Click/rattle sound around Passenger side dash

[485]

Originally Posted by melloboy

i dropped my car off at the dealership this morning... the tech seemed to think it was a body panel.. i suggested that it might be the shock but he didn't seem to think that was the problem.. i'll update when i have more news... this could be a long process....

I hope yours was the body panel. In my case, it wasn't the panel even though dealer strongly believe it was. Keep the long story short, it took the dealer 2 weeks to realize it wasn't the panel and by the end SOA sent out an engineering to assist the dealer to fix my car. My fix was replacing right front shock.

[melloboy]

Originally Posted by 485

I hope yours was the body panel. In my case, it wasn't the panel even though dealer strongly believe it was. Keep the long story short, it took the dealer 2 weeks to realize it wasn't the panel and by the end SOA sent out an engineering to assist the dealer to fix my car. My fix was replacing right front shock.

They determined that the sound was coming from the front passenger side "strut tower" ...they called and told me they had fixed the car by tightening/adjusting the strut tower. they also told me that they had test driven it to verify that the sound was gone. however, when i picked up the car i knew within 30 seconds of driving that the sound was still present...

very disappointed...

i'm fairly patient so i just called and told them that the car wasn't fixed and i scheduled a new appointment for monday nov. 26...

i will post an update after that "fix"

...all this at no charge... so far...

[CKK]

Originally Posted by melloboy

they also told me that they had test driven it to verify that the sound was gone. however, when i picked up the car i knew within 30 seconds of driving that the sound was still present...

very disappointed...

Yes, that's a normal story ... I already had this kind of experience several times.

[485]

Originally Posted by melloboy

They determined that the sound was coming from the front passenger side "strut tower" ...they called and told me they had fixed the car by tightening/adjusting the strut tower. they also told me that they had test driven it to verify that the sound was gone. however, when i picked up the car i knew within 30 seconds of driving that the sound was still present...

very disappointed...

i'm fairly patient so i just called and told them that the car wasn't fixed and i scheduled a new appointment for monday nov. 26...

i will post an update after that "fix"

...all this at no charge... so far...

If they can't fix yours on Monday or does not want to replace or inspect the shock, I would suggest you should call SOA to speed up the repair. SOA is very good on taking care their customer. If they have to keep your car overnight, make sure you asked for a free loaner car.

[melloboy]

Originally Posted by 485

If they can't fix yours on Monday or does not want to replace or inspect the shock, I would suggest you should call SOA to speed up the repair. SOA is very good on taking care their customer. If they have to keep your car overnight, make sure you asked for a free loaner car.

thanks for the suggestion... i will keep this in my back pocket...

[melloboy]

so i took my outback back to the dealership this morning and the just called saying that they readjusted the front passenger side strut tower and the mechanic cannot here the ticking sound... the dealership told me that they called SOA themselves and spoke with an engineer that was aware of this issue and told my dealership that the adjustments they made were the correct fix for the problem. i'll pick the car up in a few hours and let you know if the ticking sound is gone...
if it's not, do you think i should call SOA myself and/or suggest that the strut/strut tower be replaced??

[melloboy]

I picked my car up and the clicking/ticking is gone.. for now... The dealership left the door open to the possibility of the sounds being related to outside temperature change even though the clicking has been constant over a 6 week period where temps have gone from 33 deg F to 80 deg F...

I noticed on the paperwork that they stated that they called Subaru TechSupport and opened up a case. They provided a case number...
What does that mean?? Does that mean that I can reference that case number if I need to call SOA myself???

[485]

Your case number is your record number in case they need to look up the history. Personally, I will not call SOA just yet unless the noise comes back. Even it does come back, I suggested to call ur dealer first to see what they have to say. There is a good chance that readjust tower bar is the permanent fix. That make me think that the reason they want to give me a new shock is because I am probably the first few person who report the issue (they open my case in August) and SOA wants to study the root cause or perhaps come up a fix for all dealers. My experience with Subaru dealer is that they only good at replacing parts if u know what I mean.

[melloboy]

the noise is still gone...

[melloboy]

the noise is still gone and i'm about to claim that they have eliminated the clicking!

though i did have to reconnect the 'a pillar' cover on the passenger's side (not that it fits well anyway...).. i think they took it apart when they were diagnosing the click....