Back in the days of mechanical clutch linkages that was true, but I don’t think it is the case with hydraulic clutch linkages. As long as the clutch master cylinder is full of fluid, there should not be a problem with clutch activation.
Of course, there is always the possibility that the clutch master cylinder is not full, or that it is faulty, but on a brand-new car, I think those are very unlikely possibilities.
Unless your car does downshift rev-matching, putting the car in first will strain the synchronizers and feel stiffer. But, I would look also at clutch drag, either a defect or air in the hydraulics. Also, call Subaru.
There should still be an adjustment between the master cylinder and the clutch pedal and another between the slave cylinder and the clutch itself.
That may or may not be true on this Subaru. I know that a friend’s Nissan did not have any adjustments on the hydraulic clutch linkage.
I there a competent mechanic you can trust to take the car for a drive and tell you if it’s working normally?
It’s new car, 5 yr. extended warranty left. I guess I’ll just ask this week at Subaru since plenty of people here recommended it anyways. I’ll probably ask if someone from service could drive it and tell whether it feels normal because I couldn’t downshift few times and I’m not sure if it’s okay or not because it’s the first time I’m driving such car with gearbox directly under lever so idk how should it feel…
Well in the worst case warranty would most likely cover any repairs but I figured it’s better to be safe than sorry since gearbox replacement would probably take a while, especially since car is EOL, so it’s better to ask than to assume “it’s fine” and then end up being wrong.
Czesc, I had a 70 Opel GT that had the shifter stuck into the transmission, an 87 944 with a transaxle between the rear wheels, a 72 BMW 2002tii with a I don’t know how the shifter was attached to the trans and an 2004 diesel golf. The shifter danced around a lot while driving in all of them and the Opel’s got quite warm after a while. Tip: Don’t rest your hand on the shifter when driving or you’ll have transmission problems eventually, like jumping out of gear for instance. You have to let the trans and engine warm up gently especially since it’s still cold in Poland and everything is new and very tight. Just because the coolant temp is hot doesn’t mean the oil in the eng , trans and diff is. That takes longer. The only way they warm up is by driving so warm it up slow, powoli, increasing speed and rpm gradually and you’ll be able to feel it get less and less stiff as you drive.
Then you can beat on it and show off to your friends.
Don’t force the shifts especially when shifting down and never when going to first gear. Step on the clutch and hold a little pressure but never a lot, do not force/jam it in. You’ll destroy the synchros and chip a tooth off of a gear. I avoid putting it into first entirely unless I’m completely stopped or just barely rolling a little bit otherwise just put it in second and drive away easy, pomalu. Diesels are easier to get into first gear than a gasoline engines car. More torque doesn’t need the low gearing.
To see if your clutch is adjusted properly; warm up the car fully(driven at 80/100kph for 20km). Come to a complete stop somewhere where it’s safe, SET the Handbrake. Step on the clutch fully to the floor, crushing the rug, and try to put it in reverse. As you move the shifter POWOLUTKU towards reverse as the two reverse gears start to meet you should not feel that one of the gears is moving, bump, bumping the lever. Put it fully in reverse, all the while keeping the clutch fully depressed now take it out of gear, clutch still depressed, try to put it in reverse again. If you still don’t feel the gears bump bumping the shift lever your clutch adj is fine.
I think you have a peach of a car, it’s tight and needs TLC to break it in nice. Even after it’s broken in you still need the warm up. As you feel it loosening up you go faster.
COGNITO ERGO ZOOM!