I have a 1995, 1.9 van. Since last year I have had intermittent braking problems. I now managed to narrow it down when the van is cold, when I come to use the brakes for the first time, the brake pedal is rock solid and I have no braking at all, very frightening. I have had them bled and also had the load bearing sensor cleaned. my mechanic has suggested to replace the master cylinder, but cannot guarantee this will cure the fault and understand this can be expensive. I have also heard that there was a recall by fiat on this fault, but then when I rang a dealership, they had no record of any recalls. Has anyone else had this problem and managed to sort it? Please help. Cheers

Hi
I have the same problem on a 2005 face lift so any help would be great

That sounds to me like the brake vacuum pump is playing up. What i would do is to pump the brakes with the engine off as that with in effect remove any vacuum that is in the system,then keeping you foot firmly on the brake pedal start the engine. If the vacuum pump is working the pedal will sink a little as vacuum assistance rises to your aid. I have had systems playing up before with seized parts giving a similar problem so its not 100% fool proof but it will help you i hope.

Thanks for your help, but the brakes have ended up staying on, therefore using loads more fuel. I took it to my garage, who replaced disks and pads as they were knackered, new servo and new master cylinder. All in all best part of 800 quid, gutted, but I thiink it had to be done. They however used a Peugeot servo as it was cheaper