Mr. Sinister

it looks almost like an alignment pin for installing wheels that use bolts instead of studs with nuts (think VW and Audi), but those are normally threaded. It could be the shank of a bolt that someone cut to use as a punch. I make tools at work all the time out of old bolts or screws.

 

GL, listening and paying attention for a bit wouldn't hurt, but I think that you are good!

It's definitely a manufactured piece. The ends are smooth and beveled. Thanks for the reassurance!

Honestly I'd just go back to the shop and tell them exactly what happened like you wrote here. I was doin a diy brake job and it fell out after you removed the rear rotor, did a tech leave it behind by accident after doing the wheel bearing? and what the heck is it?

Yeah, I thought about doing that. I just looked up my service records and the rear bearings/hubs was done 6 years ago. I doubt anyone would remember at this point.

The shop's ownership changed recently, and I'm not sure I can trust them anymore. I was always charged a fair price on parts and labor. This time around, the parts were sold to me at MSRP with the labor being higher than what it should have been for the job. The fact that it's clean makes me lean towards it ending up there recently, and I don't trust them to admit making a mistake and definitely not if it was intentional.

Looking through a diagram of the rear brakes and its components, I don't think it came off of the car. I'd rest easier if someone else could confirm it though.

Thanks everyone for their input so far.

I suspect one of three things happened:

1. It was left behind by the tech who replaced the wheel bearing. It would have had to have been wedged in between the parking brake shoes, otherwise it would have rattled inside the rotor and made a ton of noise. This is plausible, except the rod is clean (no brake dust, nothing) which makes me think it's unlikely

2. It was wedged in there during the inspection for some reason

3. It actually fell out from behind the brake rotor. If so, it's back to what this thing is/where did it come from

4. If I want to believe that it was done maliciously, it would have eventually un-wedged itself sometime in the future and made a ton of noise, making me think something was broken and then having to take it back into the shop

I hope it's not #4.

we aren't going to be able to identify the part on a description alone. we need a picture.

Hey, thanks for the response. I included a link in my original post. Pic is here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o53Al9EMvX3AIFzbD9eE8UxHj6IZTilx/view

Is it not opening/showing up?

Hello all,

I did a brake job last week and this thing fell out when I took off the rear rotor:

I'm almost sure it's not a brake component, so I'm wondering how it got there. Looks like it's a punch tool; it's metal and has some weight to it. Strange thing is, the last time work was done back there was a rear bearing replacement several years ago.

I did take my car in for some other work a few weeks ago and they recommended new F/R brakes, which I declined because I was going to do it myself. I can't see how this was used during the inspection. The piece is rust free, and I can run my fingers over it and it's clean; no dust. Any ideas how it got there?

Please take a look at this page from the TPMS section of the service manual. Are you sure unplugging the module doesn't result in the light being off. Reading this page, I concluded that when the RED/YELLOW wire is grounded, the stupid light comes on. Cut RED/YELLOW wire, no more stupid light. Will have to inspect the TPM module to see if I see a RED/YELLOW wire. Or again maybe if you just unplug the module? I'm still at the stage of trying to find the module in my 2009 Outback under the carpet flap!

 

[ATTACH]286973[/ATTACH]

Hey, just saw your PM. Don't check the boards often anymore, I just happened to be on today trying to find the post about the climate control/stereo flicker. Anyway...

It's been a while (9 years!) since I did this. According to my own post, just unplugging it won't turn the light off. I'm assuming I tested that back then.

IIRC, one of the computers expected a signal from the module every X seconds. If it didn't get it, the light would come one. Hope this helps.

Once you know where the module is, you'll be able to unplug it w/o removing the seat if your hands are small enough. You can see from the pics that I pulled the seat the first time I did it.

Does this have to go under the drivers side seat or the passenger? I have the factory nav and the cdrom for it is under the drivers side.

 

Dan

It'll go under the passenger seat, but you'll have to bend the mounting bracket to fit it. I ended up drilling new mounting holes into the bracket so it would fit with the WeatherTech mats I had in the rear.

If we just unplug the TPMS harness without using TPMS on winter rims, would that turn off the indicator light?

Nope.

If you were the gray one on that day, it was me.

Yup, that was me. Finally my first sighting of another member of this forum!

Stay Stock Stay Happy

The older I get, the more wisdom I see in this statement.

On 7M Supras and twin turbo 3000GT's spun rod bearings are a major concern (I had rod knock on my old Supra), but you don't see people with Subarus freaking out about that much.

Were/Are you on Supraforums or SupraMania?

Its not the cost to register the wheels each season that bothers me it's the fact Subaru makes you leave the car for the entire day to do it.

That's the dealer's fault. It takes less than five minutes to register the sensors plus any road test should they decide to do so.

Thank you. Unfortunately, I have found that JYs don't want to pull sensors from the wheels, even if the tires are trashed and I am willing to buy all 4 and the receiver.

If you plan on doing this, it's still worth it to buy just the receiver if they sell it for cheap. I think I'd rather buy new sensors anyway to make sure there's nothing wrong with them.