have heard mentioned elsewhere that clutch judder is a "common" occurence, is that right? why does it do it firstly when its cold, i dont get it? and if its not the clutch on the way out, then how come subaru launched a car with an inherrent annoyance to driving? oh, i have a 2000 classic btw. ta.

 

dunno to be honest, ive a slightly modded type r and it has some kind of competition clutch, pain in the *** kinda, and nearly always judders

 

I had a Forester sport for three years that suffered from this when cold and the dealer told me that it was a 'normal' problem with Subarus. It always cleared when warmed up and I have had a WRX for a couple of months now and that doesn't seem to suffer at all from this. Not much help I know but it seems 'luck of the draw'.


Cheers Barney.

 

even my old '95 GL had clutch judder when cold, especially if a bit damp. Always cleared up after a couple of minutes and never got any slip even after 120k miles. Unless the judder persists after a few miles I would not worry too much

Stair

 

i have searched the forum and come up with loadsa posts on this very point...i just dont understand how subaru get away with producing a clutch thats a sod to use when cold...even worse...trying reversing when its cold! curious to know what causes it, only when cold...and dont say the weather ;-) and whats making the clutch make a kinda squawk between shift when hammering it a bit?

 

a cause can be oil on the clutch. engine oil from the oil seal behind the flywheel.

maybe?

 

ooohh, would your theory surrounding oil match the slight burning smell that is present after a hard run? does that spell expensive news?

 

Had both symptoms on my classic (97 turbo).

Started hiking the power so had to replace the clutch anyway but changed for an Organic AP Racing clutch. Was an absolute peach...........improved the drive of the car no end, coped with the mods I threw at her and never once suffered from judder from that day onwards.

Depends how much it gets on your nerves I guess but replacing my clutch cost £500.00 fitted and must say it was one of the best things I did. Quality kit.

The oil smell after a hard run continued for a couple of months before it was identified as a leaking rocker cover gasket. Cost £110.00 to fix apperas to be quite common especially on the 1997 cars

 

I have had the judder on some trips home from work but thats about it!

 

I've had my my00 uk turbo for 2 years and it's had the judder when cold since i had it, took it back a few weeks after i bought it and the dealer said it was common, they even had a brand new demonstrator doing it and even fitting a new clutch may not solve the problem.

Did read this on SIDC FAQ:

"Another suggestion has been to treat your Impreza to several full bore standing starts (when warm of course), which apparently helps clean up the surfaces of clutch components."

I tried this and the problem did go away for a while, although it is intermitant anyway.

 

thanks for the replies....so the burning smell...is there any way i can visually check where it might be coming from...certainly seems from the engine bay as opposed to cooked brakes...gotta say clutch was my first thought...would seem to be the weak link.

 

If you slip the clutch a lot when pulling away, or hold the car on the clutch rather than the handbrake you'll notice the burning smell - try driving it without using the clutch so much and coming off it quicker and see if it improves.

My 98 car always judders when cold, but it doesnt actually seem to effect the operation of the clutch at all, just always makes you think you're about to stall, but hasnt happened yet.

 

glad i aint the only one ,only when its cold first 5 mins ,the misses says im not given it enough revs cheeky so and so

 

I have a MY00 classic, since new, and have noticed that when starting off to reduce the "bite" by dipping the clutch very,very slightly as well as increasing the revs a tiny, tiny bit. This does not mean slipping the clutch to scream away from the line - just adjust the biting point a tad. To me it feels as if the car gives a "false" biting point but the "true" biting point is just a bit before hand, unlike other cars where the bite point is more defined.

Just my 2 cents worth.
John

 

Mine used to juder when cold, only for about the first 2 mins of driving though. I wouldn't do the full bore starts on a cold car!! A much simpler way is ket the car idle for a while before setting off. Always worked on mine.....no idea why!! I also found that pulling away with a few more revs than normal (not too many!) helped.

I got an Exedy organic clutch and the judder is no more. :-)

NS04

 

Common problem... I asked Subaru and their answer was that when cold, the clutch can't cope with the power. I really wonder why Subaru is not sorting it out, or perhaps they did ?! I have a MY02 WRX PPP, and this has it from day one.
But to add my 2 cents... I have noticed that weather seems to contribute to the judder. I have been in holidays for 4 weeks, driving the car quite a lot, but also it was not started sometimes for 3-4 days. Strangely it never ever juddered!! But again I was in a dry hot climate. Came back to find the next day morning immediately it did it.

Conclusion: blame it on the weather

My fix is that if I feel it wants to judder, I completely leave alone the gas pedal, and then slowly let the clutch up. This way it doen't judder at all or very little, car starts moving very slowly. Then I give gas and drive it normally, problem doesn't happen till next morning.

 

I get it as well on my 99 wagon, but sometimes it is worse than at other times, someone told me the only way to get rid of it is to fit a tougher clutch, I think he mentioned Exedy?!

 

That would do it!! Don't forget to have your flyheel skimmed too.

Ns04

 

It all depends on the alignment of the clutch plates when they are engaged.

You can have a run of no juddery starts for days/months (if your lucky). Then you could have 5 juddery starts in a row!

It's a common problem that is not at all serious!

Just what I heard from my local specialist.

 

all good comments there...i try the meerest slip of it whilst being dead gentle with it. didnt know it affected cars other than classics...how on earth did they get away with it?

suppose i am more concerned about the noise it makes between full bore gear shifts...maybe is a little bit of oil on the clutch plates.

 

Never had a problem with judder except when pulling away in first gear! Maybe you have extra symptoms that is more than just the standard clutch judder!?!

 

i had judder on my MY99 when taking of in the morning but somehow you learn to cope with it and eventually dont notice it, also there seemed to be weeks where i had nothing and then again it would judder, got a new clutch few weeks ago and the judder is gone, very pleased right now but for how long..

 

Agree with the above. This problem is only in first gear and when car is cold, so I'd take it to a specialist to look into it.