I think my clutch is almost dead...

So I have a 2005 Legacy GT with just under 75k miles, I think it has the original clutch, I bought the car used at 42k miles.

When I shift and give it a good amount of gas, the tachometer shoots up to 5,000 or 5,500 and slowly drops back down to where it should be.

When I am on the highway moving at 70 mph, I slow down to 45 mph to go through a higher speed toll plaza (45 mph limit) and give it gas afterwards, it does the same thing; the tach shoots up to 5,500 and drops down to about 3,200 where it should be at when going 70 mph. For this scenario I do not shift out of 5th gear, but stay in gear the entire time.

I just called the dealership and they want 1400-1500 to replace the clutch. They say that it will take about a day and that price includes a loner car. Is this reasonable? how many miles do you guys typically get out of a clutch? how much did you guys pay for parts and labor on a clutch?

Also, is this a self adjusting clutch, or does the clutch pedal catch higher and higher as the clutch wears down? it seems like the pedal is not catching until it is on the higher side, but I am not sure, it could be psychological.

Thanks,

Ryan

75k miles is not unusual, they go from the 1st day until 150k + miles, it all depends on the driver and conditions.

Parts are around $700 or so and it is several hours labor (it can be done in as little as 2 hours or it can take days for a person who has never done one before who is doing it in their garage) so you can decide for yourself if it is a decent price.

75k miles is not unusual, they go from the 1st day until 150k + miles, it all depends on the driver and conditions.

 

Parts are around $700 or so and it is several hours labor (it can be done in as little as 2 hours or it can take days for a person who has never done one before who is doing it in their garage) so you can decide for yourself if it is a decent price.

so for a Subaru dealer who has done this hundereds of times I am sure, is this price reasonable or are they trying to squeeze some money out of me?

I dont mind paying for service, but 700 for parts I can understand, another 700 for labor, that is at least 7 hours of labor if we are talking 100 per hour which is high.

The dealer will probably quote you the labor of the book and charge you exactly that. Take it to a reputable shop if they will charge you for less labor than what's quoted in the book.

That's how repairs shops make their money. If the book allows for 7 hours of labor, they will charge you 7 hours and do it in 2. So in those other hours they will fix several other cars and again, pile up the profits

$1000 is the low end, $1200 is pretty standard, and $1500 seems to be the upper end of all reasonability for a brand new OEM clutch kit & flywheel.

Around me, $100 an hour is a standard rate. $60-80 is a great rate which some good shops charge, and $130-160 is not unusual for the high-end shops.

If you want to save a few hundred bucks, get an OEM kit and flywheel (or something like a 2006+ WRX clutch & flywheel, also known as a 2007+ LGT clutch and flywheel according to some) and take it to an independent shop.

75k isn't bad, depending on your driving style.

I bet the standard labor for a clutch replacement is 4-5 hours.

Sounds dead-on to me, as alot of shops build in time to handle stuck bolts and such, even on a "normal" job.

Well, I called a few dealers and a few shops that are local to me. the dealers want 1400 to 1500 and other independent shops want 1100 to 1200.

The dealer will give me a loaner car for how ever long this takes, the independent shops obviously not. So, I think for the extra few hundered bucks I am better off sucking it up and going to the dealer who I am sure has changed subaru clutches hundereds of times.

On a side note, does anyone know is the dealer would offer a Heavy Duty clutch of any sort? or would they only work with genuine subaru parts?

Subaru offers alot of Subaru-branded heavy duty clutches, but none for the LGT specifically (AFAIK).

This job is a one-day job, so you can take your car to the $1150 shop, rent a car for one day for $50, and come out $200-300 ahead.

Subaru offers alot of Subaru-branded heavy duty clutches, but none for the LGT specifically (AFAIK).

 

This job is a one-day job, so you can take your car to the $1150 shop, rent a car for one day for $50, and come out $200-300 ahead.

Yeah, I thought about going to the local garage to have this done to save a couple of hundered bucks. If I went to Subaru I would know for sure that it would be done 100% correctly. I mean, I know it is not rocket science either, but I would feel more comfortable I guess if Subaru has done the job.

I would not take my car in until tomorrow around noon-ish, so I have time to think about it still. I would like to get an ACT clutch in there if I could, but I am not going to be all that picky at this point.

hey Joe, you are from PA.. I work in Malvern, I was going to go to Rafferty to have this done. any other good shops that you would recommend?

I would suggest you buy a Spec 1+ or 2 clutch and have the dealer install that. Seems like the loaner car is important to you. If you can find a local shop to do it cheaper, Enterprise rent a car will meet you at a shop and give you the rental car.

DON'T let the dealer install a POS OEM clutch.

The dealer installed my Spec 2+ and LWFW when they rebuilt my tranny the first time at 72,000 miles.

I'm sure the dealer is going to want the flywheel replaced to. If you have them do the work, ask up front if it is included in the price they gave you. It may be a good idea to replace it anyways.

Yes, please call me or message me ASAP instead of going to Rafferty.

Please let Tom at Concordville (an extra 15-20 minutes away) take a crack at your car instead. He's a member on here, a young tech, who convinced me to try out Concordville. Phenom service, great people. At least get a quote from them.

FredBeans should be able to ship an ACT clutch & 06+ WRX Flywheel to you or wherever you need it within 24-48 hours.

I'll send you a PM with my cell.

^^ one more reason this is such a great forum.

Big THUMB UP to Joe.

So I want to get this done at least by early next week, I don't want to get stuck and have to pay for a tow to a dealer. I guess I can order a clutch tomorrow and have a dealer install it, any certain clutch that you guys recommend?

I do some spirited driving and my car does see a decent amount of autocrossing per season. Engine is stock I was only planning on accessport and maybe a few other things. maybe no more than 320 crank hp as my overall goal?

I know that a lightweight flywheel will let the engine rev up faster, or they can resurface my stock one, right? any input in that area?

So I was checking out Fred Beans and they are in Doyelstown which is not too far from my job, maybe 35 miles or so. They have a reasonable price on labor for a clutch/flywheel install at $482.95 according to their website.

so between that and an ACT HD clutch and possibly a lightweight flywheel of some sort maybe I am looking at 1200 or 1300 all together? including a rental car? hmm.. anybody ever have service done by them? I know they are a vendor here on the forum and have great feedback. I am going to call them later today.

Anyway, I know that if I baby my car for now I can get past the rest of this week as it is not slipping terribly, only when I really get on the gas; maybe I will bring my car over to them first thing on monday and maybe they can have it done by Tuesday.

Call Freds first thing today and have them order everything so they can have it there for Monday AM.

I'm hope you've checked out the Transmisson forum and read the other post about clutches. Knowing that your going to autoX and looking for more HP I'd go with at least something like the Spec2 clutch, but I'm no expert.

Talk with the guy's at Fredbeans or call Spec Clutch see if you can talk to Danny Smith there. He's a great guy and will take good care of you as anyone there would. I know Danny from Drag racing Honda's. They overnighted my 2+ and LWFW direct to the dealer. I have almost 40,000 miles on it and it still grabs like new. Light pedal pressure almost like OEM feel. It's a little tempermental but I have nodoubt it will not slip. Mine was one of the very first ones produced by them.

Didn't realize you were willing to drive to fred beans. It's definitely a bit of a haul from where you are....

I had some minor work done there when I bought my Cobb Sway bars from them. While I was in the shop, they had some seriously modified STIs and other cars in the shop....I feel the enthusiasts wouldn't have brought their car there unless they trusted them.

One upside is that you won't have to have the clutch/flywheel shipped to you.

I won't touch on the Spec clutch that Max Capacity is advocating. I'd say the aftermarket clutch crowd on this forum goes 70-80% ACT and 20-30% Spec. The ACT pairs with a stock 06+ WRX single-mass flywheel; the Spec usually pairs with a Spec lightweight flywheel.

Good luck man and keep me in the loop

So I was checking out Fred Beans and they are in Doyelstown which is not too far from my job, maybe 35 miles or so. They have a reasonable price on labor for a clutch/flywheel install at $482.95 according to their website.

 

so between that and an ACT HD clutch and possibly a lightweight flywheel of some sort maybe I am looking at 1200 or 1300 all together? including a rental car? hmm.. anybody ever have service done by them? I know they are a vendor here on the forum and have great feedback. I am going to call them later today.

 

Anyway, I know that if I baby my car for now I can get past the rest of this week as it is not slipping terribly, only when I really get on the gas; maybe I will bring my car over to them first thing on monday and maybe they can have it done by Tuesday.

well, I pulled the trigger and scheduled and appointment at FredBeans. They are very helpful and patient while I asked all of my questions over the phone. They quoted the same price as what was on their website for the labor of installing the clutch which is $482.95.

They recommended the same ACT HD clutch as what most of you did, and a combo of that and a WRX flywheel goes for $50 more than a stock oem setup. I also need my sparkplugs to be replaced, I know, they should have been done at 60k miles and I already have 75k miles, so they quoted $189 to do those.

All together my bill is going to be 1550 (including sparkplugs) and I am not sure about a loaner car or rental car, but they are confident that it can be done in a single day. I will give some feedback about my experience there when the time comes.

Thanks again for all of the input guys, it is much appreciated.

Ryan

Nice, sounds pretty reasonable.

The parts guys are the best, so good look with the dealership service guys. They'll probably offer a loaner, but it'll be an hour drive each way from Malvern...soooo....

Nice, sounds pretty reasonable.

 

The parts guys are the best, so good look with the dealership service guys. They'll probably offer a loaner, but it'll be an hour drive each way from Malvern...soooo....

Ehh.. the drive doesn't bother me all that much, at least on the way back I can enjoy that new clutch.. then again, for the first 1000 miles you are supposed to go easy on it to break it in properly, right?

And FredBeans is a dealership, so for just the clutch/flywheel and labor at 1363 it really is not bad compared to the local garages looking for 1200 bucks and wanting to use crappy aftermarket stuff or oem stuff.

I can take my work laptop with my and log into my VPN client and maybe even work from there, that is if they have a network, or leave really early in the AM to get there as soon as they open.

All I have to worry about is making my clutch last until then. They said that the ACT clutches are on order and are supposed to ship out on June 1st. They will definitely have them by the 12th, so that is still 2 weeks away. They will call me for an earlier appointment if they come in sooner (which I really hope is the case), but if it is not, I will only drive to and from work and really baby the clutch; it seems to be OK for now when I drive very conservitively.

If it's not slipping, then it's not wearing much more. AFAIK, the precipitous loss of a clutch (outside of some sort of mechanical failure in the clutch mechanism) is usually driven by someone slipping it so much that the remaining friction material glazes over completely.

From what I remember, Fred Beans has a nice waiting area and I remember one guy being on his laptop while I was there. Not sure if they had wireless or if he had a cellular card.

Yeah, break-in is at least 500 miles. Just means go easy on it and don't slip it for more than ~3 seconds (this mainly happens if you are a newb or are backing up a hill).

Joe

I have to say that the customer service at Fredbeans is excellent so far. They were expecting thier shipment of ACT clutches to come in either on Friday of this week or Monday of next week, and that meant that I originally had an appointment for Wednesday of next week. The clutches just showed up at thier place this afternoon, they called me and rescheduled for this Thursday. They seem to be very much on top of things so far.

I confirmed the prices, and here is the breakdown:

ACT HD clutch kit + 06-07 wrx flywheel = $790

Labor = $483

Sparkplugs were something around $189 including labor and I need that done as well.

So I am looking at $1550 after tax for the entire clutch job plus replacement of sparkplugs which is very reasonable. Most other dealerships wanted 1400 to 1500 for just the clutch job and would only use oem parts.

I will give an update after all is said and done and the new clutch is installed.

Just remember not to be dissapointed if you don't love the feel at first. Break that puppy in, then give your review

I'm excited to hear!