Norcal Spotted and BS Thread

So, to be more specific on "power loss"

He drove from our house in Hughson past Ripon (probably 20 miles) with zero issues. He started feeling power loss at highway speed cruising in 5th gear. Then pulled over.

He had zero issues with power until then, and only had these clutch symptoms after he stopped and then tried to drive again.

The "power loss" was more of a feeling that the car was kind of bogging down i.e. slowing even though the accelerator pedal was still being applied.... i.e. felt like the car was dragging something.

@foxrcing07 suggested an interesting thought about if one of the CVs broke. That would apply all of the force to the wheel with least resistance, which would be the broken CV, which would have no resistance, and wouldn't bog the motor.

 

The symptoms are consistent with a clutch failure. When he pulled over, he was able to nurse the car off the road. Yet when he tries to accelerate way, he is unable to. The WRX is all-wheel drive and if there were a broken CV axle, the car would at least move unless it were somewhere aft of the transmission. When the clutch fails and you rev the throttle, you'll usually hear the engine speed increase but vehicle speed doesn't change with the increased throttle. The clutch is making less contact which is why it feels like it's dragging something-in a way, it is. You step on the gas, and all you're doing is spinning the clutch and flywheel with little or no contact. If it were me, I'd get the car home then go sniffing around. You'll probably smell clutch.

It's difficult to diagnose a failure like this on-line but I would almost bet you're looking at a new clutch. The car is 12 years old and probably hasn't had a clutch replaced yet. Further, if it was a CV axle, you'd have oil all over the place too.

 

Also... and again, I'm no kind of expert at all. But going off of Youtube (Now, I am a Youtube Certified Master Technician just so'ya'know)

There is absolutely no whine at idle, nor us there a whine when you rev the motor. And pressing/lifting the clutch pedal does not change anything sound wise.

I'm going off the premise that a throwout bearing causes (can cause) a whining sound.

 

Me too, I even got the patch!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Funny-Yout...chanic-Professional-ASE-Sticker-/183639946289

 

Zero smell of clutch... now that we are away from the bums burning plastic trash on the side of the freeway.

Haven't looked underneath, probably wouldn't be able to see anything right now anyway... but a CV would only have oil/grease if the boots ripped or the shaft came out of the diff. From what I can tell on videos so far, the CV shaft does not go in the diff, like on our trucks. The inner portion of the CV goes on to a shft coming out of the diff and is held in place by a drift pin.

Would a clutch completely fail out of the blue with no previous signs of slippage? I'm asking cause I honestly don't know.

 

There might have been signs like changes in the pedal feel/engagement. He's driven a long distance as well.

Hopefully, daylight reveals what's really wrong and that it's not too serious.

 

Ok, so 1st gear, clutch out, reved to 2000rpm and speedo doesn't move.

So I'm thinking that rules out CV. Because the problem would be before the trans/tcase.

 

Ive had this happen. Worked great then couldn’t engage the clutch.

Aso have had a master cylinder go bad and it was the same. Worked great until it didn’t.

 

When my slave went bad I just used the gas pedal to synchronize the gear before shifting. Drove 15 miles home that way. Just put it in neutral if I had to slow near a stop sign. Luckily I didn’t have to completely stop anywhere.

When my master went bad it was a seal that leaked all the fluid out after I parked it so it was dead in the water next time I went to drive it.

 

The more research I'm doing on this, the more I think it's the clutch... which isn't the end of the world, but it's bad for the timing.

Kid is on leave from Colorado, and his buddy rode with him to Bakersfield. Between New Years etc, this is going to be hard to get them on the road back to Colorado before the 2nd.

Why does this shit always happen to me?

 

Subaru clutch! Pull the motor. It’s easier to get to it that way.

At least that’s what my brother did for the three clutches he put into his legacy gt. (One went bad, one was bad out of the box so he had to pull it and put another in...)

A/C lines were the worst part in his opinion.

 

Ya, that's the thing... I'm not sure I have the time to do a clutch (pull a motor or slide a transmission back) right now.

 

Fucking Land Cruisers stock stuff was always out. I carried kits for both a cordless and a cylander hone and rubbing alcohol in the glove box. Oh wait its a pocket.

 

Cuz Murphy's an asshole and shouda had his ass kicked before he went and made all these laws and rules that are hidden from us!

 

Who ever does?

You might want to think about the other crap that goes along with the clutch while you're there. Check the condition of the flywheel, etc. Depending on where the slave is, you might want to just replace it-you're there and the parts are cheap.

Good luck with the job.

 

Lol... Oh, believe me I spend a lot of time wrenching on vehicles. Love being in the garage, and make time to do it.

I don't think you understood the comment. I don't have time.

My son and a battle buddy have to report back from leave, in Colorado, on the 4th... today is the 29th... that would give me 5 days to order the parts and install them. One of those days is a Holiday, one of those days is a Sunday (parts don't move on those days) and one and a half of those days is drive time to get to Colorado.

I'll pull something off... I always do... but it still begs the question of why does this shit always happen? lol

 

I don’t know what all you can see, but get it up on jack stands and see if there’s any movement of the slave when someone pushes on the clutch pedal, just to rule it out. Rotate all the tires by hand and maybe by the driveshaft to make sure nothings seized/bad bearing. Then look at the clutch itself if you can. My old landlords jeep grenaded the clutch but he was still able to drive it. When he got it to me, I hopped under And was able to pull a whole chewed up friction pad from his clutch out of the inspection hole

 

So... airfare from SFO to DEN is $92 per traveler, roundtrip.

Looks like I'll be doing a Subaru clutch... it just wont have to be RIGHT NOW. lol

Thinking I'll buy him and his buddy a plane ticket, with a return trip on President's Day weekend. He'll have a 4 day pass for that. He can fly home and drive it back then.

 

That is a good dad. Tell your son, Thanks for his service to our country.