I had my engine steamcleaned before taking it to the dealer, (the dealer basically told me what the problem was but that they couldn't fix it, and thank you very much for the $112.00 "estimate" fee).

 

Now the clutch pedal feels very stiff and I'm having trouble shifting some of the gears.

Is it possible that the clutch cable had whatever lubrication on it removed by the steam cleaning and it will need to be lubed again?

yes and yes

you got ripped off

yeah you could gotten water in the cable..

I'd just replace the whole thing. if theres water in there, its going to rust and break sometime

clutch cable is like 20 bucks

 

takes 10 min to install

Well, they say no good deed goes unpunished. I had the engine steamcleaned so the dealer's mechanic could really investigate what was wrong. What I'm upset about is they didn't advise me that that the odds were at least 50-50 that they wouldn't be able to repair the problem. I was pitched that if I approved the work that needed to be done The $112.00 would go towards the repair, but never was I informed of the likelihood that they would not be able to do the repair work that was needed.

 

The only saving grace now is if I do get the carburetor properly repaired they will do a "free" dyno" test to see if it will pass smog.

 

Replacing the clutch cable might not be that easy. But can I "relube it" as I just had the engine steamcleaned just a few days ago?

So what couldn't they fix? Just curious.

Basically, the car needs the carburetor rebuilt, and since Subaru went to fuel injection in the mid 80's, Carburetors don't exist anymore, (according to the dealers point of view) because they can't get the parts anymore.

That's grade AA bull. They can get the parts, they probably didnt WANT to do it though.

You could be right and they don't want to fix it. It could also be that if it's not a subaru authorized or subaru recognized parts supplier, they don't want anything to do with it.

 

Lets face it, corporate decisions usually involve the option of purchasing parts that are mass produced, not piecemeal production of parts in ones and twos. It's probably just corporate policy. Does anyone know of any Subaru dealership that will still replace or rebuild a carburetor?

Since you are subject to IM inspections, a weber isn't an option, but you could send out a call for help to see if there is a Hitachi available on the board. I'd bet there are several. Also, you could check e-bay to see if there's one there. Depending on where you are in CA, you may be able to con another board member to help you with the swap, if you're not comfortable doing it yourself. Also, as to the clutch cable, WD 40 is good for displacing the water that may be in your cable - it's not good for lubrication, though. Hit the cable with ample WD 40, then lube it.