Wife's 2020 Crostrek, around 40K miles. The brakes work good but I noticed while at a stop if I pressed harder the pedal just felt mushy and would go down quite a bit more. I'm used to a 2001 Tacoma with zero ABS, auto-braking, etc. Is this normal for a modern car? Fluid level is fine, no work done to the brakes that I know of. We bought it used from a Subaru Dealer during the C era, had around 8k then. I am hesitant to mention it to them, I'm sure it will need $6000 of (work)....
Subaru brakes feel spongy
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I see a lot of Subaru cars like this, their brakes work okay but are far from confidence inspiring. Time to at least inspect the brakes to make sure there are no sticking pins or sticking caliper pistons.
One or more slider pins could be sticking. 40K miles, you could need new brakes. If not all 4, you may only need the front or the rear. But you gotta’ get in there to inspect.
I forgot, we did have them do a flush last year. I have done several pad swaps on my other cars over the years, but I think there are procedures for bleeding ABS systems that I would have to look up. Mainly just asking if you guys Subies brakes feel like this, or do you get a firm pedal?
I noticed vehicles with advanced driving aids usually have an over boosted braking system and firmer pedal. Like the pedal wants to work against you when depressing it. Maybe a vacuum issue or soon to be failing master. First run through the obvious slider pins and how much life left on the friction material.
Time to bleed the brake system.
My wife's Outback had super firm brakes when new. Regular brake fluid bleed and new pads when needed, kept the brake pedal feeling like it should.
My wife's Outback had super firm brakes when new. Regular brake fluid bleed and new pads when needed, kept the brake pedal feeling like it should.
X2 what Trav said! My wife's 2017 Legacy was much like this. I bled brakes and finally replaced the master cyl. No better. Took it to the shop and they replaced the master again. Still not great. Checked brakes calipers and pins, and that helped a great deal. Still not as firm as I like.
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I think the worse brakes I have ever had in a car was my then brand new 2014 Subaru WRX ( Was NOT the STI version) but that car would go way too fast to stop so bad for a new modern car...
And don't get me started about the factory headlights! The 2 hour night drive home from the dealer in the rain after I purcased the car new about gave me a panic attack, FIRST time EVER I could not see the white line on the edge of the roads! I found a YouTube hack that allowed me to mod the headlights and go with a larger wattage bulb. Helped the situation big time!
The stock stereo was bad as well for a 2014, Subaru updated the WRX design that next 2015 year but man between the new BAD brakes and new BAD headlights, it was truly a unsafe car to own and drive.
I loved the turbo and all wheel drive but no matter how fast and quick to drive one has gotta stop at some point and you gotta see the road...
I traded the car at 4,000 miles for a Hellcat, The Hellcat Brembo brakes didn't have any issue stopping and those HID did a good job too but I then missed the all wheel drive as that Hellcat was unsafe as it would NOT stick to the road...
And don't get me started about the factory headlights! The 2 hour night drive home from the dealer in the rain after I purcased the car new about gave me a panic attack, FIRST time EVER I could not see the white line on the edge of the roads! I found a YouTube hack that allowed me to mod the headlights and go with a larger wattage bulb. Helped the situation big time!
The stock stereo was bad as well for a 2014, Subaru updated the WRX design that next 2015 year but man between the new BAD brakes and new BAD headlights, it was truly a unsafe car to own and drive.
I loved the turbo and all wheel drive but no matter how fast and quick to drive one has gotta stop at some point and you gotta see the road...
I traded the car at 4,000 miles for a Hellcat, The Hellcat Brembo brakes didn't have any issue stopping and those HID did a good job too but I then missed the all wheel drive as that Hellcat was unsafe as it would NOT stick to the road...
Simple fix for the Subaru
1-Install HID's
2-Change brake pads to something like the PowerStop Z23
3-Change out speakers and install a small class D amp under the passenger seat and retain the factory head unit.
that is most likely what I would have done. lol
Got me thinking about that Stealership flush-maybe that's where the air got in there. I'll find a Factory Manual. Was watching a few YT vids and the first one had the guy starting on the front right and going CCW. Then another vid, the guy did the "normal" furthest from the master way first, and had to get it towed to the Dealer. Couldn't get a pedal. New cars...
Buy a mity-vac bleeder kit and DIY. They also make those one-handed cheaper check-valve ones, but the mity-vac will pull vacuum through and really get a nice, firm pedal. Kit is pricey around $70 but worth every penny imo. There are some cheaper plastic ones out there for about half the price which probably work OK, but no idea to their durability.
The brakes on my 2011 Forester are not at all spongy. The same goes for my friend’s 2020 Impreza.
Make sure the slide pins are sliding freely.
I looked last night for an online service manual, but no free ones came up. Even saw another post from a manual for a different Subie that used an X pattern to bleed. Good grief, wth is it with these cars. I have a quality vacuum type oil sucker that I also use for bleeding brakes. I put a valve on the suction hose to control the flow, really comes in handy, like on brakes and also on my 4 stroke Jetskis when I'm getting the last oil out of them.
I would definitely think air in the system. Time to bleed it again.
did you check TRQ's tutorial videos?
It could be like my Legacy, where every time the ABS engages, I get a spongy pedal for days. Sometimes it goes away on it's own, sometimes I have to bleed the circuits; the ABS pump assembly must be the culprit in my case.
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