Clutch Pedal Sticking down 1998 Outback

Your slave cylinder is probably worn out and leaking. Could be the master, also, but usually a bad master means you have to pump the pedal to get enough pressure to actuate the clutch, while a bad slave won't return the pedal.

Depends if it's cable operated or hydraulic. If cable, the cable may have broken. Hydraulic, probably a failed master or slave cylinder (check the fluid reservoir under the hood to see if it's empty or very low, if so there is a leak).

Hi Jerra!

On Sat, 29 May 2010 11:34:50 -0700, "Jerra49" wrote:

Your OB has an "assist" spring built into the clutch pedal to decrease the effort required to disengage the clutch. If things aren't 100% in the clutch pressure plate, throw-out bearing, or slave cylinder, the pedal will go to the floor and stay, or come up off the floor after a second or three delay; disconcerting in traffic, to say the least. You're probably not gonna like the next part, tho. If the issue is with the slave cylinder, you will notice that the fluid is leaking; the cylinder will be wet, and you will continuously be adding fluid to the reservoir. If this is the case, replace the slave cylinder, and you should be good to go.. A more likely scenario is a bad pressure plate or a sticky throw-out bearing, either of which require a clutch job. As the engine and transmission must be separated to get to these parts, there's no sense in not replacing the clutch parts. You didn't say, but if you have _just_ replaced the clutch, and the pedal is sticking, best bet is a sub-standard pressure plate. This happened on my '99 Forester after installing a cheapo e-bay clutch, and I had to do the job all over again :-( There are a couple things you can try, tho. Stand on your head in the drivers side foot well and spray some WD-40 or the like on the pivots in the clutch pedal linkage. This probably won't help much, but it's cheap and easy enough to be worth a try, anyway. Cut a tennis ball in half and position one half behind the carpet where the clutch pedal comes down to give it a little extra boost up off of the floor. If this helps, you're still gonna have to service the clutch, but it might buy a little time. Hope this helps a bit. ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101

A third thing you might try would be to bleed the clutch hydraulics; I suppose air in the system would keep the pedal from recovering as well. ByeBye! S. Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101

I agree with all the posts. Also there is a replacement master cylinder to address this problem on some subies. i have only seen one with this problem fixed this way, I still lean to the clutch pressure plate itself. How old is the clutch? how does it "feel"