How Do You Break a Clutch Fork?

I have no idea. Maybe my daughter has some ideas. Just kidding. She just happened to be driving it when it broke - both times. Wait, I'm seeing a pattern here. Nah, it's probably nothing.

Today marks the second time I replaced the clutch fork on my 1996 Subaru Legacy Outback. Previously, my son and I took the transmission out once to change the clutch, once to fix the oil leak on that plate under the flywheel, and once to replace the clutch fork. Not wanting to take the transmission out again, this time I got an engine hoist and lifted the engine up and forward to separate it just enough to get the new clutch fork in.

We supported the transmission with a jack so that it wouldn't fall down after separating the engine and transmission. I don't know if this way was any easier. Maybe it was a little easier. But I still had to disconnect both half-shafts from the transmission to get access to the nuts that held the transmission on the engine.

The pivot ball under the clutch fork looks a little worn. I don't know, but maybe it could be the cause of the clutch fork wearing out early. But I suspect the clutch forks are either a little under-engineered, or have cracks from the factory. I'm not the only one to have the clutch fork fail. But I haven't seen people complaining of them breaking again in a year. Hopefully a little caliper lube on the pivot ball will keep this one lasting more than a year.

Here's a picture of the first two broken clutch forks, and the new one that I put in today. I still had the original one in my scrap metal bin.

Original clutch fork, 1st replacement, and new one that went in today.

When the second one broke, my daughter couldn't get the car into gear because the clutch wouldn't fully disengage. So I told her to put it in 2nd gear, start it in gear, and then just drive home in 2nd. That worked.

I'm selling this car to my son next month. And he's happy to buy it.

Update November 29, 2014. The last clutch fork lasted seven months. It broke again and we had to replace it again.