Transmission fluid got nothing to do with clutch. Could be break-in, bad flywheel, bad clutch or install.

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Is there any way to test for those items without dropping the transmission?

 

its been my past experience if the clutch disc is new\good and the pressure plate is new\good your flywheel could be the culprit especially if it wasn’t replaced or at least resurface. Also just for poops and giggles I’d have a look at my mounts as well.

 

its been my past experience if the clutch disc is new\good and the pressure plate is new\good your flywheel could be the culprit especially if it wasn’t replaced or at least resurface. Also just for ****s and giggles I’d have a look at my mounts as well.

Just contacted the P.O. - he says that both the pressure plate and flywheel were replaced during the install.

 

Was the clutch disc replaced? If not, that could be the problem.
Mike

 

Do you mean the clutch plate? If so, yes, that was replaced. Otherwise, what do you mean by disc?

 

It could just be the new clutch... I put an way-too-tough clutch in my BMW and the clutch was a shuddery, grabby switch for the first 10k, and now its smooth as butter.

 

Damn, 10k miles? That's quite the break in period.

 

I had this happen on an oem style clutch after we replaced everything. Big juddering on starts. Told my mechanic who did the job. We tried slipping the clutch pretty heavily (basically smoking the clutch a bit) and it cleared up....temporarily. came back and really started becoming a problem. Eventually he agreed to redo the job (i paid him a small fee, this guy works for peanuts anyway). If i recall we replaced flywheel and clutch again to be safe. No problems after that...except years later, a few years after my daughter started driving the car, throwout bearing went, but totally unrelated.

So yeah, no idea what the issue was with my 03x, but had to redo the job to clear it for good.

 

I can maybe understand a racing clutch in a Beemer, but a Subie? Nah!!
Mike

 

I agree! Previous owner intended on doing a big turbo build but he lost interest.. gave me the STi turbo when I bought the car too. Definitely not a fan of the clutch but also not a fan of dropping loads of money or time on replacing it. I'll see how it is once it breaks in a bit more.

 

Well if the clutch needs redone its a sunk cost, you might want to try adjusting your driving style? I found that a bit more RPM starting out in 1st and getting on the gas a bit earlier between gears worked on my grabby clutch.

 

Some here may not consider the Exedy Stage 1 Clutch a racing clutch. But I consider anything not stock and with the word "Stage 1" moving in the direction of racing and therefore not surprised that it is finicky at this point. Hopefully it get's better over time.....

 

I agree - I'll give it another 1000 miles or so before deciding on whether to tackle a replacement.

 

Maybe you’re not engaging it fast enough, my Scout with a 6.9 Diesel & 4spd. Was kinda like that, I wishI would of gone with a button clutch, but the clutch place talked me out of it, if I engaged it faster it didn’t judder as bad

 

The Scout is a torque rich diesel vs the Forester XT which needs/depends on more revs to produce torque/power. So releasing/engaging the clutch faster may not be an option or at the very least he will need to get the revs up and then engage the clutch quickly. I ride a BMW R1200RT which is a torque monster motorcycle compared to the Honda VFR 800. I can in bumper to bumper traffic slowly release the clutch without giving any throttle and roll down the street on the BMW if I tried the same on the Honda it will stall. The Honda needs a bit of revs to keep it in the torque/power band.

 

That is true, I guess it’s either grab a handful of throttle, don’t some of those clutches use weights to increase the pressure or am I thinking about something else?

 

I've posted pics around here somewhere of a deficiency in the Exedy pressure plates...

This allows the diaphragm to move a bit off-centre and create problems.

 

try this... on a moderate incline where the vehicle will slowly roll forward see what happens when you dont give any gas to feed the clutch...just the momentum of the vehicle moving at a steady slow speed.

 

If I'm starting on a slight downhill and I don't have to put in any gas at all to get the car into 1st, it is perfectly smooth. What do you think that could indicate?

 

I think your desire to engage the clutch without revving the engine high enough are not realistic. Given the weight of the vehicle, AWD system, etc...you need to get the revs up slightly to get the engine near or approaching when torque is rising or you risk stalling/lugging the engine. And I suspect you are actually lugging the engine with your low RPM engagement. Is it possible that what you are feeling is lugging? As I have stated in an earlier post comparing my BMW R1200RT motorcycle with Honda VFR800 clutch engagement is night and day. One is a torque monster(BMW) with a dry clutch like a car, and the other one Honda VFR needs revs to get into the power band with a wet clutch. I can inch down the road in bumper to bumper with the BMW and never ever need to rev the engine, literally I can slip the clutch and move the bike down the road. But if I did the same thing with the VFR, guaranteed it would stall, there is just no torque unless you get the revs up.

The BMW is a dry clutch which is unusual for a motorcycle. I can hear and feel the clutch engage unlike the VFR. There is an actual "clunk" on the BMW as the clutch is touching/sliding on the flywheel. Whereas on the VFR this clunk does not exist.

The AWD on the Subaru also means you need more torque compared to say a Honda Civic. You have more mechanical load to move hence got to have torque, hence get the revs up. If you were driving a diesel as one of the other posters was comparing to, then yah, you probably could get away without needing to get the revs up. Diesels produce boat loads of torque at just slightly above idle.

 

You are probably right - all of my other manual cars have been small/light and FWD or RWD, so it may just be that I'm not used to it yet. I guess I've always been taught to not slip the clutch too much in order to preserve clutch life.

 

You won’t be slipping the clutch really if you do it right, it’s hard to get it right sometimes!

To every one following this thread the OP started a new thread saying he replaced the clutch & flywheel & still having the problem kinda, not as bad but still!!

 

To every one following this thread the OP started a new thread saying he replaced the clutch & flywheel & still having the problem kinda, not as bad but still!!

Thread Closed - discussion continued here: ('03-'05) - 2005 - New clutch! Way better but still a bit of judder in 1st & reverse.

 

I taught my granddaughter that it takes some real coordination between the left and right feet to get it right. You have to leave it at idle until at the right point of clutch engagement you give it a little more throttle until full clutch engagement. The only times I've seen a clutch chatter is when the springs in the clutch disc lose some of their tension and the resulting slack causes the chatter. This is why I at first questioned whether the clutch disc was also replaced. Some mechanics will look at the amount of wear on the disc lining and not look at the springs' condition and decide it's still "good enough".
Mike