Rusted Rear Brake Lines - Subaru won't honor their recall?

Subscribed since mine are gonna fail in the near future, even with their "fixing".

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=256529&stc=1&d=1507603526

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=256530&stc=1&d=1507603526

That looks like a time bomb.

This is definitely an action to take. Since your car had been inspected and preventive measures were taken then either the preventive measures were insufficient or they weren't done correctly.

 

Failing brakes is no joke.

I believe any one that does body work, knows the correct way to prevent rust from going further...you need to cut it out, back to good metal. Covering it just hides it.

Covert, has your car always been in Virginia? That doesn't look good.

I should get a carfax... I bought it in NOVA but it's spent some time in Chicago, wish I knew before I got up there to see it. Owner claimed "Nor rust", first thing I saw was a super rusted coolant crossover pipe (above header) .

That looks like a time bomb.

Indeed, I'm temped to just fix it. But at the same time that's a lot of work, thus I would want for Subaru to fix it for me, but that means I gotta wait for catastrophic failure

I should get a carfax... I bought it in NOVA but it's spent some time in Chicago, wish I knew before I got up there to see it. Owner claimed "Nor rust", first thing I saw was a super rusted coolant crossover pipe (above header) .

I'm in NOVA and the dealer tried to weasel out of doing the TSB on my car because VA is not one of the recognized states in the TSB. I pointed out I bought the car in Pennsylvania and I regularly drive it in Maryland, which are recognized states. The dealer then agreed to do the work. Your pictures make me want to go inspect the brake lines to see what shape they are in.

Update: Subaru of America is still unwilling to negotiate beyond giving me a discount on a new car. Even then, the maximum they will offer is only $750. Looks like a claim with the NHTSA is my only remaining option besides fixing this thing myself. I wasn't about to pay $3000+ for the dealer to replace everything, so I had to give the loaner back and have my car towed home.

In other news, I had trouble getting my car out of the service lot because it didn't want to move at all. As it so happens, the tow truck used for the trip to the dealership 3 weeks ago was not a flatbed... guess whose center diff and transmission are now probably wrecked? For anyone who might be wondering, when the tow driver tells you not to worry because he "disabled the AWD just like he's done on every Subaru for over 6 years," he is lying.

Well in a way he did disable it... just not a way conductive to re-enabling it.

Sorry for your troubles. That really sucks.

Damn that really sucks! I wonder if the car would get completely totaled now (though I wouldn't expect your insurance to fix it).

I'm in NOVA and the dealer tried to weasel out of doing the TSB on my car because VA is not one of the recognized states in the TSB. I pointed out I bought the car in Pennsylvania and I regularly drive it in Maryland, which are recognized states. The dealer then agreed to do the work. Your pictures make me want to go inspect the brake lines to see what shape they are in.

That's weird, they gladly did the recall in western side of VA. I don't think it's because my car lived up north either.

Hearing jcaroth's issues with Subaru being unwilling to fix it, I think I might need to start thinking about just doing it myself

I don't understand why they are not fixing it under the recall.

Mine was done without any issue. May be its because its a one owner car ?

I'm just glad a couple years after the "wax" was put on the line broke in my driveway instead of on the highway on my DD to work...

OP you need to read the recall notice.

There's a thread here about it.http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/05-09-legacy-outback-brake-line-corrosion-recall-204831.html?t=204831

 

 

here's the recall,

https://subaru.oemdtc.com/62/wqk-47-brake-line-corrosion-2005-2014-subaru/23

See post #110 in the recall thread. And post #75 when the recall was done. note the dates.

See post #110 in the recall thread. And post #75 when the recall was done. note the dates.

Yeah, I've done a lot of research and there are actually two separate recalls for this problem on the 4th gens:

• March 2013 - NHTSA Recall #13V110 (Subaru Recall ID WQG-43) for Brake Line Corrosion
  
• July 2014 - NHTSA Recall #14V311 (Subaru Recall ID WQK-47) for Brake Line Corrosion, superseding Recall WQG-43 and requiring re-inspection of affected cars
  

If your car was inspected before July 2014, you should be eligible for service under the later recall. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to me.

It's also worth noting that Subaru updated and released a THIRD recall (WQQ-52) in late December 2014 with additional inspection requirements on all of the Impreza and Forester model brake lines. Talk about a known problem... See link: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2014/RCMN-14V830-9508.pdf

Unfortunately for me, Subaru still doesn't consider themselves liable to fix anything at this point. Really turns me off from an otherwise great car and brand.

If you can get the fitting loose on the junction block then it should be relatively straight forward to cut, flare, and splice it together on the brake line under the rear seat. One can get the flare tool and a cheap brake line bending tool at the auto parts store along with a new section of brake line.

I'll have to check this on my three Legacys to see what condition they are in currently.

If you can get the fitting loose on the junction block then it should be relatively straight forward to cut, flare, and splice it together on the brake line under the rear seat. One can get the flare tool and a cheap brake line bending tool at the auto parts store along with a new section of brake line.

 

I'll have to check this on my three Legacys to see what condition they are in currently.

Yeah, this is the route I plan to go if I keep the car. It's pretty simple for the center brake pipe, but the rear pipe that runs over the gas tank might not have enough room to get in there and splice anything. I'll have to confirm which pipes are leaking before anything else, but that's going to wait until I sort out my new transmission problem.

Yeah, I've done a lot of research and there are actually two separate recalls for this problem on the 4th gens:

• March 2013 - NHTSA Recall #13V110 (Subaru Recall ID WQG-43) for Brake Line Corrosion
  
• July 2014 - NHTSA Recall #14V311 (Subaru Recall ID WQK-47) for Brake Line Corrosion, superseding Recall WQG-43 and requiring re-inspection of affected cars
  

 

If your car was inspected before July 2014, you should be eligible for service under the later recall. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to me.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately for me, Subaru still doesn't consider themselves liable to fix anything at this point. Really turns me off from an otherwise great car and brand.

So there's no record of your car being in for the recall before July 2014 ? So that makes your car ineligible...

Would car fax show the recalls on your car ?

So there's no record of your car being in for the recall before July 2014 ? So that makes your car ineligible...

 

Would car fax show the recalls on your car ?

I meant to say that if your car has been inspected under the first recall but NOT the second recall (so sometime between March 2013 and July 2014), you could still have them replace the brakelines under the second recall. My car was inspected in August 2013 and November 2014, so Subaru is unwilling to do anything more for me.

Also, yes. Carfax should display this info. I also called up the dealer who did all the work on the car before I bought it and they sent over their entire service history for the vehicle. It confirmed that my car was inspected and sprayed twice, but nothing was ever replaced.

Same thing happened to me two years ago on a weekend, No Subi open so I went to Midas.

Cost me 350$Can, 80 for parts and 2 1/2hrs labour.

The guy didn't waste much time being careful when removing the interior door trim and I had to put it back properly myself some weeks latter. The original pipes were well protected by a plastic sheath however the plastic was removed at each fixing clamp and that is where it corroded. Lousy fabrication. Made for operation in the desert.

Same thing happened to me two years ago on a weekend, No Subi open so I went to Midas.

Cost me 350$Can, 80 for parts and 2 1/2hrs labour.

The guy didn't waste much time being careful when removing the interior door trim and I had to put it back properly myself some weeks latter. The original pipes were well protected by a plastic sheath however the plastic was removed at each fixing clamp and that is where it corroded. Lousy fabrication. Made for operation in the desert.

Did they replace both entire brake pipes or just splice in some new line to the connector inside the car?

I don't want to sound like a "negative nancy" but rusted brake lines are not uncommon. GM is the WORST when it comes to rusted brake lines and I've never heard of a recall to get them replaced. Instead, they now offer a complete pre-bent kit. I am doing a complete brake line job on an 06 Escalade which is going to run the customer around $1600.

Manufacturers could easily use copper lines that will last 20-30 years but instead they go cheap and the customers end up paying for it. I wish the manufacturer was responsible for all brake lines so I don't have to do them lol

I don't want to sound like a "negative nancy" but rusted brake lines are not uncommon. GM is the WORST when it comes to rusted brake lines and I've never heard of a recall to get them replaced. Instead, they now offer a complete pre-bent kit. I am doing a complete brake line job on an 06 Escalade which is going to run the customer around $1600.

 

Manufacturers could easily use copper lines that will last 20-30 years but instead they go cheap and the customers end up paying for it. I wish the manufacturer was responsible for all brake lines so I don't have to do them lol

Exactly what I was trying to say but everyone was too busy with the "RA RA RA SUBARU SHOULD FIX IT!!". I get that you're all pissed, it would be really nice if dealers just warrantied brakes forever as a safety thing (or just designed them better) but it is not the case. These cars are 10+ years old, the one in the photo is an '05. That's a twelve year old car, yeah man brake lines rust.

Even if it is a known issue, those lines don't look unusual at all to me. Definitely something you'd want to fix, but after 12 years that's what happens quite commonly with all makes of automobiles.

The only way to truly prevent it is to keep the underside of your car it super clean at all times, and even then sometimes you're just screwed in those hard to reach places.

You've seriously all never experienced rusty brake lines on any other car before? Have you always owned brand new cars or something? Idk about you guys, but I've owned cars with wayyyyyy more rust than that in my younger years (hell, not even that long ago) and have popped a brake line on more than a couple occasions. It's a common thing to have to repair (hopefully it's caught before it gets that bad, but shit happens). I've noticed plenty of poorly designed parts on cars that would have lasted longer if made better, but never once have I thought "this must be the manufacturer's fault, I'll make them pay!" Just fix your car when it needs repair. Not like this is a brand new vehicle...

My soon to be 20 year old Infiniti doesn't have this issue.

I wouldn't complain if there was no recall, recall determined that Subaru used inferior materials or designs, which prematurely rusts the brake lines, ie manufacturing defect. If there was no safety recall, I would agree with you, but Government and Subaru should fix it.

Maybe GM is too far in bed with the government and is able to keep the safety recalls underwraps?

My soon to be 20 year old Infiniti doesn't have this issue.

 

I wouldn't complain if there was no recall, recall determined that Subaru used inferior materials or designs, which prematurely rusts the brake lines, ie manufacturing defect. If there was no safety recall, I would agree with you, but Government and Subaru should fix it.

Also, the fact that they'll look at lines that are obviously trashed, spray some wax on them, and call it good seems pretty half assed. If the wax was applied within the first few years, that'd be one thing, but it doesn't help much of anything once they're already well on their way to rusting.

I've popped a line twice in my 20 year old accord, and it's currently on jackstands getting all new lines (among other things). There's no recall for it, because there wasn't anything to indicate that they rusted more than any other car in the northeast.

FWIW about rusty brake lines, I had to replace both front lines from the distribution block to the flex hoses last month on my 1986 Ford F150, for the first time.

It's spent most of it life sitting on the lawn. Only spent a few years of it life on the driveway.

Sometime in the early 2000's manufactures decide to go cheaper on the brake lines...bad idea.