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Stinky clutch? SMOKING clutch!


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I'm more of a lurker than a poster around here, but I've read about the stinky clutch issue on our GTs. I've also experienced it a few times, after brisk acceleration or after parking maneuvers on a hill. But this is a new experience and I want some guidance.

 

Took the GT on a road trip from DC up to New York on Friday. Got caught in a 40-minute backup at the tolls on the inbound George Washington Bridge -- stop-and-go the entire time, gradual uphill almost the whole way. It was so slow I almost never had a chance to fully engage the clutch. When I was at a standstill, I either put it in neutral or left the clutch all the way out (hard to keep it in neutral for long, because traffic would creep forward a tiny bit every few seconds and only enough to require a tiny bit of clutch slippage to move the car).

 

Before long I got the dreaded clutch stink -- no surprise there. But after a while, the stink got REALLY bad and I noticed smoke coming out from underneath the car!

 

:eek:

 

Mind you, I had no place to go. The approach I was on had no shoulder, only jersey walls, so I couldn't pull over and let it cool off. I had to keep inching forward until we reached the tolls.

 

I'm now finding I some residual clutch stink every time I drive, including after highway cruising.

 

I'm wondering if the clutch has been damaged, and how I would go about getting this on my car's record so I don't get dinged for "abusing" the clutch and then having warranty work denied. I concede it was an high-stress situation on the clutch, but if a clutch can't stand up to a routine traffic jam then color me unimpressed.

 

And just to anticipate people telling me to learn how to drive a manual, I have owned only three cars in my life (I'm 39), they have all been manuals, and I have never had to replace a clutch. I know how to drive a manual.

 

Thoughts?

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thoughts: *sigh* I keep my ACC on recycle as often as possible. This helps with the smell.

 

Yeah, I did that too, but with smoke pouring out from under my hood (wish I were exaggerating -- it looked as if the car were overheating) it was kind of hard to keep the smell out.

 

I'm really mostly concerned about having damaged the clutch. Think I may go to the Subaru dealer this afternoon and tell the service manager about it to see if I can at least get it on the record.

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thoughts? join the club...it's not driver error, just a crappy design. :( If I hit more traffic like that on a regular basis, I would have sold the car by now.

 

Mine's in the shop now for replacement....16 months and 23k miles of ownership.

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i've got the same problem. is this problem going to continue. i just barely hit 5k yesterday. started yesterday when i was stuck in a bit of traffic going up the slopes to go snowboarding.

i still smell it today and if it continues i'm taking it in.

it's weird, i've taken my wrx up the same road a few times and never had that problem.

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Have any of your previous cars had Drive By Wire?

 

I believe the DBW may have something to do with it as well, and of course the sucky clutch. I have been in that same spot as you describe many times with bumper to bumper traffic. I usually do not go forward unless there is at least half a car space in front of me.

 

I had problems when on a steep hill I try to get going just to see my RPM's shoot to 6K and no movement whatsoever. The evil stink shows up, and I feel like I just killed a whole bunch of kittens.

 

GL

 

X

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my wrx did not have DBW, but i had a mazda 3 (in between the rex and this car) that had DBW and it had the same problem. but, the smell went away after driving on flat surface.

hmmmm another thing too i've kept the rpm's low and it caught almost everytime.

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I feel the Legacy is harder to drive than other manual cars, with the DBW and heavy clutch it does a number on your legs.

 

I think SOA chose a stinky clutch on purpose to warn the bad doers!

 

X

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OK...Here is a wrinkle......I have had the same problem a few times, although the smell seems to go away on it's own, BUT when it happens the CEL comes on and so does the "Cruise" light (Flashing on and off) My service guy says that all the '06 LGTs do the CEL and Cruise together....but why would a hot clutch trigger a CEL...Happened twice...car has 750 Km on it and is 3 weeks old. :(
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I feel the Legacy is harder to drive than other manual cars, with the DBW and heavy clutch it does a number on your legs.

 

I think SOA chose a stinky clutch on purpose to warn the bad doers!

 

X

 

Heavy clutch? What? I think my LGT has the lightest clutch I've ever owned, but then I've never had a honda.

 

Subaru's implementation of DBW is the problem, not DBW as a concept. My GTI 1.8T had DBW and while it had a couple of irritating habits under certain conditions, it was very easy to drive in stop-and-go. In fact if you were careful enough with the clutch you didn't even need to use the accelerator, the computer would hold idle even under load.

 

There doesn't seem to be as much "feel" to the engagement point as on other cars, which makes it worse. Agreeing with others posting above, I never felt the clutch on a WRX to be as vague as the one in my LGT.

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I must need to work out my left leg better, but yes Toyota and Honda have lighter clutches. I also agree with the engagement, it is pretty vague, and I have stalled a few times on stop and go traffic because of it. And then there is the other reported problem of the car just accelerating by itself when you try to start slowly. I think a nice update on the software would do wonders.

 

X

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Heavy clutch? What? I think my LGT has the lightest clutch I've ever owned, but then I've never had a honda.

 

Subaru's implementation of DBW is the problem, not DBW as a concept. My GTI 1.8T had DBW and while it had a couple of irritating habits under certain conditions, it was very easy to drive in stop-and-go. In fact if you were careful enough with the clutch you didn't even need to use the accelerator, the computer would hold idle even under load.

 

There doesn't seem to be as much "feel" to the engagement point as on other cars, which makes it worse. Agreeing with others posting above, I never felt the clutch on a WRX to be as vague as the one in my LGT.

 

^^^^^ old defective pressure plate.

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All of the clutch problems being suffered are the result of the RE92's that the car comes with. Even if you only drive it 5 miles to a tire store, the RE92's do irreversible damage.

 

Hey Penquin...Up until now I thought you were just some goofy quack........Now I see that you are one of the "Few" who really "Get's it"

 

Good to see someone who understands how the universe works :iam:LOL

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Hey Penquin...Up until now I thought you were just some goofy quack........Now I see that you are one of the "Few" who really "Get's it"

 

Good to see someone who understands how the universe works :iam:LOL

 

You had better take that statement back right now! I am a quack damnit!:lol:

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I'm not thrilled with either the clutch or the DBW. I noticed that the DBW prevents the rush you get from the hard stomp....even if you are in boost. Push slower and you go-stomp without mercy and it takes it's time. Seems punative. It really makes it harder to double clutch also because the blip just doesn't work as well....

 

The Clutch....I have gotten the stinks...for sure, don't like the height of engagement, and don't like the rotten feel (evey pair of shoes need a different fine tune of the seat). Every other clutch had a nice sweet spot....raise you foot...pause and come off and I could easily get a perfect...smooth moderate speed take off.

 

Now...here is the other part....it is possible to get a smooth low to moderate take off but I think it kind of involves hitting the enagagement point, and balance a TINY bit of gas with tapping the clutch down a tiny bit to keep it from grabbing. It is doable with just the right action. I often miss my DSM (1990 AWD TSI)

 

As far as heavy traffic is concerned....avoid it like the plague. I had to make a few runs to Foxwoods via 95 in some HORRIBLE construction traffic. it was like an hour and a half in two construction zones.

With some really low speed engagement and trying to leave lots of room in front for rolling space I avoided lapses in sanity and the stinky clutch. Maybe learning to drive in Brooklyn with suprisingly heavy MG Clutch broke me in the the trials of traffic.

 

Anyway...the moral is it can be done....no reason to slip to 6000 unless you want to but I can certainly understand the frustration.

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This car has one of the worst clutches I've ever expirienced. The DBW/ dual mass flywheel just add insult to injury. It feels as if subaru used a disc with a low friction coefficent, and a heavy pressure plate to "make up for it." All vehicles I've ever owned, except my truck, have been stick shifts. I've driven dozens of modded DSMs with all sorts of clutches. I think I've stalled my LGT more then every other car combined for the last 15 years. I've never had another clutch smell like the one in my LGT, simply from backing out of a parking space. The first time I smelled it, I was leaving a Giant's game in S.F. I really thought that I was smelling the sewers in the city. I've never overheated a clutch like that before before, but it is a frequent occurance now. Hell, I've driven a heavily modded Talon with a 3400lb pressure plate, and it was easier to drive smoothly. I'm not looking forward to the day (probably soon) when I have to raise hell in a subaru service department over a clutch that failed prematurely.

 

Jason K.

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my clutch stink problem is pretty much gone i think ... i was in pretty heavy stop and go a week ago and had no problem, im probably just getting better with it. its alot smoother these days, i have learned how to drive the car, and what it likes and doesnt
I love my car ... basically.
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I must need to work out my left leg better, but yes Toyota and Honda have lighter clutches. I also agree with the engagement, it is pretty vague, and I have stalled a few times on stop and go traffic because of it. And then there is the other reported problem of the car just accelerating by itself when you try to start slowly. I think a nice update on the software would do wonders.

 

X

That's happened to me all of twice I think, kinda scary the first time but then you just giggle.

 

Hasn't happened in months, so either the car has decided to start listening to me or I'm better at driving it.

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All of the clutch problems being suffered are the result of the RE92's that the car comes with. Even if you only drive it 5 miles to a tire store, the RE92's do irreversible damage.

 

how can tires damage a clutch???

 

But in all seriousness guys, the stock clutch works fine ... i know exactly where the clutch engages, this car, its alittle picky when shifting (mostly because i havent quite figured out how to much gas to give it and how fast to come out on the clutch), is one of the easist cars to get moving from a standstill i have ever driven ... granite i havent driven many ... a toyota, a mazda, and a honda (wow, all japanese). Im really not sure why some people on here say the Legacy is a very hard clutch to learn on ?? I mean no disrespect but where is this "difficulties" coming from??

I love my car ... basically.
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deerkiller: You're saying that a LIGHT clutch is the result of a defective pressure plate? Or a heavy one? I don't have issues with mine, doesn't slip if I'm not pushing the pedal, etc....

Between my first pressure plate and the second, the second feels "lighter". The bad part wasn't that it was heavy, it was that it had the behavior you described. Very hard to drive. Very easy to cook the clutch disk and cause it to stink. Seriously, after I got the pressure plate replaced starts were like butter. The clutch disk is the same so it will still stink, but not nearly as often because it's just easier to use.

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Traffic. I have only had 8 daily drivers in my life (I'm 48) and 4 of them have been manuals. In a little over 400,000 miles total, only replaced 2 clutches. Traffic in the major metro areas is getting so bad that I can no longer justify a manual no matter how much fun they are. I feel for you guys. My GT is an auto.
It is still ugly.
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you guys need to take pointers from the truckers....

 

Leave plenty of room in front of you so that you can idle in 1st gear every so often. Yes, an asshole will jump in front of you occasionally, but saving your clutch is worth the extra 2 min. When I drive in traffic like that I don't even get clutch stink....and I learned to drive stick on this clutch too.

(Updated 8/22/17)

2005 Outback FMT

Running on Electrons

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