2002 Subaru Impreza Clutch

THADDEUSLAX14

MEMBER
2002 SUBARU IMPREZA

Transmission problem
2002 Subaru Impreza 4 cyl All Wheel Drive Manual 135 K miles

Hello, when I am driving my car, it shifts from gear to gear just fine, but when I try to accelerate quickly, it seems like the clutch is not engaging, and when I hit the gas to accelerate with the clutch pedal all the way out, the rpm's rev up, but the car does not speed up unless I accelerate very slowly. Even then, if I am heading up a hill or something, it will rev up, but seems to do it less on flat surfaces. It seems to do it more in the higher gears, but does it in as low as 3rd gear when I and heading up a hill. Hasn't happened in 1st gear, but seems to be getting a little worse. Does this mean that my clutch is going out, or can I adjust the clutch so it engages sooner when I release the pedal? Thanks!

1 Reply

JAGULAR1785

MEMBER
5 POSTS

Sounds like your clutch is worn out. You can try to adjust your clutch if it is a cable clutch line. If its hydraulic, it should be in adjustment already.

However even if you were to adjust it, you would be prolonging the inevitable by maybe a 1000 miles or so. And the more it slips, the faster it will wear out. So when it starts slipping it usually gets worse fast.

The reason the higher gears slip before the lower gears is because of the mechanical advantage the motor has on the transmission and consequently the clutch assembly. The higher gears have a lower ratio, that is, the motor turns less times to turn the wheels at a given speed, so it is harder to turn the wheels and harder to hold the motor and transmission together. Thats also why it's much harder to start moving in a higher gear.

And when you do get a new clutch; if you do it yourself, make sure you get a full kit with throwout bearing, pilot bearing, disc, and pressure plate. All those items are essential to the operation of the clutch, and if they fail, the clutch will fail soon after. It is also a very good idea to have your flywheel resurfaced, especially if it has gotten hot.

If you have a shop do it, make sure they do a full kit and not just a disc or disc/pressure plate. In fact, you could probably buy the kit for cheaper than they will charge you for it. And again, the flywheel resurface is a very good idea.

Hope that helps,
Chris