Clutch issues, 1999 Legacy
 

The ol' girl is dear to me and I won't let her go. I have done some work after it finally wouldn't start anymore after running poorly for a long time so after much fiddling with OBD devices and ancient programs, replacing a bad O2 sensor, valve cover gaskets, spark plugs and knock sensor it ran like factory fresh! For 24 hours.... Then the clutch started acting up. It suddenly felt soft when pressing the pedal until it engaged halfway to the floor, still worked as it should. This was on a little field trip and on the way back I noticed now the clutch doesn't fully engage anymore, some sliding still with the pedal fully pressed down. After stopping by a friend's house I had problems getting the car home because now the clutch was so badly engaged I had to kind of start-and-go because even with the pedal fully pressed the car would move at startup. Wiggled it into my garage and now the clutch feels fine again. I remembered this had happened once before briefly and that time I pulled the rubber mat back and it disappeared, I then figured the rubber mat on the floor must have stuck on something but I guess it must have been something else given what is now happening. This is an intermittent problem as it has come and gone two times now.

I am not an experienced car-fiddler but with the advent of the internet I have been able to do some things such as brakes, exhaust replacements, valve cover gaskets, a timing belt and the like, my actual knowledge is poor though and I have for sure never touched a clutch so need some tips here. The guides I have read are all over the place but what I have done so far is: Lubricate the wire from the pedal to the master cylinder. Check master and slave cylinder for leakage behind the rubber caps and the lines, no leakage, plus fluid levels are good.

I read somewhere though that a "common issue" can be the rubber dust cap around the fork and it turned out to be dried out and partly disintegrated, parts of it must surely have fallen down into the clutch. With surgical care I removed what was left of it but a piece or two did of course fall in anyway..... I don't know what this might mean for the function of the clutch, debris was surely in there before. Oh, and the actual clutch was replaced at a shop 4 years ago (though the cylinders were not replaced) so I can't see it being worn out already, it must be something else. Any tips on how to troubleshoot this? As of now, everything moves and looks OK so if it stays that way I would just need a new dust cover but something is obviously making it act up at times.

​​​​​​​It is an EJ20 engine if that info is useful.

Uklegacy.com

Intermittent fault -- just the worst thing to find. Wish I could give some advice, but it sounds like you are doing some right things ...

Thanks for the link, I might have checked that site out before but I'll look into it.

So, I don't know if this is of any help to someone else but clutch works now (clutch does, car doesn't). I described the symptoms to a friend who used to work as a mechanic and he went "It comes and goes? Water in your clutch fluid, almost sure". Apparently the fluid can get really hot and accumulated water in it can boil and create steam bubbles which behave just like air bubbles. Once the system cools down it behaves normally again. So with this new info I replaced all the clutch fluid (which didn't look too bad but not bottle fresh either) by bleeding it. Took it for a couple long drives and it seems like it works perfectly again. My friend told me people often change the fluid and bleed the system for air but end up not getting all of the old fluid out that way and water can still be in the system so I guess that might have been it.

A couple days later the engine has no power anymore and I can't get it up the driveway. But that is another problem and another post... Enjoy what's left of your weekends everyone.