Miniman

iTrader: (2)

This is on an MY '02

I've had clutch judder for sometime and have mentioned it at the last two services, however it only appeared occasionally (went missing for the whole of the summer) and usually when the car was cold, lasting for a few minutes (four or five gear changes). So I'm guessing that this is a temperature thing within the clutch plate material.

It's now happening all the time, so after booking the car in today, I was told that IM may not see it as a problem and may say that it's fair wear and tear.

I'm a bit worried about that because taking the clutch out requires removing the gearbox (I'm told) and this is a 7 hour job, so even if IM say it's fair wear and tear, then I have to stump up the labour for replacing the gearbox (£1300 for replacing the clutch or just £600 for taking the gearbox out and replacing it).

The car has done 30k miles, and the clutch has never been replaced. I kinda of regret not pushing this problem sooner (problem appeared around 15k). I don't think I'm hard on clutches, I've never had a car that has required one outside of normal wear rates, for example. Plus once warmed up, the clutch behaves itself, so that suggests it's not worn abnormally and is the judder problem.

Anyone else had any experience of getting this looked at on similar cars and similar mileage? I know there have been a few reported on the forum. Did you get it replaced?

AudiMan

Miniman,

Had mine replaced on my MY00 (16k on the clock), I think the dealer / IM mention the wear and tear bit to cover themselves, so long as the car hasn't been used for towing caravans or constant hard standing starts then you shouldn't have a problem with wear (although you are getting close to mileage where they start to question why you didn't bring it in sooner).
On mine they replaced the clutch,flywheel,housing + bearing all under warranty. The judder is due to hot spots on the flywheel which is due to trying to get a good compomise materials able to withstand the amount of power under your right for and also for pootling round the shops.
A lot depends also on the dealer, some are good and some not, with warranty claims but as you will probably read on hear you'll never solve the problem completely unless you buy a good quality third party clutch, "they all do that sir". Worst conditions are cold and damp weather, and doing a 4000rpm start will burn of the hot spots for a few weeks (but they will return).
This is a well documented fault with Subaru (there is a technical bulletin available on the internet - if you search hard), so stand your ground and insist the problem is resolved at no cost to you.
Hope this is useful,

Ian..

DJB

Had my clutch replaced at 37000 on my old MY98 under warranty. The job was done as part of the piston slap fix which required removal of the engine anyway.

D.

BlueSimon

Had my clutch replaced at 16k on a MY01 GX for clutch judder

Simon

marklemac

MY02 STi, had my clutch and flywheel replaced under warranty at around 28,000 miles.
Absolutely no problem with the warranty.

Mr October

Don't mean to hyjack the thread, but what exactly is clutch judder? Best to find out before I shell out my hard earned on a scooby.

JFB

I had the clutch and flywheel replaced at 15000 miles on my MY00 wagon and that was done under warranty. The new one went the same way aroung 38000 miles but they wouldn't pursue the warranty claim so I just left it. Sold the car with 45k on the clock.

I have already registered the fact that it's starting again on my STI8 and that goes in for 20k service in a few weeks. I will be pushing hard for a replacement again!

I don't thrash it either and yes a "full bore" start tend to sort th issue for a while but the smell can be a little disconcerting!

Jerome

p.s. Clutch judder is when the whole drivetrain starts to vibrate as you let out the clutch in first gear on a cold damp morning. It can be so bad as to make you feel as if the axle is physically jumping under the car!