Does Clutch Wear Look Normal?

[Jamestl]

Hi folks,

I've had a few other manual cars before but never had to change the clutch. As part of the recall I had the clutch changed as it was starting to slip and was wondering if anyone can see any abnormalities? The car has 90k miles and have seen its share of track days over the past two years.

[8RZ]

Looks like a well broken-in disk and flywheel to me.

[Ultramaroon]

I'm surprised it's slipping. Looks great.

[Jamestl]

I posted the following in the recall thread but didn't get much response, in case you're curious to know more of the back story. It was most definitely slipping after the valve recall was done (in 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and prob other gears too but i didn't push too hard).

Originally Posted by Jamestl

Hey guys - interested to get a few perspectives.

I had the recall done, and in the process asked them to replace the TOB and plugs (parts only, no labor charge).

Before I dropped off of the car, evyerthing worked well. I had adjusted the clutch so it's closer to the floor vs. near the top of the clutch travel. Did not notice any clutch slippage nor had any issues with it.

A few days later I go pick up the car, and the clutch engagement was very vague and almost to the very near top of the clutch. I started driving home thinking I'll need to adjust it again when I'm home, but as I'm driving it became clear that it's slipping at any RPM above 3k with more than 50% gas. So I take it back to them, and ask them to check it to see if they might have missed something. A mechanic drove it and agreed with my assessment, and said they'll take a look.

Today they called me back and said I need to replace the clutch. I went there and asked them to adjust the pedal to see if that might help. It did a little as the clutch doesn't slip in 2nd anymore, but it does in 3rd and at highway speeds, so back i went. I ended up negotiating to bring in the parts myself and pay $250 for labor for them to replace everything (clutch, flywheel, fork, etc.).

BTW - side note, parts are significantly cheaper on the Subaru side than the Toyota side, for the same parts. An example: Flywheel for Toyota is SU003-07231. Same part for Subaru is 12310AA403. It's not quite half price, but it's close!

Anyway, my questions are:

1) Could anything related to the work on the recall screw up the clutch in such a way? The dealer obviously says no, and I don't doubt them, but I can't reconcile how the car felt vs. when I got it back, esp where the clutch pedal was.
2) The car has close to 90k miles on it, so replacing the clutch isn't out of the question, but it does seem early relative to my other cars. I usually double clutch so not sure if that wears the clutch more but saves the synchos...? On the other side, it has been on track.
3) Would it have been obvious to the tech that the clutch needs replacement (assuming it needed one when I went in)?

It is what it is at this point, which is that I'm basically gonna get all the parts replaced for ~650 (exedy parts, not Toyota or Subaru, but I understand it's the same), which isn't bad at all but I was not expecting to spend any money on the car since everything was good. But I am curious to see if I could have learned something from the process - I actually thought about having them replace the clutch when the recall was done, but then thought why spend the money when it's not broken?

Anyway, curious to see some thoughts!

[Turdinator]

I'd suggest something slippery got in there during the recall work. It sure doesn't look very worn to me.

If it were me, I'd degrease the hell out of the flywheel and pressure plate, scuff up the faces with some wet and dry, throw a new friction disk in there and call it a day. I am sure someone will be along to tell you how you should machine the flywheel and get a new pressure plate blah blah blah

[Jamestl]

Originally Posted by Turdinator

I'd suggest something slippery got in there during the recall work. It sure doesn't look very worn to me.

If it were me, I'd degrease the hell out of the flywheel and pressure plate, scuff up the faces with some wet and dry, throw a new friction disk in there and call it a day. I am sure someone will be along to tell you how you should machine the flywheel and get a new pressure plate blah blah blah

Well, too late. New parts are already in. I posted the pictures more so I can get a sense for whether these are really worn as I don't have much experience in actually replacing them. Thanks!

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Jamestl

Well, too late. New parts are already in. I posted the pictures more so I can get a sense for whether these are really worn as I don't have much experience in actually replacing them. Thanks!

Turd's on point. I even looked for signs of slung oil before you mentioned that it happened after the recall work.


Hope they did a better job of cleaning the valve and timing covers. :/