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Dealership denied rusted brake line repair/recall. Smoking gun?


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  • 1 month later...

Bringing this back.

 

Since getting my car back, about 2 weeks ago I had to top off the brake fluid reservoir, which I thought was weird - why didn't the dealership top it off after bleeding the system? "Oh well, they diagnosed a cracked oil pan when my drain plug was loose" I thought, and added some new fluid I had in the garage.

 

Fast forward 2 weeks, yesterday, and my brake light came on signalling I needed to top off the fluid again. This definitely told me I had a leak somewhere. I snagged a coworker on a smoke break as I was leaving work and he was looking at some spots in the parking lot under my car which I thought "couldn't be mine." We poked around in the engine bay not finding any seepage or wetness, pulled up the back seat and saw new lines, and saw new lines between the spokes of my rear wheel. He had me start my car and pump the brakes a little like we were bleeding them and immediately told me to stop and call the dealer. I asked why and he said the area where the first recall was "completed" was leaking again - the entire area is soaked again with fluid.

 

I called the dealership 3 hours before they closed yesterday, left a voicemail for my FAVORITE :rolleyes: service writer and never got a call back.

 

This is going to be fun. :mad::spin::mad:

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Aw man, thats unfortunate. I dont know if I'd trust them to fix that, especially if it is installation error and not a part failure.

 

I had a similar experience with mine when my turbo failed at 75k under warranty. First they tried to only cover 1/2 the cost for the engine, then when I got it back it had a massive oil leak and torn vacuum lines all over the place.

 

After they fixed the oil leaks I took it home and replaced the turbo inlet+ every vacuum line and zipped everything. There was no way I was gonna let them touch it again after giving me a literal time bomb. (Dealer is ~140miles from my house, and when i checked the car before leaving there was at LEAST 1qt of fresh oil on the ground)

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I’m worried always on the Dealer where an apprentice can be your mechanic. I’m more comfortable working with mine which no one to be blamed if trouble comes in, but I always check twice thrice for safety as well.
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  • 3 weeks later...

I guess I didn't post a resolution in here but did in the other 4th gen thread.

 

My car was at the dealer for a day where they determined one of the four connections going into the famous "recall block" had come loose. I don't know how or why but they got that fixed up, said they checked all connections between ABS module and the rear calipers, and then gave me a fresh flush and bleed at all four corners.

 

If there's any caveat to this ordeal, it's that this is the best fluid flush/bleed I've ever experienced in any car I've owned, and I've flushed/bled fluid on this car three times before. Excellent bite/power now.

 

TL;DR, the dealer got me fixed up and I'm happy with the brakes. I'm still miffed I forked out $300 for an oil pan I didn't need (coworker did it, $83 pan + labor) because it was a loose drain plug instead of a crack, but whatever.

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  • 1 month later...

I could use some help here...lines failed yesterday while bringing my buddy and his 8yr old son back from fishing. Scared us all pretty well when had to brake suddenly and pedal went to the floor, power downshift and ebrake. Immediately went to an oreillys auto for fluid..opened hood and reservoir was empty. Added fluid, pumped and pedal was soft so figured I had airlock. Limped home, and crawled underneath to see this tell tale leak. Fast forward to this morning, called closest dealership, said the recall shows complete for WQK-47. Called SOA as this dealership could not or would not help. SOA opened a case number, called my dealership where I purchased and the same story, shows complete. Their offer was for me to have it towed to them 25 miles away so they can inspect it and see what is going on.

My question is where to go with this now. I want to tactfully approach but clearly the recall treatment did not work. How do I get this rectified like bacon bits did?

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I could use some help here...lines failed yesterday while bringing my buddy and his 8yr old son back from fishing. Scared us all pretty well when had to brake suddenly and pedal went to the floor, power downshift and ebrake. Immediately went to an oreillys auto for fluid..opened hood and reservoir was empty. Added fluid, pumped and pedal was soft so figured I had airlock. Limped home, and crawled underneath to see this tell tale leak. Fast forward to this morning, called closest dealership, said the recall shows complete for WQK-47. Called SOA as this dealership could not or would not help. SOA opened a case number, called my dealership where I purchased and the same story, shows complete. Their offer was for me to have it towed to them 25 miles away so they can inspect it and see what is going on.

My question is where to go with this now. I want to tactfully approach but clearly the recall treatment did not work. How do I get this rectified like bacon bits did?

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Where is the line leaking? There are three spots in the back that are covered by the recall/TSB.

 

I agree with ehsnils though. Escalate it with SOA, let the dealership know that SOA is aware and has a ticket open, and file a complaint with the NTSB over the inadequacy of the proposed "fix."

 

I will say that once my dealership got a call from SOA on my behalf, their tone changed very quickly. The initially denied my recall/warranty claim and wanted ~$1800 to fix it until I found the recall documentation online and talked to SOA.

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I called SOA this morning and they were matter of fact that the fix for recall had been applied. As far as leak, with the tank shroud down, I wiped everything clean and just fired up and pumped the pedal and scurried back underneath and it appears to be weeping most from up top of the tank. Question 1 is can I get a view from passenger side opening with seat removed to see where or am I going to have to drop the tank? The junction box albeit crappy looking doesn’t appear to be weeping. The leaking appears to be passenger side only.

Anyone know if I need to be concerned about airbag module if I want to remove passenge4 seat? It is manual not power. Just worried as I have not had the airbag recall done and don’t want to spend the rest of the week dead

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Just because the fix for the recall had been done doesn’t mean it can’t leak mine did months after the recall was done. There my be a link to my post earlier in this thread.

305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD).  CHECK your oil, these cars use it.

 

Engine Build - Click Here

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Download the PDF in the first post of this thread. Jack up the car or get it on a lift and see where it's coming from... It should be obvious.

 

If the line broke above the tank, you are in fact out of luck but there's no reason that should happen because there's nothing for the line to rub on and it's coated in plastic. The recall covers two clips and the junction box where there is no coating to protect the steel line.

 

If they still don't play ball, your only hope is to try a different Subaru dealer or escalate it with either the NTSB or NHTSA.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Just got a good news call from Patriot that SOA is going to cover the brake line failure even though the recall "treatment" was applied previously. Was told that only one line failed and will be replaced. I had hoped that all lines would be taken care of so I'm hopeful that the integrity is solid on the other. Getting a 420 code as well for cat inefficiency and looks like I'm going to get a cat covered as I'm under 150k so that is good news. Intermittent airbag light isn't related to airbag recall so that sucks but I'm waiting for code read on that and assume it will be the resistor issue in the overhead light panel that 4th gen leggys are prone to. Happy to get a small sliver of good news for a change. Keep you updated.
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Well, what I expected, the one line repair was not going to cut it-everything needs replacing-being covered..just got a loaner for the next week. While I'm not wild about the new Forester body, I am a fan of all the creature comforts of a brand new ride with 4k. What a difference 9 years makes.
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Well, what I expected, the one line repair was not going to cut it-everything needs replacing-being covered..just got a loaner for the next week. While I'm not wild about the new Forester body, I am a fan of all the creature comforts of a brand new ride with 4k. What a difference 9 years makes.

 

 

If you start to work on stuff like that it usually breaks apart. So I'm not surprised that they end up having to replace all of it.

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Happy ending so far...just picked up the leggy...Patriot stepped up for me with SOA..all brake lines replaced...downstream cat replaced for cat inefficiency 420 code which was nice, airbag recall done, $0 out of pocket but the airbag light(code 26) faulty panel is my next bugaboo to fix so time to pull that and see if re-solder on the resistors gets it done.

So, my advice is if you are not sure if this is an issue, you should inspect what you can see even if the prescribed recall treatment was performed. Glad they didn't give me a sporty 2018 model as a loaner...now back to 2009.

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