GhiaDriver

Just for closure for the curious. The tabs had broken off the throwout bearing, which probably caused the fork to twist which moved the fork enough that one good push (or several) put the pivot through the indentation on the fork cracking metal as it went along. So I took the opportunity to put in a new (half the milage of the car that is)tranny with a working 2nd gear synchro and a new clutch plate. All is well with the cosmos, but I have been driving my VW with a quick shift on it for weeks now and the Subby feels strange. So maybe the outback will stay outback while the weather is nice. Thanks for all your input.

I have 1/2 of an inch of travel in the slave piston. So I am still confused as to what the source of my problem is and I want to exhaust all other options before committing to rip out the tranny/clutch. Thanks for the advice

there is no longer dead space, the piston is in contact with the arm the whole time. I did not see a way to adjust the location of the slave at all. It just bolts right to one place. I did lengthen the rod under the dash, that goes into the master, as long as I could get it. It helped a bit, but I still cant get into gear smoothly. One thing that would help me, how far is the slave piston suposed to move through the whole range of the clutch pedal? (i.e. how far does the top end of the throw out arm move?) I also notice that part of the boot is gone and might have fallen into the clutch. Thanks for all your help.

I ordered a new slave and master, got them in last night, bleed them with half a bottle of dot3. No good. same problem. Actually now I can't even get it into gear if the engine is running. Is my throw out arm bent? I didn't replace my hose. is that bad? I am really stuck where to go next. ideas?

Hey there, I am new here. My 98 outback is having an odd clutch issue (140K). It is engaging very close to the floor. This is the first car with a hydraulic clutch I have worked on, but by my conventional thinking is that a wearing clutch engages further and further off the floor. But this is creeping towards the floor. I am on my second clutch (first one went at 70K, seal leak). So when I have someone engage the clutch I notice that the piston moves 1/2 an inch before it even hits the throw arm. the it only travels 1/2- 3/4 inch. I dont smell anything and am having a little bit of troubles getting it into gear, but it never pops out. The adjstment on the pedal lever arm is as long as it can be so I cant adjust there at all. I was all set to order a new clutch, but now I am starting to question what is going on. I tried bleeding tonight, but it did nothing As a stop gap (low on funds for a month or so) I am thinking about adding some extention to the rod off the slave. This will at least remove that 1/2 of play. Thoughts? Thanks