Worlds Heaviest Clutch - How To Repair Or Resolve?

[BT]

Hello RetroRides, I am in need of your help and guidance.

I recently sold a good friend a car and in return he gave me his Subaru Impreza, I was unsure what to do with it, break it, sell it or keep it and to be honest I am still quite undecided. Either way the car has a problem or two and I would like some advice as to what it could be the potential cause and what could be the possible resolution.

I travelled with my friend to view and collect the car back in 2012, at the time the clutch was heavy, abnormally heavy, combined with a lot of other things I said don't buy it, so he bought it! Now 4 years on I drove the car about 100 meters and the clutch is unreal. When I pressed the clutch in it was that hard I thought I was pressing on the foot rest, nope, it was the clutch. When I then go to pull away the clutch seems to seem very sluggish to follow my foot back up, either way it really isn't right.

The clutch seems to bite at a decent point, it doesn't seem to slip at all, its just the pedal feel is very poor.

The car is a 2000 model Subaru impreza sport, so the non turbo. I have read online about it and some people are saying the Subaru clutch feel really does vary from one car to the next, but there is no way this is normal. From my reading I think that this model Subaru has a hydro clutch.

Would bleeding the system offer much benefit?

I have to hold my hands up and admit that I have very limited clutch knowledge, so any help would be fantastic!

Thank you all very much in advance.

[dodgerover]

If it was cable I would suspect siezed pivots on the clutch pedal or a siezed cable.

Hydraulics I guess possibly siezed pivot bush on the pedal or sticky cylinders at one end or the other. Unless someone has topped the clutch master cylinder up with gear or engine oil I doubt bleeding it or replacing the fluid will make much difference

[waveman1500]

I would guess that someone's probably taken the clutch apart and put it back together wrong.
Some Subaru clutches are the pull-type rather than push-type, and there is a pivot pin that you have to slide in from the LH side of the bellhousing. If someone took the pin out and didn't get it back in properly, then it might be binding up.
I'm not an expert, but you might need to open it up and have a look in there. You can get to the pivot pin without separating the engine and gearbox, there should be a hole or cover for it on the LH side near the firewall. I'm pretty sure you need to take the starter motor out to get to it, as per this photo:



According to my quick google-search, this thing has a rubber plug covering it, and then you see a threaded hole. Thread a bolt into the hole to use as a handle and pull the pin out.

[rapidyellow]

wheeler dealers did a clutch on an impreza so it might be worth looking on youtube for it to take tips from

[ben10241]

It would definitely be worth flushing the clutch if it's an hydraulic one, this shouldn't be too difficult (compared to splitting the box) and can't do the system any harm!

[djefk]

Collapsed flexi hose can cause these symptoms, it'll be cheap to replace too so that's what I'd change first

[ChasR]

Before going out on a wild goosechase and changing items on a whim I would do the following if you plan to get to the bottom of it:

1) Check that the pedal is not bent. On Renaults Espaces it is cited as a reason for a heavy clutch. This however can be tricky to gauge

If there is a pin attaching the master cylinder to the pedal remove it or the master cylinder and see if the pedal lightens up. If it is does the pedal box probably wants freeing off, or at a worst case scenario possibly rebushing or replacing.

The pedal coming back up again should rule the pedal out but you never know.

2) To rule out the hydraulics and on the assumption the slave cylinder is accessible and external to the gearbox remove the slave from the gearbox or the rod attaching it to the clutch arm. Press the pedal gently and see what happens. Don't go too mad as you may end up popping the piston out of the slave. You should known straight away from pressing it whether it is the issue going from your description.

If it is still heavy your like has potentially been made easier. It could be either cylinder or the hose. Releasing the bleed nipple can potentially rule out the slave, disconnecting the hose can also rule out the hose (at both ends, starting with the slave end being removed first for the test, and then testing again with the hose removed completely. You can also test point 1 again here and see if the pedal box is free to move.

If it was light from the moment the slave cylinder was removed it is almost certainly an issue internal to the bellhousing as shown above with the pin etc. It could even be a very tired pressure plated which has harderned up with the heat, but I have never seen clutches become as heavy as dscribed short of them being a full on race clutch.

The above is not accurate but it is probably a generalistic way I would check clutch hydraulics now.