Yes. There is a service bulletin. Dealer suppose clean it and spray and rust proof the strut tower. If your dealer never told you when you took it in for service, go to find a new dealer service dept.
I had to bring it up with with the service manager. The first time the tech only put on the newer/wider cap. I had to bring it up to the head service manager. I was pissed.
If your car is under the warranty or if it’s under the extended warranty, on the TSB at the last page, there’s a warranty number for the dealership to use when claiming. I’m not too sure how it would work when your car is outside of the warranty period but I’m assuming it’s still free.
I have the same issue as you. I have a 2019 Crosstrek with the updated cover and my passenger side is rusted out. My driver side has a spec of surface rust on the bolt but it didn’t affect the mount. It appears that I didn’t get the rust proofing on my car. I guess they failed to do that during the PDI that costs an arm and leg for...
Subaru should rust proof the strut mount during the factory build. I have the updated caps and it still did NOT do anything. But I also blame my dealership for not doing their job during the PDI...
Good to know. I’ll bring this up to my service advisor on Monday because PDI is like $1,500, and they can’t do a simple job and use Rustoleum Rust Reformer.🤷♂️🤦♂️
I just went out & hit mine with some fluid film. we’ll see how that does for the winter. was no rust yet. looking at these pics & how the 3 mounting bolts for the strut assembly on everybodys looks fine compared to the strut top bolt I have to wonder if we would be better off just throwing the dust caps away? instead of trapping moisture in there.
Pre-Delivery Inspection is 1500? is that standard in 🇨🇦? if so that’s ripoff.
I popped the cap on mine which exposed alot of white buildup and rust. I have an appt at the dealer on Nov 30. I did some research and didn't see where this issue was addressed per a TSB. We'll see what they say.
The TSB is supposed to “rectify” the issue by replacing the dust cap since it will have a tighter fit and the lips were redesigned so moisture won’t seep in. (I have the updated cap and it doesn’t do anything!)
They’re supposed to apply a coating to reduce the chance of rust forming on the nut. If your build up is bad just like mine, you should hear a clunking sound when going over speed bumps, that’s what I hear when I go over any bumper that has significant movement on the strut.
I take back my previous post about having larger caps on my 17. They only cover the center hole. I wonder if those larger caps will fit? I wouldn't mind getting a set.
I wouldn’t even bother. The smaller cover is actually better than the large one, (that’s my opinion based on the photo I looked up of the first Gen Crosstrek.)
This morning I went in and cleaned the crud out of the strut tower well, scraped as much of the white crud buildup on the nut as I could then sprayed the whole area with Liquid Wrench silicone. I then coated the cap sealing area with silicone grease. I thimk I'm set for a while. 🤠
This afternoon from the dealer I ordered the bigger and better shock tower dust caps for a cost of $8.51. That's a small price to pay in exchange for the hassle of making an appointment, checking in, waiting 2 hours in their crowded waiting room with the risk of dropping dead from that lurking insidious beer virus. It's for this reason that I have always changed my own oil. The dealer sees me only for their free periodic inspections and stuff I can't take care of myself.
I just went out and did a physical assessment of the new caps. THERE IS A SLIT! It's subtle but nevertheless there and accounted for. But in application I suspect that any pressure would dislodge the cap before it could be relieved thru the slit.