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Old 10-24-2001, 11:35 PM   #1
Leonardo
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Exclamation Power steering lines coming loose!

We are having a streek of cars with the fitting on the steering rack under the engine that the fitings for the power steering fluid gets loose and leaks all of it!

Since the weekend there are 5 reported cases here, including mine!

Lets get a log or a trace on the cars to see what batch it is happening to!

Leo
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Old 10-25-2001, 01:33 AM   #2
Shaggee
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Im not sure if i do have this but , how can i check if i have this problem or what should i check to see if its loose?
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Old 10-25-2001, 02:11 AM   #3
Austin
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I had this happen. Lost all PS fluid... very hard to steer without power steering.

I took it to the dealer just to get it documented, so that if and when the pump develops problems, there is a history.
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Old 10-25-2001, 06:43 AM   #4
WRXhauls
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Yep - hit me too. Didn't lose all fluid, but enough to make the steering wonky.
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Old 10-25-2001, 11:33 AM   #5
MarcoD
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Happened to me. Lost all fluid and had it replaced under warranty so dealer is aware of it in case of future problems.
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Old 10-25-2001, 07:59 PM   #6
psoper
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Happened to me too, at about 7500 miles on a Saturday back in August in the middle of Colorado,
barely made it to dealer in Golden (3 hours driving w/o power assist- got there 5 minutes before they closed shop) but they tightened it up, topped it off and it's been trouble free in that regard ever since.
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Old 10-26-2001, 01:46 AM   #7
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I had it happen to my old car too. Akiata did too.

Pretty common problem - seems mostly in first allocation.
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Old 10-26-2001, 08:05 AM   #8
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I posted earlier about all the lines hoses on the car not being tight. I spent 6 hours going through every hose clamp and tightening them. When I last posted someone flamed me saying they all have a torque spec and I have overtightened them.

Check your turbo inlet hose clamp and the rad clamps.

Lee.
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Old 10-26-2001, 01:44 PM   #9
duckboy
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Default fluid

lost all my fluid on the track. lots of smoke coming from the car. all the fluid bled out. found the loose jam nut and fitting, cleaned off the threads with contact cleaner, applied high temp loctite to threads, torqued it up and then filled the res up. so far so good.

mike shields told me this even happens to the rally cars.

duckboy
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Old 10-27-2001, 07:14 AM   #10
paultg
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I think a few guys in the NESIC forum have posted about this happening to their WRX cars also.

Paul G.
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Old 10-27-2001, 08:00 AM   #11
Leonardo
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SOA, if you are reading this, do a recall of al rexes so far on the street to have them re-touqed!

The dealer here is doing it and checking every car on the lot too!

Leo
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Old 10-27-2001, 02:44 PM   #12
Akiata
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I had it happen to me too. So did Glenn.

1st allocation and appx 10,000 miles.
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Old 10-28-2001, 12:01 AM   #13
ANZAC_1915
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My dealer said they'd seen it on some Legacies too, which is odd, because they are made in different countries.
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Old 10-29-2001, 11:35 AM   #14
notabus
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This happen to me too. Dealer fixed it then it started loosening again several days later. The dealer then moved the lines. They think they might be too close to the exhaust which is heating the lines and loosening them. That was about a week ago. So far so good.
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Old 10-29-2001, 10:16 PM   #15
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Unhappy fix?

A question for all with power steering problems - have all of your PS problems been evidenced by actual fluid? Reason being is that I'm experiencing loss of PS, too, but I haven't been able to see any fluid. I ran the car pretty hard (and hot) this weekend, which goes along with the theory that the lines run close to the exhaust ... the loss of PS seems to be at slower turns that require 1/4 or more turns of the steering wheel.

For those that have taken their cars in to be fixed - how long has it taken? Or is there a 'quick' fix for this?

Sorry for all the questions - I'm travelling this weekend and would like to do so with functioning power steering! I'll be calling Subaru tomorrow to see what they say. Any and all advice/insight is appreciated!

Edit: Forgot to mention - my WRX is also first allocation and I have ~10400 miles on it.
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Old 10-29-2001, 10:35 PM   #16
Austin
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Yes, fluid loss was evidenced by smoking from the engine compartment (burns off exhaust pipes) and a sheen of fluid on the trunk... YUK!

If you think you're losing fluid, check the PS fluid reservior.
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Old 10-30-2001, 08:22 AM   #17
bliu
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Question No visible PS fluid loss

I can't see any visible fluid anywhere, and the level in the reservoir has not decreased (nor has there been any smoke from anywhere). This morning, when I first started driving and everything was still a little cold, the steering worked fine, but once I got to work and was maneuvering in the parking lot, the steering started to stick. Could it be there's a kink in the line from the reservoir to ... the actually steering mechanisms? I don't know much at all how thhe system works ... I just know that mine isn't working very well right now...
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Old 10-30-2001, 11:53 AM   #18
bliu
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Default PS pump

I just got back from the dealer. The first guy I talked to tried to convince me that a technical bulletin said my situation was 'normal'. A technician then came out, fired up the car, and tried out the steering and said 'that's not normal'. He said he's 99% sure it's the PS pump, so they're ordering me a new one that'll hopefully get installed Thursday. FYI: I haven't seen any loss of fluid, so I'm not sure if all the PS problems are in the same boat. Either way, hopefully SOA is taking note of this ...
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Old 10-30-2001, 12:44 PM   #19
teamscr
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me too. started having "weird" loss-of-centering problems with the steering at about 3500 miles. dealer blew me off until 7000 miles later when SOA actually sent a rep out to deal with me directly. guess calling their 1-800 line to complain actually worked!

ironically, while the car was in their shop, the line came loose during an evaluation drive. they called to tell me that my car had a complete power steering system failure and that they were replacing the pump, lines, and rack.

since getting the car back, everything has been 100%.

for the record, the car was one of the first shipped over - took delivery in early march. thank goodness it didn't come off at watkins glen last month!
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Old 11-01-2001, 08:25 PM   #20
redobs
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Yup, it happened to rkkwan after we came back form the track. He had about 7500 miles.
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Old 11-02-2001, 09:36 AM   #21
bliu
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Angry Dealer is jerking me around

Without going into too much detail (that would be too upsetting) ... I took my car in yesterday morning. The service guy told me it would be done by noon. I told him that I would come back at the end of the day because I have to work (an hour from the dealer) and don't have time then. I go about my day ... thinking it'll all be over soon. I call them late in the day and they say it's not done yet. O-K ... They tell me they're going to have to get me a rental. I go out to the dealer, and they tell me they got the wrong part! (And that they didn't do a single thing, but yet neglected to tell me any of this during the day.) I'm now the proud driver of a freakin' Ford Focus. I can't believe how bad it is. I'm just really upset at this dealer for their lack of quality service and well, I'm wondering what kind of recourse there is here. They've made so many empty promises, and it's starting to get frustrating. (I can't count how many times the service guy told me he'd call me, and not once has he.) Do I go to their management or to SOA directly? Or both? I'm not looking for any compensation, I just want them to know they're not doing a very good job taking care of their customers. Any help?
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Old 11-07-2001, 04:44 AM   #22
Ken-gv
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Add my June allocation wagon with 7,500 miles to the list of loose hose fittings.

I called SOA with the info from i-Club and the rep told me that there are no Technical Service Bullitens about this issue.

Took 2 days at the dealer, one getting into line with all the other Monday cars and another one to make sure the PS was quiet after sitting over night.

Nice that they fix it under warrenty and provide a rental car, but dealers should be checking the hoses on all WRXs as they come in for other stuff.

4 days, 2 weekend days and 2 work days ain't fun. Driving the red Tracker was fun for about 3 minutes.:-}
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Old 01-13-2002, 05:37 PM   #23
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While I haven't had many problems with my car, I can't help but be concerned with future quality issues since subaru isn't exactly a "mass" producer of cars like Honda or Toyota is.

Even the initial brochures subaru sent me, when I was still contemplating the purchase of the subaru, stated that subaru was a niche market manufacturer. I concluded that they are not accustomed to producing large numbers with minimal lead times and if forced to produce larger numbers, their quality would likely deteriorate.

So, other than the clutch, how many other problems are there that are known publicly?
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Old 01-13-2002, 06:21 PM   #24
MarkBNX
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Quote:
Originally posted by Shaggee
Im not sure if i do have this but , how can i check if i have this problem or what should i check to see if its loose?
I second this. How can this be checked? Where are the lines etc.? Is this an issue with cars delivered early in 2001 only, or are there cases of later produced cars? Is there any note of SOA dealing with this issues in later production cars?

Mark
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Old 01-14-2002, 03:38 PM   #25
ANZAC_1915
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Get the car up on ramps. You may need to remove the small jacking plate (4 bolts, 2 nuts).

Just use a short 12mm wrench. There are four lines with nuts exposed. I've posted a pick before.

BE VERY GENTLE. Don't overtighten.

My first car had a line fall off, I know 3 or 4 people locally affected.

On my new car and TT_TTF's car we both had loose fittings which I tightened. It isn't much, basically about 1/8 of a turn to take em up.

But given vibration, the pressure they're under, they eventually do "undo".

Glenn
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