andynelson

hello to all

i have saw loads of post by u all about the clutch prob

mine is sort of the same, but with a bit extra

please could u help, as i am taking it back monday again

i have a wrx sti type uk 2.0 05 2005, the stock clutch atarted slipping at 14000 miles, so i took it to a garage that upgrades high performance cars.

i asked him to fit a ap racing org clutch for me, keeping the stock fly wheel. when i went to pick it up i found that a excedy was fitted, the pink box version. was told that this is made in the same factory, just the release bearing is different. drove it with out hammering it for 150 miles, but could still smell cluch burning , when i took it back he said dont worry its still bedding inas it is a hard clutch, within 500 miles it was slipping again so took it back.

The clutch was stripped out and it was worn down to the rivetts. The manufactor blamed me for driving it like a c##t. Out of 500 miles 200 of them were bedding it in. Not raced it at all. another 200 were moterway miles and 100 around the streets. The cover was blue from heat and had small cracks in it.

Another plate was fitted and away i went. 200 miles to break it in. My clutch biting point is right at the top, only have to put my foot on the clutch about 15mm to change gear. I have lost loads of power full revs in second gear i only hit about 55 60 mph. Sounds like loads of power there from the engine, but its not trasfuring to the wheels. Also all the rattles, gridding noises i have saw in other posts are there, but were not before with the stock clutch

Please help lads and ladies

andy nelson

p1dazza

A clutch should last for a lot more than 14,000 miles.
You asked for an AP clutch and that is what you wanted and should have got.
If you have a burning smell from a new clutch there is a problem.
New clutches should not slip for 150 miles 500 miles or any miles from new and it sounds like the garage are having a laugh.
Who did the work and how much did they charge to get it wrong?

andynelson

TJ autos

cost me 875, not happy at all, spent money on the car and its worse than it was slower and with a lot of realy anoying noises

bighead

iTrader: (1)

demand a refund or new AP clutch !!

harvey

iTrader: (48)

Just like bighead said. You asked for an AP and that is what you want now.
Any competant clutch fitter will check flywheel condition before fitting.
Giving a clutch a little time to bed in means letting the clutch surface wear to the flywheel surface and nothing more than that. It most certainly does not take 500 miles and it most certainly does not involve any smell of burned clutch for more than the first couple of releases. The smell means the clutch is slipping. Properly fitted new clutches do not slip.
Changing a clutch is not rocket science and is just over half a days work and the charge from several places local to here is £150. The cost of the clutch itself??? Check with API Engines who are on here a lot but not exceeding around £340 for a top of the range Exeddy and around £380 for an AP Racing Organic Uprated. Not sure on these clutch prices so check it out yourself.
Bob5 had a group buy going and the clutch from Mocom was £280 from memory. That was the all singing, all dancing uprated Exeddy.
Parts of the Exedy and AP clutches may be made in the same factory but they are NOT the same clutch.
On the info you give here it rather sounds as if the garage are trying to have your trousers down.
Trading Standards may assist you if you do not obtain prompt satisfaction but if someone has had two goes at doing a clutch and got it wrong my confidence in them would be badly shaken.

pslewis

Wasn't it covered under warranty? Being a 2005 car I would have thought Subaru UK would have had a duty to replace.

For what its worth my clutch is now 83,000 miles along its life, it has juddered on damp mornings all its life - but still delivers.

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

With the mileage I doubt very much that it would be covered by warrenty. A clutch can easily be jiggered in 14000 miles if you misuse it, which is what they'll say. It comes under the same heading as tyres and brakes.
You can always tell the people who have little or no clue of how a clutch works, they're the ones creeping forward at the lights or holding the car on an incline etc. What's the matter with the handbrake, for Gods sake?
JohnD

The rookie

iTrader: (1)

It sounds to me like its not the clutches but that for some reason its not releasing properly and that this is causing it to slip and overheat far to quickly, and a proffesional installer should check for this....

Having said that you wanted and booked an AP, and an AP it should have been, you would have been within rights not to pay and get him to fit an AP later FOC.

Simon

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

Speaking from personal experience I'd have the exedy uprated organic over the AP racing clutch any day.

I have ripped the centres out of 2 AP racing clutches. Running the same power the Exedy coped with no problems at all.

Exedy are better clutches plain and simple.

Judging by the info given I'd say whoever has fitted the clutch hasn't done it properly. The clutch mechanism isnt that complicated.

If the clutch arm and release bearing are seated correctly then really only two things can go wrong either the clutch cover to flywheel bolts have been done far too tight (should be 16Nm) or the adjustment on the pedal is all wrong.

Personally I'd get your money back from whoever fitted it and go for a new flywheel as you old ones probably buggered now. May as well go for a lightweight one. Also make sure you get the Exedy uprated organic clutch not the standard item.

Incendently The AP clutches are made by Borg Beck Exedy are made by Daikin

ZEN Performance

The clutch doesn't sound like it's been working all that well, but it also appears that the clutch has been allowed to slip, wearing it out prematurely.

The Exedy pink box clutch does take a long time to bed in as the friction plate is rather hard, but straight out the box it will hold the torque of a normal or PPP UK car. The smell of clutch when bedding in is normal, but not excessively so, and not for more than a week or so. Much of the smell can come from old clutch dust being disturbed. For reference a 240 exedy uprated organic clutch retails for £393.56+vat not including the release bearing.

As a car owner I would expect the garage to rectify the problem, but the complete destruction of the new clutch could have been avoided, and as a workshop owner, I would be thinking twice for paying for that.