread, not that others have the issue i guess )

[Subirex09]

I am glad you found this thread as well, at least we know we aren't all just paranoid .

I do agree though, if the car is warmed up for a while, I think the vibration is less likely to happen. I think it does make sense that something in the clutch assembly needs to warm up but I am not sure either.

Hopefully one of us will get Subie to feel it eventually.

[chris025]

hey guys just jumping into to say my 09 wrx has this problem but it didnt start till about 2 weeks or maybe even a week after my new clutch an flywheel. So if your planning to get a new clutch or flywheel due to this problem. Your problem will NOT be solved at least i dont believe so. Also the tech at subie also told me it was my throw out bearing but idk. Anyways it comes and goes and really only last about 5-10 min im guessing its not a big problem thats just my two cents.

Oh and i saw some post that a new tranny mount could solve the problem so im getting one at the end of the month to confirm ill keep you guys posted

[Subirex09]

Originally Posted by chris025

Oh and i saw some post that a new tranny mount could solve the problem so im getting one at the end of the month to confirm ill keep you guys posted

Def keep us posted on that, another person on here a few posts ago said it might help the problem and if it does, I would like to hear back so I can look into this as well.

[lightgod86]

I just got my 2nd throw out bearing replaced... This time they threw in a new clutch. Same rotational squeaking as everyone else, although no vibrations here. Annoyed though, this time my clutch pedal is really loose feeling so I may have to have them tighten something up.

Oh and as I was picking my car up, another WRX pulled up and was having his 3rd bearing replaced... Guess I have that to look forward to?

[Subirex09]

Originally Posted by lightgod86

I just got my 2nd throw out bearing replaced... This time they threw in a new clutch. Same rotational squeaking as everyone else, although no vibrations here. Annoyed though, this time my clutch pedal is really loose feeling so I may have to have them tighten something up.

Oh and as I was picking my car up, another WRX pulled up and was having his 3rd bearing replaced... Guess I have that to look forward to?

That stinks...at least they are changing them for you and that other guy.

When were you hearing the rotational squeaking sound?

The only thing I have been hearing lately is a sheering kind of sound in the morning when the car is still cold the whole time the clutch pedal is depressed between gear changes. Once it warms up that stops.

I haven't gotten the vibration in a bit but I haven't been shifting too hard or accelerating quickly from a dead stop lately.

[Grahamr]

I don't have a squeak here either, just the vibration.

I've been stuck in A LOT of stop-go 10mph traffic lately and as a result haven't had a chance to even see if this was still happening to my car, till last night.

Pulling out of a standstill in traffic on the highway I quickly got the car from 2nd gear 10mph up to 50-60 in 5th, I short shifted 4-5 but let it pull pretty good in 3, and ended up with the vibration coming back. It was gone by the time I got home.

I think I'll have to drop my car at my fathers and tell to rip on it into work when it's cold, that way he should be able to duplicate it.

[lightgod86]

Originally Posted by Subirex09

When were you hearing the rotational squeaking sound?

Any time the clutch pedal was all the way out. Push the clutch in about an inch and it would go away. (note, thats in gear and in neutral)

[Subirex09]

Got the vibration to happen two days in a row after a spirited acceleration onto the highway from a stop, it annoys me so much.

I can always pump the clutch a few times which seems to build up some pressure and the vibration will stop but when I mentioned this to the shop foreman, he said that isn't possible, and that if there were something wrong with the hydraulics, then the whole clutch would not work...so why else would building up the pressure help?

A couple people mentioned changing out a tranny mount and that that might help, has anyone changed that mount and not had the problems since then?

Has anyone done a clutch stage 1 or 2 upgrade and not had the problem come back?

[Rocko15]

I still haven't gotten this fixed, mostly because at this point I feel like the dealership would blame my mods for the problem.

I have the same issue though, after hard acceleration in 1st through 3rd, I get the vibration. It goes away when I pump the clutch pedal a few times