Transmission screwed!

[MX793]

Spark plugs themselves are cheap, but they aren't always a piece of cake to replace on modern vehicles (I dunno what the Crosstrek's engine situation is like). 

Last time I looked under the hood of a modern Subie, spark plug access didn't look all that convenient.

[shp4man]

It's that great new car smell. I guess. Do Subies have new car smell?

[veeman]

Since they would be replacing the clutch, etc I would have them replace the spark plugs now so they shouldn't charge me a lot of extra labor for that (I would think). 

[BimmerM3]

Spark plugs themselves are cheap, but they aren't always a piece of cake to replace on modern vehicles (I dunno what the Crosstrek's engine situation is like). 

Well, that's fair. I could see them being somewhere hard to get on a boxer engine. 

[Payman]

Not sure about the newer ones, but on the old 911 Turbo, it was an engine drop.

[2o6]

From what I see in the pictures, I think the airbox and a few other things might need to be moved out of the way.

[veeman]

I stopped by the service dept this morning and told them to fix the clutch.  In the end I felt the car has too few miles (60,000) for me to chuck it.  It'll be nice to have it paid off in less than 2 years.  $2150 plus tax.  They're going to replace spark plugs too ($350).  They said there is no less labor involved because they're unrelated (clutch and spark plugs) and in two totally different areas of the engine bay. I don't know if they're lying or not.  The head service manager (the one who sits in the enclosed glass office looking over his minions at the front desks) said he'd give me a discount on the spark plugs though. 

Yesterday evening I was mentally ready to drive 75 miles out to New Jersey where I saw a few new 4 cylinder manual transmission Mustangs listed for 25 or 26 thousand dollars.  Will have to wait. 

[HurricaneSteve]

When Ford was still selling the Mustang with the V-6 as its base engine, they could be had for 21 or 22K on sale. Kinda regret not picking up one when I could have but I'm positive that trying to find parking for it would have been a constant PITA. Glad you got your car fixed though.

I stopped by the service dept this morning and told them to fix the clutch.  In the end I felt the car has too few miles (60,000) for me to chuck it.  It'll be nice to have it paid off in less than 2 years.  $2150 plus tax.  They're going to replace spark plugs too ($350).  They said there is no less labor involved because they're unrelated (clutch and spark plugs) and in two totally different areas of the engine bay. I don't know if they're lying or not.  The head service manager (the one who sits in the enclosed glass office looking over his minions at the front desks) said he'd give me a discount on the spark plugs though. 

Yesterday evening I was mentally ready to drive 75 miles out to New Jersey where I saw a few new 4 cylinder manual transmission Mustangs listed for 25 or 26 thousand dollars.  Will have to wait. 

[veeman]

When Ford was still selling the Mustang with the V-6 as its base engine, they could be had for 21 or 22K on sale. Kinda regret not picking up one when I could have but I'm positive that trying to find parking for it would have been a constant PITA. Glad you got your car fixed though.

Hey thanks.  The fixed Subie drives great and I'm glad I did it rather than throwing away what I had already invested in it. 

[HurricaneSteve]

That's awesome to hear. It sucks having to repair what's essentially a new car so soon but I think you did the right thing.

Hey thanks.  The fixed Subie drives great and I'm glad I did it rather than throwing away what I had already invested in it. 

[AutobahnSHO]

LOL So I'd say keep it, you can bank money later, but we spent $2k to drop a used engine into my wife's single-owner 2005 Impreza back in 2016. It still has barely 100k miles on it.

I peruse Craigslist all the time and see cars I'd "want" but it's SOOOOOOOO nice not having a single penny of debt to anyone. We have money in the bank now for car replacement down the road, but might be moving again in 2020. After dust settles down, we'll see.

--------- -----------------

As far as the clutch going out- my dad bought an old Datsun B210 4spd manual from my uncle way back when. He said the clutch was slipping a little on hills. Well we bought it in Utah and drove it to Wyoming. Probably 2000 ft uphill over 50miles. He had to downshift when it was slipping then downshift again- nothing like riding with your mom in the breakdown lane of the 75mph freeway with the flashers on at 20mph behind your dad in the Datsun doing the same. (They figured the Taurus wagon would take a rear impact better, we kids were all buckled in the front and middle rows). Took FOREVER to get home that night LOL.

[AutobahnSHO]

Hey thanks.  The fixed Subie drives great and I'm glad I did it rather than throwing away what I had already invested in it. 

Awesome!

Clutches are wear-out items.

1- Don't EVER keep your foot above the clutch, even if you know you're going to shift again in 2 seconds. During that time you might accidentally be pressing down on the clutch, wearing it out. Move the foot off the clutch unless you're shifting gears.
2- Brakes are cheaper than clutches. Put it in neutral and clutch out to brake at stops. If you need to accelerate again, match correct gear to speed, use gas to get engine up to the right rotations, then clutch and shift.
3- Don't let n00bs learn to drive stick on your car. Get a rental.

I replaced the clutch in my SHO myself but it was ugly, took me 3x 8hr days. Every car is different, a seasoned mechanic on that car can do it cheaper. Look for an import shop for future repairs?..

[giant_mtb]

I showed one person how to drive stick on my A4. Never again. Granted, I learned on it, too, but I at least knew what was going on mechancally so I was fine in a few days. This girl, though...ugh.

[FoMoJo]

Teaching my current wife to drive a stick shift was one of the most horrible experiences I've ever had in a car; and this was after she said she knew how to drive a 'standard'.  She thought it had something to do with the steering wheel.  I know it doesn't make any sense.

[CaminoRacer]

I'm glad I had installed the clutch in my car before I learned how to drive it. It definitely helps to know what the pedal is actually doing and why it's doing that

[veeman]

Yeah I'd love to take a manual transmission driving instruction course, to get some fine tuning of my skills, but never looked into it.  Since my new clutch I'm definitely more cognizant of getting my foot of the clutch as much as possible.  Can't really do that in all situations.  Like reversing slightly uphill.  My foot has to be on the clutch and the other foot on the gas pedal.  Is that wearing it out?  Probably but oh well.  For work I drive real odd hours especially when I moonlight so I'm often driving at 2 or 3 am.  It's here sometimes when I'm driving on dark back country roads near where I live that I have the most fun.  The roads are deserted and I might have gotten lazy in the past about completely disengaging the clutch as I race through the gears, flooring the gas pedal each time, in the underpowered Subie.  I also know in the winter when I haven't had a chance yet to plow the driveway, I find it hard to drive through the foot of snow completely off the clutch. 

What I'm trying to work on is smoothly blipping the throttle when downshifting on the highway to make a pass.  I don't have it as a natural thing to do yet. 

[Eye of the Tiger]

Nobody really lets the clutch out when reversing, anyway.

[giant_mtb]

The clutch is designed to be slipped, don't beat yourself up too much over the everday circumstances when you need to stay on it a bit.

[AutobahnSHO]

Reversing I give it some gas and let the clutch out enough to get moving the speed I want then push pedal back in, and repeat. I never really ride the clutch in reverse...

[giant_mtb]

Reversing I give it some gas and let the clutch out enough to get moving the speed I want then push pedal back in, and repeat. I never really ride the clutch in reverse...

That's worse.

[AutobahnSHO]

That's worse.

Nah, I'm talking about not riding it. You really can't just let the clutch all the way and leave it out for most reversing. I should have said though that when I reverse in stick shift it's not a gentle release, I light gas and engage the clutch all the way then push the pedal back in quickly once car is moving fast enough. Goal is to minimize slipping.

[BimmerM3]

Yeah I very rarely fully engage the clutch in reverse.

[BimmerM3]

Based on a very quick Google search, clutches on these cars just wear out quickly. You might not even be doing anything wrong, Veeman.

[CaminoRacer]

Yeah it seems like Subaru either specced a wimpy clutch or a fast-wearing material.

[Speed_Racer]

Too much horsepower

[AutobahnSHO]

Too much horsepower