Rear Brake Hardlines Leaking & Recall

[need bb]

I noticed a pool of brake fluid by the rear passenger tire and knowing this was likely related to the hard line brake recall I dropped off the car at the dealer. The dealer confirmed that they applied some anti-corrosive wax as part of the recall in 2014 and that the leak was coming from the brake hard lines. They also told me it would be over $4K to repair the hardlines from the front to the rear of the car 

My 05 wagon only has 135K miles and there is no rust besides some underbody surface corrosion. I can understand the rubber brake lines needing to be replaced with age, but the hard lines should last the life of the vehicle. Has anyone been successful in having SOA paying for the repair? 

[Max Capacity]

YES, Call SOA. My Dealer replaced all the hard line on my 05 for free back a few years. It was a $1100. Job, Free to me. I didn't have to call. But I have spent lots of money at that Dealership over the years.

[need bb]

Thanks. Did your dealer send this off to SOA first or did you engage SOA first?

I don't know how they came up with a number 4x of yours for the same job. By any chance do you have any service documents you might be able to share via PM? Thanks

[Max Capacity]

I had AAA drop the car off at the dealership from my driveway, I called the service dept and told them it was coming. They had the records of the recall they performed earlier. I didn't have to do anything but pick it up when it was done.

 

I will say they took out the passenger seat to replace the brakes under it.

In your case, I would call SOA asap and start the process. It's been a few years since the recall.  The call is free.

 

There is a thread on here about this issue.

[need bb]

Opened a case with SOA and the case was rejected as the car was old. I spoke with SOA stating that the car isn't high mileage, the car has been in CA for 1/3 of its life, and there isn't any rust besides some underside surface corrosion but they wouldn't budge. 

Unless anyone knows someone with SOA, I am going to file a NHTSA complaint and see if there is a cheaper alternative.

[KZJonny]

If in the end you don’t get anywhere with this, which might be the case with an 18+ year old car….

Unless you’ve got other problems, it’s probably only $20-30 bucks worth of cupro brake line and a couple hours of bending it up and zip tying it in a few places to get your brakes up and running.

Part of the ridiculous repair estimate is that they probably want to drop the tank to replace them in OE form, which is crap. It takes like one tenth the time to follow the rear subframe across the car and has no drawbacks. (Okay, I guess if you don’t put it up and out of the way, you have the tiniest greater chance a big rock could damage one??)

I blew out a brake line driving home one night, and probably had the car back on the road by noon the next day. Honestly not a hard job.

EDIT: Sorry, a ‘full car” brake replacement would be alot more time and money. But it’s worth looking at what’s actually broken.

I’m in the rust belt, so I see this alot and it’s usually only the rears that fail, and usually only near the proportioning valve/distribution block. Chances are good you don’t need to replace everything.

Edited August 12, 2023 by KZJonny

[MoleMan]

I don't remember a recall ever being issued.  Subaru did put so e sort of wax and covered the area with some sealant from what I remember.  Honestly I can't remember if it was a recall or TSB.  That being said maybe the Three Liter cars were different but I never had this done on my 2006 SE at all and no mention of it at anytime.

If Subaru says it's only a TSB then you are SOL as far as them paying. If it's a recall they will pay without hesitation.  If one dealer gives you crap go to another one.  My dealer never gives any pushback in general even with modded cars on warranty issues.

Keep us informed of the outcome and good luck!

[need bb]

8 hours ago, KZJonny said:

If in the end you don’t get anywhere with this, which might be the case with an 18+ year old car….

Unless you’ve got other problems, it’s probably only $20-30 bucks worth of cupro brake line and a couple hours of bending it up and zip tying it in a few places to get your brakes up and running.

Part of the ridiculous repair estimate is that they probably want to drop the tank to replace them in OE form, which is crap. It takes like one tenth the time to follow the rear subframe across the car and has no drawbacks. (Okay, I guess if you don’t put it up and out of the way, you have the tiniest greater chance a big rock could damage one??)

I blew out a brake line driving home one night, and probably had the car back on the road by noon the next day. Honestly not a hard job.

EDIT: Sorry, a ‘full car” brake replacement would be alot more time and money. But it’s worth looking at what’s actually broken.

I’m in the rust belt, so I see this alot and it’s usually only the rears that fail, and usually only near the proportioning valve/distribution block. Chances are good you don’t need to replace everything.

Thanks. It is only the rear that has failed at the distribution block. I found the post about moving the distribution block under the rear seat and that seems like the best solution. 

[Artizan]

On 8/12/2023 at 3:32 PM, MoleMan said:

I don't remember a recall ever being issued.  Subaru did put so e sort of wax and covered the area with some sealant from what I remember.  Honestly I can't remember if it was a recall or TSB.  That being said maybe the Three Liter cars were different but I never had this done on my 2006 SE at all and no mention of it at anytime.

If Subaru says it's only a TSB then you are SOL as far as them paying. If it's a recall they will pay without hesitation.  If one dealer gives you crap go to another one.  My dealer never gives any pushback in general even with modded cars on warranty issues.

Keep us informed of the outcome and good luck!

There definitely was one. 
 

mine also blew a line exactly at that block where they put wax years ago. Happened to me 2 years ago and dealer covered the whole thing under warranty. Not sure if I just got lucky. 

[Max Capacity]

https://www.google.com/search?q=2005-2009+Subaru+brake+recall&rlz=1C1OKWM_enUS906US906&oq=2005-2009+Subaru+brake+recall&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i299.89208466j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

I asked google to find the recall.

[BoozeRS05]

My dealership/SoA covered a large repair on my brake lines with like 175k miles and it was two years ago. My right rear line blew out coming to a stop and fluid was dumping out.

I drove directly to the dealership and they fixed it within a couple days. Didn’t pay a dime. I do have a good relationship with my local dealership and the service department. I think the billed cost was around $1400. All previous recalls completed including that brake like wax.

Also worth noting, I am far from stock. Rolled it in with Brembos and all kinds of suspension work and clearly modded for power, etc. 

[need bb]

SOA is claiming they did the recall back in 2014 by applying the corrosive wax and given this failed 9 years later it is not related to the recall. At this point I am not really sure my options with SOA unless someone has an internal contact.

[devobuzz]

I fixed mine myself. Ran new lines and distribution block under the rear seat. There is a post with instructions in the forum somewhere.