[Kbaru]

Hope you get your car back soon! That's terrible communication and service.

Thank you.

 

[Stillwell]

I saw this thread, went out to check mine and there was rust. I called the local Subaru dealer yesterday and they got me in today to look at it. They ordered my parts (for free!) and I am having them installed next Wed. They will also pay up to $5 for spray paint for when you sand/paint it to fix it. Definitely impressed with the dealership I've went to twice now.

 

[YoPancakes]

Have a 19 impreza sport cvt. Have the larger caps but still has liquid and is very rusty but only on the passenger side. Took it to dealer and they said it was "normal" and did nothing about it. I also have knocking and clunking coming from the passenger side. By normal i guess they meant yeah its a very common problem. Any thoughts? Should I get them to replace anything from the strut?

 

[BlueBomber]

Glad I found this thread, will be checking my 17 base model this afternoon.

 

[BlueImp]

For help to anyone with the larger caps installed... I have a 17 5spd that developed some lite rust under the orig caps. Cleaned, rust prevention sprayed and big caps... Fast forward a few weeks and the water was back.

Root of the story: Some chemicals react and make rubber swell. If you still have water beneath your caps, try a different chemical or try none. My caps looked like accordions... After re cleaning and boiling the caps they were fine and rust didn't return *yet

 

[Azaros]

I posted on this issue yesterday and then I started thinking. In my work we buy lots of stainless and carbon steel pipe of various diameters to be used on large industrial projects, it often comes from the factory (seems all pipe comes from China these days) fitted with plastic end caps made of a nylon type plastic which is tough but has a degree of flexibility., I've seen lots of different designs come with the pipe. These caps get thrown in the bin after the pipe gets cut and welded. I might try if I can press fit one of these if I can find the right diameter into the recess preventing water from entering, Here's what I mean Pvc Pipe Fitting End Cap,Pipe Fitting End Caps,Pipe Fitting Plug - Buy Pvc Pipe Fitting End Cap,Pipe Fitting End Caps,Pipe Fitting Plug Product on Alibaba.com

 

[Octal450]

F***! Base 2018 purchased Dec 2017 here, small caps and sure enough they're full of water. :/

 

[Dradeth]

Omg I came way late to find this! I noticed creaking and see what I find under the dust cap?? I just emailed service to see what can be done. Hoping no permanent damage to the main frame!!

 

[Octal450]

Brought TSB 05-62-18 to dealer with me when I had my tires and oil done, and they cleaned the rust and put anti rust material in. They are talking with SOA to see if they'll get me the new caps. No charge so far which is nice.

Hoping SOA approves, I will try to push the dealer to cover the costs even if SOA doesn't because it is a defective part. If not I'll buy the damn caps myself and put them on.

 

[BruceP]

I realize that manufacturers are not obligated to notify customers unless mandated by law....

I believe it is left to the Dealerships to INSPECT every vehicle that comes thru their shop using the list of TSBs to guide them.

Sadly, there is no legal obligation for this to happen. Some dealerships are better than others in this respect. It costs them money to take time to perform this task.

Personally, I consider a dealership's MAINTENANCE practices when buying a car. When I think about it, the SHOP side of the dealership is more important to me than just getting the lowest price.

The mom-n-pop shop I go to actually prints out list of pending recalls... then tells me to take that list to the Subaru dealership. I consider this a valuable service which helps me... and I will be back at that mom-n-pop shop to buy tires soon. Everybody wins!

 

[Octal450]

Hi,
They called me today and the tech said he was in contact with SOA about my car and mentioned the TSB I brought in, and they agreed to cover the cost. In addition, they are going to replace the strut towers instead of just removing the rust. I'm pretty happy. I'd recommend everyone else print out MC-10143870-9999.pdf (nhtsa.gov) and bring it with you to the dealer and be assertive if needed.

Best of luck, will update after its done

 

[wriggly]

Just saw this thread, checked the wife’s 16 Impreza. No rust, it looks like they have some silicone grease in there. Not much of it though. I confirmed by taking a dab out with a toothpick. I put some low temperature multi purpose grease in them and put the caps back on.
Went and looked at my 21 Crosstrek Sport and the covers are big and cover the whole strut tower. Obviously Subaru recognized the issue and addressed it.

 

[BruceP]

Obviously Subaru recognized the issue and addressed it.

It seems Subaru designed the new-style caps after I started this discussion-thread.

In any case, years ago, I simply walked into dealership and orderd up 2 new-style caps. I paid for them myself because they claimed to have NO CLUE about TSB (yet... they could order the new-style caps )

 

[Dradeth]

Had another horrible encounter with the Scarboro Dealership service guy. Showed him the TSB, he said that it's not under warranty anymore. I told him major parts is still under warranty and that includes suspension. Then he said that suspension does not include the mounts because it's not listed in that part of the suspension. So I told him it's part of bearings and bushings as nuts and bolts are also not explicitly listed in the suspension but he's splitting hairs. Then he goes on to tell me that my issues is supposed to be creaking, and this is just aesthetics. Then I told him this TSB is supposed to address aesthetics. Then he said this TSB is USA only and he's never heard of one for Canada. Then we had him call technical support in Canada and they told him the SB# in Canada. Then he said he might not have parts for this. At which point I told him he'll ONLY find this part going forward because it was a design issue from the get go. Then he tells me it's supposed to be applied to models 2018 after and mine is 2017. So I told him the point they applied to 2018 was because the found the issue in 2017. Then he tried to tell me creaking is from my brakes not being serviced and I took a look at them and they looked perfectly fine and he wanted to charge me 187 for clean and grease them (are you kidding me? I told him I can fix brakes myself). And then I heard another mechanic start banging on someone else's car in frustration. At that point, I decided I'll do it myself because I am so pissed off yet rational thinking tells me I don't want them to touch my car at all because they are just so obliviously dense and unprofessional. I just went to the counter to pay for the caps to pick up 2 days later. I asked to speak with the manager and the manager is out for the week. So I really just want to complain somewhere so that other people don't get taken advantage of for 3 hours and some phantom brake job that never needed servicing!

 

[Octal450]

Job done, as told it was done free of charge. I now have new strut mounts and bearings without any rust. I am waiting on the new caps to come in though, apparently they were delayed. The SA I worked with was very pleasant, I wish more SAs were like that.

Update: Got the caps in. Everything seems good.

 

[Azaros]

I replaced mine, I had to print out the Subaru US notice mentioned in this forum regarding the strut boots to show to the parts counter at my local Sydney dealership. Even then they did not believe it, and said the US new boot part number would not register. So I told them to just enter the replacement part number into their computer to see if anything comes up, it did to their suprise and the parts were ordered. The size of the replacements are double the diameter, its almost like someone in the design office has been told about the issue and to fix it for once and all, so they loaded up the previous design by 100%

 

[German85]

I am glad I came across this thread. I was cleaning my engine bay and saw my strut tower mounts.
I will be speaking with my local dealer on the (MC-10143870-9999) SB and hopefully getting this resolved.

I can confirm that the 2023 sport has this same issue as the earlier years. That windshield cowl really drains right on top of the strut towers.

 

[Octal450]

Those covers don't look like the revised ones... they changed them again?

 

[German85]

Those covers don't look like the revised ones... they changed them again?

From the look on the SB, they definitely do not cover like the pictures show. So i'm guessing they are not the revised version.

 

[German85]

I took the car in to the dealership today. They were quite quick in getting me in and no fighting over doing the service bulletin. I am under 36k, which I guess is my warranty period for this repair. I called on my lunch at work and they fit me in after my shift same day. The tech also happened to have two in his parts bin. So no ordering of the part required. They also were going to let me have both old parts, but they lost one of them (im sure the tech tossed it in the trash and didn't want to fish it out.)
My favorite part was their attempt to get me to pay for an air/cabin filter replacement, which would cost me nearly $150. I shutter to think someone would pay for that service.

The difference between the old and the new dust cover for the shock mount. I can see a slight difference, but I'm not convinced, and I am skeptical it will be effective. but its raining everyday this week so free testing of it.

The job took about 2 hours and the paint work shows the speed (the paint was still tacky when they gave me the car back.) At least there is no over spray on my paint or my strut bar. I may clean it up better when I get some time.

The part number is different from the one listed in the service bulletin I pulled from here
(20326FL001 to 20326FL002, but that I'm sure it's an updated part number.