Hi Everyone,
Just the other day I got the clutch replaced on my 06 WRX. I took it to a reputable workshop that I’ve dealt with before. When I got it back the clutch pedal feels very soft and goes to the floor with ease, whereas before it was a lot harder and felt good. It works good and dosen’t slip but just a soft pedal. I also went for the OEM replacement and not aftermarket. Some of the google searches I’ve read say the pedal will get harder after about 1000-2000 km. What do you guys reckon?
Had nearly the same problem a couple of months ago on a 03 WRX. The hydraulics had to be bled to get a firm clutch. Could not use the typical procedure for bleeding, like on brakes. Had to pull a vacuum on the bleeder valve to get the clutch to operate properly. I only had to put a long hose on the bleeder and suck on the tube and this was enough to get all of the air out of the line. I would take it back to the shop and have them bleed the clutch line again.
I don’t why any hydraulics would have to be disconnected due to a clutch job.
Assuming for the sake of discussion this is not a hydraulic issue some possibilities could be:
The new pressure plate has weaker springs than the old one.
The old pressure plate springs were binding and causing a stiffer pedal which you became acclimated to.
The throwout bearing was replaced and the snout on the transmission that the TO bearing guide sleeve rides on was cleaned, greased, etc and the TO bearing now moves easier on the snout.
If, while driving in 4th gear at 30 mph you can floor the accelerator and the tachometer doesn’t flair indicating the clutch isn’t slipping yet you can shift normally through all the gears the new clutch is working perfectly. Your old clutch may have become difficult to operate as it wore and caused the clutch fork angle to become extremely acute.
I’ve had this happen after I’ve replaced the clutch on some vehicles.
After you remove all the clutch dust from the old clutch and lube the snout on the transmission for the throw-out bearing, the clutch pedal becomes easier to depress.
As long as it works ok, not slipping, no weird noises, easy enough to shift gear to gear when the clutch pedal is depressed, me, I’d just monitor the situation for a while. This could be normal. If it starts getting hard to shift from gear to gear, especially from neutral into first or reverse when preparing to start from a stop, at that point I’d bleed the clutch hydraulics to see if air somehow had gotten in during the clutch job.