Failing clutch pedals on 2008 and newer Subarus seems to be a continuing issue. We are getting at least one a week to repair at the moment.
As these cars age, I am seeing an increasing number with the same problem. Seven spot welds from the factory assembly process do not hold over time and break free causing high wear on the components that depend on the factory structural integrity.
When these welds fail, the pedal assembly is no longer held to the firewall and the clutch cannot be properly actuated. We're even seeing issues with the STi models. Weaken one or two and the rest follow suit.
The key for owners is to identify it long before it costs them a clutch and other major component failure(s).
What's worse than the inadequate welds from Subaru are the inadequate repair jobs being performed by Subaru Dealerships.
We have had several Imprezas come into the shop where the firewall welds had supposedly been repaired once and even twice before. These customers had been charged upwards of $1500.00 for repairs and the shop had the car for almost 2 weeks each time.
- Not only did these repairs fail within months, they caused further damage to the pedal assembly, requiring additional parts costs.
The pedal assembly mounting bracket is subjected to very high levels of stress and vibration. The factory spot welds were not sufficient enough or caused heat stresses in the surrounding metal causing them to fail and the metal to rip.
Subaru firewall repair helpI have seen rivets used to repair the welds, These do not hold and eventually work themselves loose.
I have also seen the spot welds re-welded. The new welds end up failing because of metal contamination from the work area not being able to be properly cleaned.
5250 Performance has studied why the factory spot welds fail, and what effective work can be done to prevent further failures. We use bolts, washers (to spread the load), self locking nuts that mechanically adds strength and is significantly stronger than any riveting process and more reliable than a new spot weld.
Broken_firewall_weldsOur process is minimally invasive and results in a very quick turnaround time. We only need your vehicle for one day to perform the actual repair and are able to do it at a fraction of the cost of the dealership.
The choice is up to every owner, get it fixed at first sign of squeaking or wait until it tears up the clutch and related components.
