[msandford]

My hill holder had been getting sticky over the last week or so. Finally on my way to work today I stopped for coffee and the car wouldn't budge at all. Had to get it towed home on a flat bed to the tune of a LOT more than coffee.

Once I was home and had some tools and access to a computer with a real screen I was able to sign up for the forum and see what people were saying about the hill holder. I was able to determine that mine was merely sticky and not broken. I sprayed the whole area down with orange degreaser and let it sit for 10-15 minutes and then washed it all out with the hose and things seemed freer. Did it again and it got a little better, but still not 100%.

Then I tried hitting it with some PB which has the stream nozzle to get through all the hoses and everything in the way and get to the actual mechanism. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes and now it works smooth as when I bought the car.

I am probably going to hit it with degreaser again and wash out all the excess and maybe try and get it with something else (silicone spray lubricant maybe?) just so that I don't have penetrating oil trying to get into everything down that side of the engine bay.

Thanks to the people of this forum for the help on diagnosing the problem and the pictures of what I'm looking for and such.

I was hoping to post a link to the thread that saved my life, but I don't seem to have the required post count. It's by bbottomley over in a thread called "Hill hold feature?" and the URL has 1161 at the end of it. It is post #7. Highly recommended.

 

[2.5x_sleeper]

I see this is your first forum post, so welcome to the forum from Oregon! :biggrin:

Thank you for posting your successful DIY repair!

Here's the list of thread I usually recommend perusing: :wink:

• Hill hold feature?
• Brakes frozen on!
• How-to: Remove/disable hillholder
• Disabling the hill holder on a 2005 Forester XT

Also...

For the best forum experience, we recommend completing your "Public Profile". Specifically, the "About Me" section (Edit Your Details). This displays every time you make a post on the forum. This will provide information members may need to reply to your forum posts. You can edit this field via the "User Control Panel", aka, "User CP.

If you're using a mobile device, you may need to use a laptop or desktop computer to see all the user tools.

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]

 

[msandford]

I spoke too soon! It's still sketchy. Going to try bleeding the brakes tonight and see if I can't flush whatever grit out and restore non-sticky behavior. The alternative is a $200 part which the dealer wants $700 in labor to replace. Which means they're quoting something like five hours. Not looking forward to that, either paying or having to spend the time. If the flush works I'll count my blessings for sure.

 

[2.5x_sleeper]

Most member just disable it, when it becomes too problematic... more trouble than it's worth. :wink:

Take a look at this write up: How-to: Remove/disable hillholder

Again...

For the best forum experience, we recommend completing your "Public Profile". Specifically, the "About Me" section (Edit Your Details). This displays every time you make a post on the forum. This will provide information members may need to reply to your forum posts. You can edit this field via the "User Control Panel", aka, "User CP.

If you're using a mobile device, you may need to use a laptop or desktop computer to see all the user tools.

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]

 

[msandford]

I've got a brake bleed kit already from clutch problems I had a year ago. So I'm going to give that a try this weekend as I'm not sure if the brake fluid has ever been changed on this car. A quart of dot4 was only $10 so I can afford to do the flush and hope it slides whatever grit out of the hill hold mechanism first.

One thing I would mention is that a 12mm wobble socket on the end of an extension or two (or a 12mm socket on the end of a wobble extension) is enough for me to be able to manually disengage the hill holder if/when it gets stuck on really hard. I've got that riding around in my trunk right now just in case I get locked up again until this weekend when the maint. continues. I just drop it on top of the bolt that connects the lever-arm to the rest of the assembly and then I can manipulate it quite handily.

 

[msandford]

I just put probably 500ml of brake fluid through the system to the driver's front and while it's not 100% fixed it seems to be a bit better. Now when I really lock up the brakes and it catches, often times a sharp stab at the brake pedal is enough to get things to release. I managed to get the brake fluid below the "min" line so the pedal got spongy so I'll have to bleed all four corners now. It feels like an improvement even if it is a bit of work.