Hi everyone,

Got a small issue with my car.. a week or so ago I noticed it had started to get a bit noisey at low speeds (more of a knocking sound). But more recently it has started squeaking. First, I thought nothing of it, thought that perhaps as I haven't had a car with rear discs before that they stick when the car is left with the handbrake on overnight. Now its happening all the time, at low speeds (between 0-15mph), when braking & not braking. Could it perhaps be suspension related?
On the way home today, I was in heavy traffic and as I braked to slow down, I noticed my front brakes started squealing as well. It's getting a bit unbearable now, I can hear it even with the music set to loud, on 2 or 3.

Is this a common fault, and would it be covered under warranty at all (esp if it is a brake issue)? My car is in it's 3rd year of warranty which expires in June, but I have a 1 yr approved used warranty from Fiat which should expire Feb 2012.

Any help would be appreciated!

This is a common problem.(See squealing brakes thread in Abarth 500 section.)

The pads stick with accumalated brake dust in the calipers.Also a ridge of rust on the discs is rubbing on the pads ,causing the sqeal.

As I read the warranty book brakes are a `wear and tear` item and are therefore not covered by warranty.

The soloution is to strip and clean the calipers and pads.A dealer will probably recomend disc replacement.(Depending on condition.) And if the discs are replaced the pads should be as well! Its getting expensive now!

Aftermarket parts will be cheaper and may be better.(But nobody knows for sure yet)

I hope some fiat engineers are working on this............