NHTSA Complaint #10463101 — 2008 SUBARU IMPREZA

I BOUGHT USED 11/2009 WITH APPROXIMATELY 27,000 MILES. THE CLUTCH WAS ALWAYS VERY STIFF WHICH I ASSUMED WAS NORMAL. SHORTLY AFTER PURCHASE I BEGAN TO NOTICE A SQUEAK WHEN I DEPRESSED THE CLUTCH. THE SQUEAK WAS FAIRLY INTERMITTENT BUT BECAME PROGRESSIVELY WORSE FOR A TIME AND THEN TURNED INTO A CLICKING NOISE. IT WAS FREQUENT ENOUGH TO BE ANNOYING BUT I JUST ASSUMED THE CLUTCH ASSEMBLY WAS SQUEAKY AND THERE WAS NO OTHER PROBLEM. OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS I HAVE BEEN HAVING MORE AND MORE DIFFICULTY ENGAGING THE CLUTCH AND ASSUMED THAT I NEEDED A NEW ONE. I TOOK THE CAR INTO A MECHANIC TO REPLACE THE CLUTCH BUT WAS TURNED AWAY BECAUSE OF WHAT HE FOUND: WHEN THE CLUTCH PEDAL IS DEPRESSED, IT, ALONG WITH THE BRAKE PEDAL, MOVE TO THE LEFT AND FORWARD. FURTHERMORE, THE SLAVE CYLINDER INSIDE THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT MOVES OUT AND UP WHEN THE CLUTCH PEDAL IS DEPRESSED. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH ONLINE I HAVE FOUND THAT THIS IS NOT AN UNCOMMON PROBLEM FOR THE SUBARU CLUTCH ASSEMBLY, THOUGH NO RECALL HAS BE INITIATED. WHAT HAPPENS IS THAT THE WELDS ON THE FIREWALL BREAK, CAUSING THE ABNORMAL MOVEMENT OF THE CLUTCH AND BRAKE PEDALS AND EVEN A WARPING OF THE FIREWALL, NOT ALLOWING THE CLUTCH TO DISENGAGE. *JB