Here's something to look out for on high-mileage cars with the manual trans: clutch fork failure. I mentioned this in another thread, but this is the full story of how I spent a good part of my Xmas vacation this year.
On Xmas Eve, I started having trouble shifting. I could barely get into first gear from a stop, and I had to double-clutch to make it into second without grinding gears. Eventually I couldn't get into gear at all because the clutch wouldn't fully disengage. I had 240k on the car (only 30k on the clutch, though), so I figured it was a problem with the slave or master cylinder. Those are easy enough to replace, so I just decided to do both. No visible leaks, but internal leakage seemed very possible.
Got the new cylinders in, flushed and bled the system, but the clutch still wouldn't completely disengage. Called my friendly tech at the Subaru dealer near home, and he told me how to adjust the rod length on the master cylinder. Aha, thought I. Took a lot of adjustment, but I finally got the clutch to disengage. Off I go.
New Year's Day, my wife and I met some friends for dinner, and coming off the freeway I lose my clutch entirely when I go to downshift. The pedal sank to the floor and stayed there, leaving me to drift into a parking lot. It's nighttime, so I left it there and had the in-laws pick us up; fortunately we were only a mile away. The next morning I discover that the slave cylinder piston had blown completely out of its housing. Most slave cylinders I've seen in the past have some sort of retainer to prevent this from happening, so I assume it was a bad part and procure a replacement.
When I get back to the car to replace the slave cylinder again, I put everything in place and get ready to bolt it down. That's when I notice that the gap between the slave cylinder rod and the clutch fork seems, well, a bit wider than it should be. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I pull off the clutch fork boot, grab a flashlight, and see that the reason the slave cylinder piston blew out was because the fork had cracked and bent backward so far that the pushrod couldn't reach it anymore.
To provide some context, this is now Friday, January 2, and we're supposed to drive back from Michigan to Washington, DC the next day. No shops can deal with this until the following week, and even if they could they can't get a clutch fork. After an hour on the phone, I find one - miraculously - at a dealer only 180 miles away. So I embark on a six-hour roundtrip just to get the part I need. In the meantime, I arrange for the car to be towed to my dad's house, where he thankfully has a well-equipped garage.
Friday night I pull the engine and remove the culprit:
Saturday morning and early afternoon I reinstall everything and have the car back on the road by 5pm. Craziest 24 hours of my life. We finally got on the road a day late, but still on track to get home before school and work resume. Then the alternator in my sister-in-law's Jeep failed on the Ohio turnpike (we were driving back together). I replaced that in an AutoZone parking lot, and we got back at 4am with three hours to spare.
The real pisser is that I went back to look at the photos I took when I rebuilt the motor at 211k, and you can see the faint lines that were apparently the stress cracks that led to the fork's failure. I just never thought to look for them.
I have yet to hear of another person who has experienced this, but it might be a good idea to checks yours if the engine is out.
On Xmas Eve, I started having trouble shifting. I could barely get into first gear from a stop, and I had to double-clutch to make it into second without grinding gears. Eventually I couldn't get into gear at all because the clutch wouldn't fully disengage. I had 240k on the car (only 30k on the clutch, though), so I figured it was a problem with the slave or master cylinder. Those are easy enough to replace, so I just decided to do both. No visible leaks, but internal leakage seemed very possible.
Got the new cylinders in, flushed and bled the system, but the clutch still wouldn't completely disengage. Called my friendly tech at the Subaru dealer near home, and he told me how to adjust the rod length on the master cylinder. Aha, thought I. Took a lot of adjustment, but I finally got the clutch to disengage. Off I go.
New Year's Day, my wife and I met some friends for dinner, and coming off the freeway I lose my clutch entirely when I go to downshift. The pedal sank to the floor and stayed there, leaving me to drift into a parking lot. It's nighttime, so I left it there and had the in-laws pick us up; fortunately we were only a mile away. The next morning I discover that the slave cylinder piston had blown completely out of its housing. Most slave cylinders I've seen in the past have some sort of retainer to prevent this from happening, so I assume it was a bad part and procure a replacement.
When I get back to the car to replace the slave cylinder again, I put everything in place and get ready to bolt it down. That's when I notice that the gap between the slave cylinder rod and the clutch fork seems, well, a bit wider than it should be. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I pull off the clutch fork boot, grab a flashlight, and see that the reason the slave cylinder piston blew out was because the fork had cracked and bent backward so far that the pushrod couldn't reach it anymore.
To provide some context, this is now Friday, January 2, and we're supposed to drive back from Michigan to Washington, DC the next day. No shops can deal with this until the following week, and even if they could they can't get a clutch fork. After an hour on the phone, I find one - miraculously - at a dealer only 180 miles away. So I embark on a six-hour roundtrip just to get the part I need. In the meantime, I arrange for the car to be towed to my dad's house, where he thankfully has a well-equipped garage.
Friday night I pull the engine and remove the culprit:
Saturday morning and early afternoon I reinstall everything and have the car back on the road by 5pm. Craziest 24 hours of my life. We finally got on the road a day late, but still on track to get home before school and work resume. Then the alternator in my sister-in-law's Jeep failed on the Ohio turnpike (we were driving back together). I replaced that in an AutoZone parking lot, and we got back at 4am with three hours to spare.
The real pisser is that I went back to look at the photos I took when I rebuilt the motor at 211k, and you can see the faint lines that were apparently the stress cracks that led to the fork's failure. I just never thought to look for them.
I have yet to hear of another person who has experienced this, but it might be a good idea to checks yours if the engine is out.