818 clutch problem or tansmission or install error???

[Brett33]

So found another issue, I think my clutch is toast...

I cant seem to get the power from the engine through the transmission. I was able to get it into first and make the car move but it has to rev high and i barely feel the clutch grabbing in first. i thought it was a linkage issue at first and still may be an issue but now leaning toward the clutch is gone.

What do you think?

could the pedal be adjusted wrong and not pushing the throwout bearing far enough?
Could it be something else all together?Tranny issue?

its a 2006 wrx donor 130k miles

Thank you guys for the help in advance I do not have a lot of driving experience with a manual trans so diagnosing this issue is a tough one for me.

Brett

[Zach34]

Could be any number of things:

-clutch slave stuck
-throw-out bearing binding on something
-throw-out bearing fork binding on something

If you are not smelling a burning smell then the clutch is not probably not slipping - it's either fully engaged or at least mostly disengaged. Time to take it apart and re-assemble.

[STiPWRD]

Either the clutch is worn out or the pressure plate is not pressing the clutch against the flywheel with enough force. Lack of force from the pressure plate can also be cause by some of the things Zach described. I agree, you should probably remove the trans and inspect the clutch. By your description, it sounds like it's a used clutch and you didn't have a chance to drive the donor prior to disassembly to confirm whether the clutch was working in the first place?

[Brett33]

Thank you both for the insights.

No did not have a chance to drive the donor. I purchased a half built car kit and still weeding through the problems and trying to fix one thing at a time. I will separate this weekend and post some pictures of what I find.

[DMC7492]

This was my problem at first. The throw out bearing was not snapped into the fingers.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ_g2HylR9s

[phil1734]

This was my problem at first. The throw out bearing was not snapped into the fingers.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ_g2HylR9s

The "snap-in" throw out bearings stopped after '03 I think. If you have a push style slave cylinder (mounted on top of the bellhousing and extends toward the back of the car) then you can eliminate that as a possibility.

Not sure what you mean by "the car has to rev high." Are you saying that you can stop with the car in gear and not pushing the clutch pedal, and only once you rev the car back up high it starts to move again?

On a slightly crazier possibility - was the two-wheel drive conversion done?

[Brett33]

Yes i can stop the car in gear and not press the clutch and not stall. Does that mean clutch is worn so bad or 2 wheel conversion is not done?

did not get any time to work on the car last weekend.

thanks for all of the help guys i appreciate it

[phil1734]

Sounds like the clutch is either really shot or perhaps the conversion wasn't done. If the clutch is slipping that bad I'm surprised you haven't smelt anything. A frying clutch will typically have a sort of fishy smell (very similar to overheated brakes if you're familiar to that at all.) While possible, something could have also been assembled wrong in the clutch assembly but there's no way to figure that out until the engine/trans are separated.

First, I would make sure your slave cylinder is working properly to eliminate the hydraulic circuit. All you need to do this is a visual of the slave on top of the bell housing and a method to actuate the clutch pedal. Either a second person or a long stick works well for this. When the clutch pedal is pressed, the slave should move in or out about half and inch or so. Make sure it does that and that the whole system isn't somehow over pressurized.

If that's okay, remove the FFR block off plate on the back of the trans and make sure everything back there is kosher. At this point you'll probably want to remove the big nut inside the trans and make sure that the splined adaptor is fully seated on both splines. I'm not sure if it can be installed wrong but in theory the Subaru trans would behave as you describe if the rear driveshaft were removed while still in AWD mode, or the adaptor wasn't fully seated.

If that's okay then its a clutch or clutch assembly issue and the engine/trans needs split. It's actually not too bad to do. Much easier on the 818 than any OEM car.

[Brett33]

I know the pedal is moving the fork just not sure it’s pushing inv it far enough to engage.

I have all kinds of smells in the garage right now
Gasoline, coolant, pb blaster, exhaust (from when I got it running and everything was sealed up) so it’s hard to tell smell wise, but my girl is sure complaining a lot about it.

Seeing the axles install with the c clips makes me think something could be installed wrong I’ll drain the trans and check that and post some pictures.

[Brett33]

well finally got around to working in the garage... i had a terrible time getting the engine and transmission seperated.

here is the damage there was furry dust all over the throw out bearing when i took off the pressure plate i found out where that was from.image3.jpeg

image2.jpeg

image1.jpeg

guess this was the issue...

time to order some new parts...
Anyone have any recommendations?

Brett

[turbomacncheese]

There is a pretty solid school of thought that says if you haven't modified the transmission, no reason to modify the clutch. Better to have a clutch that's the weak spot than the transmission. I suppose one might try and get one cheaper, but you're rolling the dice with practically everything cheaper than OEM. Some guys have the stomach for it, some don't.

[mistasherm]

I went with OEM when I replaced mine. I was leaning toward reliability and, as you stated above, separating the trans and motor can be time consuming etc. I got mine through my local dealership to be absolutely certain it was the right OEM part(s).

[Zach34]

I'm having a hard time figuring out the issue from the pictures. I might just be blind. Did the friction material disintegrate or something, or did the throw-out bearing seize on the input collar?

[Brett33]

It broke down almost completely... so much so the clutch disc was flimsy and soft