1998 Forester 255K miles - 5-speed manual.

- Clutch kit and Flywheel resurfaced with 80K miles on them.

- I swapped in another engine due to HG failure and transferred the flywheel and clutch, etc to the 'new' engine. I used a torque wrench on the FW and Clutch Plate bolts. Engine/Trans mated up without fuss.

 - After Swap, clutch shudders when engaging and accelerating from a dead-stop; otherwise engages OK. Seems worse after engine warms up. 

- Clutch worked fine - no issues prior to swap.

WHAT DID I LIKELY MESS UP during the SWAP?

If I have to go back in to 'fix' it I may just resurface the flywheel and install a new clutch kit.

Are there any good (cheaper) options besides the Exedy or Act clutch kits?

 

Thanks

Hyd clutch? If so, maybe bleeding the system will help

Thanks for the reply.

Yes...hydraulic clutch. I've read horror stories of trying to bleed the slave/master cylinder on these.

I just put another 35 miles on it, which included some city driving and it's totally inconsistent. 

Not sure why it would help, but will keep driving it 'as is' for another few days and see if it improves. 

Edited October 13, 20214 yr by wtdash

Did you use the engine mounts off the old engine or the new one? We have found that old squishy mounts contribute greatly to clutch shudder. 

Bleeding the hydraulic clutches is easy. There's a trick to it. 

GD

Edited October 14, 20214 yr by GeneralDisorder

The 'new' engine has its own mounts - and was previously installed w/out the clutch issue. But....I was wondering if the Transmission mount could conribute to this? It may be past its prime. 

I have a new one to install....just haven't gotten to it. 

All the mounts make a difference. I would just get Group-N mounts from Subaru and replace all of them. 

GD

5 hours ago, GeneralDisorder said:

Did you use the engine mounts off the old engine or the new one? We have found that old squishy mounts contribute greatly to clutch shudder. 

Bleeding the hydraulic clutches is easy. There's a trick to it. 

GD

Don't suppose you would be willing to share that trick, would you? we just recently got our first hydraulic clutch Subaru here... the 2004 Forester...
last manual Sube was a 1991 Legacy, lol

You dismount the slave and clamp it fully retracted with a large C-clamp, etc. Then you have an assistant slowly depress the pedal with the bleeder cracked. At the bottom of the stroke you close the bleeder and have your assistant pull the pedal back up. After they do this you watch the level in the reservoir over the next several seconds. It will slowly drop as the master cylinder pump chamber is filled through the tiny orifice between it and the reservoir. If it does not drop have your assistant pump the pedal up and down rapidly a few times and then pause to watch the fluid level drop. Once the level stops dropping you repeat this procedure several times till you see a strong flow of fluid from the bleeder with no bubbles. Once you are done close the bleeder and check the pedal - it should be rock hard (slave is still clamped). Reinstall the slave and you're done. 

With two people that know how to perform this procedure together the entire process usually takes about 5 minutes. 

GD

Thanks, GD! great info, as always. =)