Brake Failure -- Dealer to Blame?
 

[B]RESOLVED[/B]: See post on page seven for the details.

Hi all,

I just experience a pretty significant brake failure (driver's side rear brake) and some investigation is leading me to believe that it was caused by my Subaru dealer's incompetence last time I took it to get serviced. I'd like to get your input to see what you think.

[B]What Happened[/B]

I was driving home yesterday from work and, at one point, had to brake hard when I was cut off. Didn't notice anything odd. Later, however, as I was exiting the freeway, I noticed a whirring sound from the rear and the car dragged as if it had a flat tire. Upon pulling over, however, I noticed clouds of smoke pouring out of the driver's-side rear wheel. This is what I saw:

[IMG]http://homepage.mac.com/jhammer/sti/fire.jpg[/IMG]

That's a [I]very[/I] hot disc. And yes, those are flames.

So after things had cooled, I jacked it up and pulled the wheel off. The caliper was fried to a crisp:

[IMG]http://homepage.mac.com/jhammer/sti/crisp.jpg[/IMG]

On closer inspection, however, I noticed that the brake line heading to that caliper appeared to have a steel clamp on it, restricting the line:

[IMG]http://homepage.mac.com/jhammer/sti/clamp.jpg[/IMG]

[B]Diagnosis[/B]

So here's what I think happened. A couple months ago I took my car to the dealer for it's 30k mile service. The service rep. said that the rear brake pads were ready to be replaced and that they'd replace them under warranty. Great. However, it appears that whoever did the service clamped the brake line (possible when they were bleeding the brakes) and forgot to remove the clamp when they were done.

I had noticed the past couple of months that that particular disc was perpetually rusty -- as in I suspected that perhaps something was wrong w/ the caliper and the pads weren't ever being applied to the disc to remove the thin layer of oxidation on top. I was new to my STi, so I wasn't able to tell if braking performance was degraded at all.

Yesterday on the freeway when I slammed the brakes, I'm guessing brake fluid made it past the clamp, activated the caliper, but then, when I let off, the fluid wasn't able to escape back up the line because it was blocked by the clamp. Hence brake stayed locked.

It seems pretty clear to me that this is gross negligence on the part of the dealer. What do you think?

Thanks for your help!
Jonathan

wow! that is hella dangerous. I never seen a rotor like that from normal driving. the dealership covered yoru brakes under warranty?

sounds liek what you described happend. i would def call the dealership and have someone come out. dont mess with anything so they cant blame you. tell them that whole story and keep us updated.

damn dealer better take fault for it even know they will try to find any way out of it.. prob

hahaha damn. they owe you some moneys

take pics more pics. take a 100 pics, take every angle you can get. they will try to **** you. call them right now. if they dont take car of it start tellign them you will take care of it by legal means. that is ****ed up man. i tell you what if that was my car, and my son was in it with me when that happend. i would be in someoens face at the stealership right now.

the onyl thing that might try to come back at you with is that you thought something might be wrong and you didnt bring it back, but dont take that ****. regardless if you brought it back or not, it shouldnt have happend and they are 100% responsible.

Have them financially compensate you and then take it to a shop that knows what they are doing

by the way, what dealership did the work?

if you are in CA call the BAR up too and let them know what happened and send pics

if you are in another state i can look up who you should be talking to

Pardon my ignorance, but what does BAR stand for?

Thanks,
Jonathan

:SHOCKED: i have NEVER seen or heard of a dics getting THAT HOT!! Thats just crazy! But what you said you think happened sounds like a pretty legit theory. I'll second everyones above advice on getting the dealer to pay in full for damage and possibly compensation for not being able to drive your car?

Good luck man!

Wow, that could have turned out REALLY bad...

PS: "Don't put it out with your boots Ted."

[QUOTE=jhammer;2399815]Pardon my ignorance, but what does BAR stand for?

Thanks,
Jonathan[/QUOTE]
Bureu of Auto Repair


[url]http://www.bar.ca.gov/[/url]

[url]http://www.bar.ca.gov/01_ConsumerActivities/03_ReportingResolvingComplaints/index.html[/url]


for CA

if you need other states or have questions post them or PM me

How in the world did your car not just make a hard left turn on a locked back wheel like that, I just don't know.

That is amazing, you are VERY lucky to not have crashed. That's their fault and they better look over your hub/axles and diff as well.

-Gagan