Razor2001

anyone ??

Cheers,
Ray

BruceWarne

Nope.
Taking car in tomorrow.
Will report back.

Razor2001

Thanks

Phil Harrison

Nope: Shortage of Suspension parts -
a. tells its own story, and
b. has delayed my rectification visit

Phil

Razor2001

So there must be all sorts with the problem if shortage of suspension parts

Does anyone know if the cuase of this noise affects handling or if it is dangerous to be driving with this noise going on...wonder if it is just an annoyance thing or if it is performance hindering ??

Cheers,
Ray

Pete Croney

Ray

We looked at Deep's car when it was here, on the ramps.

There was a considerable amount of movement from both rear wheel assemblies, due to play in the rear dampers. It is only the damper that holds the wheel in its vertical position. The passenger side one was a lot worse that the RH side one.

This free movement would be disastrous for accuarte geometry control.

Razor2001

Hey Pete,

Is there a solution for this ? and if so did you solve it and did that make the noise go away ?

Cheers,
Ray

Pete Croney

Ray

Yes, yes and yes.

Deep is having Leda fitted this afternoon

Phil Harrison

Hi Pete,

Could that be contributing to the unexpected degree of "twitchiness" my StiUK exhibits compared with my previous MY 2000? More to the point, how prejudicial could this be.... there are many afflicted owners - at least a dozen who use Scoobynet, for example!

Cheers

Phil

Razor2001

Pete,

As you know I am in the process of preparing to spend some loot on an exhaust system, not sure I can afford a new suspension system as well.......is there a cheap fix to the problem, ie: tightening of the factory bushings or cheap replacement bushings etc ?

Cheers,
Ray

Razor2001

Oops,

Double posted , thought it did not go through

[Edited by Razor2001 - 5/30/2002 8:37:41 PM]

Pete Croney

Ray

I would be amazed if the factory units were rebuildable. To make a damper rebuildable adds about 30% to the cost. That doesn't happen in OE circles.

As soooo many people have this problem, I'm very surprised that there hasn't been a recall.

Yes, it would make the car very twitchy as the rear geometry would be changing constantly.

Fitz

I think the reason there has not been a recall is that IM are probably not aware of all the people with problems. Yes, they should be aware especially as they've now run out of the spare
shocks and mountings. But is anyone at IM really aware of all the people who have reported problems who are sitting and waiting for a fix rather than have their car used as a guinea pig as the dealers just don't seem to know what the rectification is at this time ?
I guess not....

Phil Harrison

Spoke to my Dealer this morning... Parts not available until 18 June Note, however, that I've already had the NSR Shock absorber replaced with only partial success, so we're going on into the topmount... (Any comment Pete?)

Anyone else reached this second-stage rectification requirement, or has damper replacement/tightening solved the problem for most of you?

Thing is, I feel uneasy driving a car enthusiastically if there's metal striking metal in the suspension somehwere.....

I get the feeling IM don't help their dealers out to much....

Cheers

Phil

Razor2001

I agree, I think that this should be a recall as well.....from what I can tell lots are having the problem and if it can indeed affect the handling on a car most people bought for its handling abilities as well as speed then Subaru should step up to the plate and replace what needs replacing free of charge....jmho

Cheers,
Ray

Pete Croney

Subaru UK will be well aware of the problem, not because they read this bbs everyday, but because the dealers will be asking for fixes.

I imagine the delay in parts is because the rear dampers have been re-designed. I suspect that recent refits have been with the same spec parts as originally fitted, hence the problem is not cured.

If they are re-designed, it may require both rear dampers to be changed.

Iain Young

Does anyone know what the safety issues are with this. I'm due to be driving to Austria and back in mine at the end of June (probably around 3000 miles).

Iain

Razor2001

Rough idea on how much a rear damper cost if I decided to change mine ? is the labour significant ?

I won't be getting a warranty claim on my car..

Cheers,
Ray

Chris Barn

Can we Start a thread to get numbers of owners who have the problem. One answer per owner with the knocking noise.

Hell, yes we can, consider it done, then if the boys at IM do read the bbs at least they know approx. how many people will need the fix..

Phil Harrison

trouble is... there's at least 4 threads on this topic in "General" and "Suspension", and neither starting another, nor relying on this one, is likely to yield reliable results IMHO!! 'Fact is, it's clear to me from reading them all, that there's at least a dozen Scoobynetters with the problem (or something which sounds like it), which implies dozens (plural) within the population at large - hence the call-up of parts from Japan (I understand there to be no parts in any European Stock, 'cos UK is first to get STi 7 (Variant) on legit supply). And, if IM have had to go to Japan, presumably they've sussed the problem (which may not prevent them having underestimated it!) So, say we found there were 12 Scoobunet STiUKs with the problem, what do we do with the information.... Tell IM?? Will they take any notice?? All of which lies behind my comment that I don't think IM do much for their Dealers!!

Pete: I understand you need a degree of professional reticence... but is this a safety problem or isn't it IYHO. I don't(quite) trust my Dealer to cough if it is, despite an excellent relationship with them. And I don't want to drive for (another) 3 weeks if I'm at unreasonable risk, while I wait. Only if it is a safety issue can IM be warned off.... I suggest.

Does someone more familiar with cross-linking want to post a set of cross links??

Phil

PS - BTW, is there a list of in-message codes for smilies posted anywhere??

Pete Croney

Phil

I haven't taken a unit off and looked at it on a bench so I can't answer the question definitively.

On the car, there is a lot of play between the rod and the casing, so it would seem to be the tolerance of the rod guide that is the problem. This tolerance will allow the wheel to move out of geometry, but I would not expect the damper to fail.

What will happen though, is the the sideways loading against the guide will mean that it will wear very quickly, making the problem progressively worse.