Today’s repair was on a Subaru Forester XT. I was called out to diagnose a noise coming from the vehicle. I found the noise to be the clutch throw out bearing to be failing and making a loud grinding noise. These sometimes start out as a squeak or squeal heard when you push the clutch in. Eventually the noise will get worse until the bearing completely fails. The Subaru clutch is appearing to be a quite common repair. We have done several in recent months. This vehicle had to be towed into the workshop as the bearing failed stopping the vehicle from being able to be driven.
The throw out bearing is the link between the actual clutch plate and the pedal. With the hydraulics pushing on a lever (clutch fork) onto the the bearing which applies pressure the the pressures plate springs to disengage the clutch.
If any of these clutch items fail, the gearbox needs to be removed for repairs to be done. In all instances its best practice to replace the complete clutch assembly in a kit along with the spigot bearing. We always machine the flywheel at the same time to ensure the clutch does not shudder.
