I’m new to the car community and to owning a car myself, I’ve got from 2 years a Subaru Outback 2005, 2.5l manual. Since a month I’ve noticed an issue with my clutch/transmission. I’ve read in this forum and on others, but I’m still unsure what should I check with my mechanic to resolve the issue.
When I go from full stop in first gear, at times my car starts stuttering like crazy. I thought the issue might be with me and with gas/clutch pedals, but it’s not me. It happens randomly and it doesn’t appear every single time. At first this issue started after a bit of driving (20-30) minutes but today it started after 5-10 minutes of driving. All times I had my AC on, when it happens. I even try to rev it up to 4k rpms, but it still stutters. When I try to keep the clutch half way for a bit more time than usual (like 4-5 seconds until the car gets some speed) it stutters a lot less, but it’s still noticeable. I don’t know if that matters but only once today when it appeared I turned off the AC and when I went again from full stop, the car was working completely normal, so I’m not sure if it can be with the AC taking too much power, I’ll try to test this a bit more these days so understand if the AC plays a role in this issue.
From the things I read in other forums about other cars with this issue, they recommended changing spark plugs or cleaning air filter then checking the clutch itself
i haven’t changed spark plugs since I have the car, my air filter is possible to be a bit dirty, since I went to a dusty road, but the issue started beforehand, and the car was driven in a city around 90% of time.
I’m writing this post, as I’m on vacation and I’m worried whether this issue can get worse for a few days, or will it worsen after a lot more time (for the last month it happened just twice and both times I thought I’m the issue, but for the last 2-3 days it happened 2-3 times and now I am sure it’s not me) , I will check it as soon as I get back with my mechanic, I just want to hear some opinions from experienced people. Thank you for your time!
P.S just wanted to add that this happens ONLY at first gear. As soon as I get some speed, second, third, fourth, fifth, even reverse, work flawlessly. First gear still works flawlessly most times, but randomly this issue appears…
