Is a clutch fork considered part of the clutch?

[BuzzR]

This may sound silly, but the answer may save me $1,200 - or not.

I'm having a tranny and a clutch replaced on my 2013 BRZ Limited. The dealer says it will replace the tranny under warranty, but they will not replace the clutch under warranty because it naturally wears out. It being a consumable part.

But I don't "think" the clutch fork is a consumable part. Therefore it is part of the body of the car as opposed to part of the clutch.

The mechanic who worked on the car said it was the clutch fork that cracked, causing the TOB to get out of alignment and thus shred the clutch and also the tranny. So if the fork is not considered part of the clutch, I should get the repair under warranty.

If one buys a clutch assembly, does it include the fork?

I'd appreciate any comments on this. Am I missing something?

Thanks.

[highway7]

Clutch fork is not considered a wear item and no clutch kit will come with a clutch fork, only a TOB, friction disc, pressure plate, and alignment tool. Unless you put in a non OEM aftermarket clutch that has a pressure plate that requires more pressure to release possibly causing the clutch fork to break the clutch fork should last the life of any car (Unless it was a bad design in the first place).



If the clutch fork is the cause of the problem, then i would argue that the non wear item (clutch fork) caused the TOB to fail and the clutch assembly to wear out prematurely, regardless if it's a wear item or not, and that everything should be covered under warranty.

[Tcoat]

I fail to see how a clutch getting wrecked by a TOB would take out a tranny

[Grady]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I fail to see how a clutch getting wrecked by a TOB would take out a tranny

When the clutch went out he may have gotten distracted and ran up on the sidewalk. He could have taken out a tranny then.

[Joon525]

Originally Posted by Grady

When the clutch went out he may have gotten distracted and ran up on the sidewalk. He could have taken out a tranny then.

Except that's not what happened at all.
Click
Regardless, if a dealer wants to give me a new transmission I'd probably take them up on it.

The fork is not part of the clutch itself and is not considered a wear item.
(I honestly wouldn't want the OEM part as a replacement, I'd rather have the forged Verus Engineering replacement put in but not all dealers would be keen to installing an aftermarket part into a waranty job)

Originally Posted by highway7

...
If the clutch fork is the cause of the problem, then i would argue that the non wear item (clutch fork) caused the TOB to fail and the clutch assembly to wear out prematurely, regardless if it's a wear item or not, and that everything should be covered under warranty.

highway7's argument is exactly what I would be yelling at the dealer.

[wbradley]

Depending on the car's mileage, they should at least pro rate the cost of the clutch (share, with the percentage dropping on a higher mileage car).

[jasonojordan]

Clutch fork is not a wear item as others have pointed out. It is part of the transmission itself. If they admit that it failing caused the clutch to fail I would think you have an argument that the clutch should be covered under warranty as well. But that is in a perfect world.

[RallySTI]

The clutch fork is a component of the transmission and is not considered part of the clutch or the transmission. The clutch components, fork, pivot, clip, and transmission all have different part numbers, meaning they are their own individual parts and would not come as a set.

When I first started working for Subaru as a tech I quickly learned that if you told the parts guy you were replacing the transmission, they would order you a transmission , not all the things that would go along with it like the fork,pivot, mounts, etc... Same goes for warranty repairs. If the tech does not tell the parts or warranty person that they need X,Y and Z parts they will get only what is asked for. Once the warranty repair is approved they can only repair what was approved, finding other issues while doing the repair is normal but usually will cause a delay as it has the repair has to be updated and re submitted.

My point is that if you are unsure what they are replacing do not assume that they will replace all of the other parts, ASK exactly what is being replaced.

[JeremyR]

Sounds to me like they should be replacing your clutch too!

[why?]

the clutch forks on these cars are horrid. If you can get that the clutch fork caused all your issues in writing they should replace everything under warranty, and if they won't go over their heads to subaru.

[BuzzR]

I want to thank everyone who responded to my thread. I appreciate all of the help.

My friend and I went to the dealer to pick up the car on Tuesday. I had about 20 pages of articles and reports I'd printed off the Net showing the clutch fork was - at best, weak - and at worst, defective.

The mechanic we had talked to before changed his story ( without even looking at the material I had brought) and said the clutch fork had nothing to do with the TOB failure (before he had said that it likely was the cause of the TOB failure) - but he couldn't say what caused the TOB to fail and damage the clutch and tranny. (The tranny was destroyed because they said the spindal that sticks out of the tranny could be moved 1-2 inches in any direction - so it was shot. We didn't see the tranny, as it had already been removed from the dealership. We did see a picture of it.

So my friend and I "politely" argued with the mechanic for about 20 minutes, before I gave up (he wasn't going to budge, and wouldn't even consider dropping the price) and paid the $1,138 bill. (I considered talking to a manager, but I imagined it was he who made the mechanic change his story and coached him what to say. )

He did have the old clutch parts that we looked at, and - upon our request - went and got "a" clutch fork that he said was the one from my car) though it was in surprisingly good condition after (supposedly) four years of wear.

So I am now going to write corporate and see what they say. I don't have a lot of hope that I'll get any satisfaction (or refunded money,) but I'm going to try, anyway. There's too much evidence out there that the 2013 clutch fork is crap, and I don't think I should have pay for the full price of the clutch rebuild - if anything.

I'll let you know if I hear anything back from them (but I won't be surprised if i don't.)

Thanks again for your info and advice.