MY07-09 clutch kit in a MY05

Hey guys, I know this topic has been discussed before, but my friend Jonah just bought this FBP kit http://www.fredbeansparts.com/subaru-2007-2009-legacy-gt-clutch-kit-w-tsk3-kit-with-flywheel.html in order to replace his stock DMFW design clutch kit. Strangely enough, after pulling his transmission and bolting up the flywheel, the shop he's going through says there's no way that the clutch kit is going to fit. I understand the difference between a DMFW and a SMFW, but I was under the impression that the springs on the pressure plate were longer to make up for the shortened flywheel. I don't understand why it wouldn't, seeing as the 5MT and EJ255 keep the exact same code on the VIN tag throughout all 4 years of manufacturing.

 

Does anyone have any clue why this clutch wouldn't fit? Or is this trans shop just incompetent?

 

We both have 04 manufactured LGT Wagons, and I have this exact same kit sitting in the basement ready to go on, but now i'm hesitant to drop my transmission if this clutch kit won't work all of the sudden.

If he has the invoice, I would call FB back and have them research the parts to make sure they shipped the right parts. Otherwise, that kit should work fine. I put in a 2014 WRX clutch/flywheel into my '05 LGT earlier this year and it has been awesome.

 

See if the shop can pull the new clutch/flywheel off and match it up with the old DMFW set and see if they are the same height.

I wonder if they have installed it yet or are just looking at them side by side on the bench.

 

FB sells these all the time. It should fit.

They said that they looked at it on the bench and the overall thickness of all the clutch components is a 1/2' less than the stock parts. They also said that they put it all back in the car, and put it in gear, but the car would not move or do anything. They concluded that the input shaft (I think) was not mating up the 'disk' as they put it. So the clutch and flywheel was not able to work properly and start/move the car. I have a limited understanding, as I have not seen the situation in person and I am doing all of my communication over the phone.

PM Underdog, ask him for his thought's.

 

For the record, when I wanted to change my 05 wagon to a SMFW and Spec2+ clutch, I PM'd Underdog, told him what I wanted to do without worrying about part numbers, he sent me the correct parts. An OEM SMFW with the Spec 2+ clutch for a 07-09 LGT. My trusted mechanic installed them without issue.

 

Again I have a hard time believing FB sent the wrong parts.

 

They are open, I suspect your on the phone to FB now.

I'm watching the thread. Have done several SMFW retrofits into the 05-06 cars and never had an issue. If you want to PM your VIN and post a list of parts from the FBP receipt I can look it over.

I actually did call FB and got the part numbers, checked them over and they did indeed send me the correct parts. All the p/n's match up. Underdog I will PM you my VIN. I do have a JDM 5 speed manual transmission in my car, code TY757VBBAB for what that is worth. I do not believe there are any differences aside from the single different character in the code. Anything else I should check over?

From your PM:

 

You had the P/Ns labelled incorrectly. Here is the fixed version:

 

Flywheel: 12342AA090

 

Friction Disc: 30100AA883

 

Pressure Plate: 30210AA690

 

The FW and Pressure Plate are correct for the 07-09 5MT per my Subaru catalog. The friction disc is a different P/N; mine shows 30100AA881. But according to a different catalog (my go-to digital catalog stops at MY10) the *883 is applicable to all MY15 5MTs and 6MTs going back indefinitely. Sometimes they forget to supersede a P/N, which could be the case here.

 

Your JDM trans is from the 05 Legacy 2.0GT - no reason I am aware of why this would cause an issue.

 

The slave cylinder changed when they brought in the SMFW but I have not found it necessary to swap in order to make the retrofit work. Old P/N is 30620AA141, new is 30620AA191.

 

I find it hard to imagine that the friction disc is not engaging with the splines on the input shaft when everything is assembled. The pilot of the input shaft should be nestled right into the pilot bearing on the FW, and the splines start immediately aft of that, which is where the friction disc should be.

 

If they are putting the car in gear and it isn't moving then that would suggest the clutch is not engaged (clamped), the friction disc splines are not engaged to the input shaft (should not be possible if everything is assembled correctly), or the friction disc is compromised.

Would it be possible that the clutch slave cylinder is bad, and therefore does not have enough ?pressure? to fully actuate the clutch fork and throwout bearing? My understanding of this is limited so please correct me if I am wrong. I had an EXTREMELY low pedal engagement point last time I drove the car, to the point where it refused to go into gear several times. So I am wondering if the slave cylinder is the problem with the clutch friction disk not engaging with the flywheel and moving the car.

Or the slave cylinder needs to be flushed and bled.

It is possible that you are having a problem with the clutch hydraulics. However that would result in the clutch remaining engaged at all times which would cause the car to lurch during a start attempt (unless in neutral). If the car can be started with the car in neutral but will not go into gear then I would suspect the clutch is not actuating properly. However if the car can be started but will not move in any gear then there is something else going on.

The shop informs me that they put the car in gear when they start it. When they went to move the car, they thought it had popped out of gear because it would not move. They checked again and determined it was in gear. It just would not move in any gear. That is when they looked and visually observed that the flywheel/clutch/pressure plate were too thin as a whole to fully mate up to the input shaft?? That is how I believe they worded it to me.

Ask them to bleed the slave cylinder. Could have lost pressure or air in the line.

A loss of pressure in the hydraulics would not cause the symptom they are reporting.

 

Not sure what else to say - this swap is very common. Sounds like something was assembled wrong, or possible friction disc 883 is too thin and you need 881. It should not go together without the splines of the input shaft engaging the disc.

Yes, the amount of people who have easily done the swap baffles me. I called FB and Ryan told me that the friction disk 881 was meant for the 05-06 LGT and thus would not work with the 07-09 flyhweel and pressure plate that I bought.

 

It simply does not make mechanical sense for the splines to not go all the way through.... I would hate to think that the place that rebuilt my transmission assembled my clutch wrong, but I suppose I will see what happens when they get the new DMFW kit. If the issue really is the SMFW kit not being compatible (impossible) then they should be fine. If they do not know how to assemble the kit then I am very concerned obviously.

 

Underdog do you usually use friction disk 881 when you put together conversion kits?

The DMFW clutch kit uses friction disc #30100AA810. A reverse look-up of that P/N shows it was only used on '05-'06 LGT (DMFW).

 

Every '07-'09 LGT VIN I have reports 30100AA881 as the friction disc P/N. That is what I use in my retrofits.

So would the 883 friction disk, if it is too thin, be causing my issues?

Underdog, what is the difference in mm are those 2 disk? Even if it's just 1 -3mm off it should still work. I'm having the feeling that the shop focked up.

 

Is there any LGT members out in our area that have experience in this and have them go to the shop to inspect the install?

So would the 883 friction disk, if it is too thin, be causing my issues?

 

Yes, if it is too thin it may not be getting clamped by the pressure plate. The disc also needs to be installed in the correct orientation, although I'm not sure if flipping it would cause it to not engage.

 

F1 - I don't have that spec for the friction discs.

After doing a google image search, it appears that both the 883 and 881 frition plates have 4 springs in the center, while the 810 DMFW specific one has 6 springs. So I am thinking that if the splines on the input shaft are really not long enough to reach the friction disk, then you are probably right and that is the problem. Wrong disk.

I don't follow that logic. The disc you have is 883. I only mentioned the 810 disc because Ryan told you that 881 was DMFW, which was incorrect. 881 is the correct disc for all 07-09 LGT 5MT and even the 10 WRX 5MT I have a VIN for.

 

My catalog does not list 883 for anything, but it only goes up to MY10. The 883 could supersede 881, as some websites show, but I don't have first-hand evidence of that.

Sorry lol long day. That made more sense in my head than it did in writing.

So it is quite possible that 881 is a thicker friction disk than 883. One thing that really confuses me though is that the shop stacked up the two kits against each other and claimed that the SMFW and pressure plate were a 1/2" thinner overall than the DMFW parts that came out of the car. I was under the impression that the pressure plate for the SMFW was "taller" to make up the difference.

I haven't compared them direct side-by-side, but the P/N 30210AA690 is correct for 07-09 SMFW pressure plates. Maybe the throwout bearing is installed incorrectly?

This is a mystery, I would to see the ending...subscribed.