General Brake Clunk :-(

[bgunn]

This is where a video recording might help. It helps differentiate between misleading dealerships and good old fashioned experience (of which there is plenty here). Or you could just play dealer ping-pong.

 

[heraldsteve]

My Fiat dealer said the same thing about a noise on our 500 clutch (a common theme here?). It turned out he was right in that it's a common problem with diesels, but it was still fixed by Fiat under warranty when I complained sufficiently.

 

[bgunn]

My Fiat dealer said the same thing about a noise on our 500 clutch (a common theme here?). It turned out he was right in that it's a common problem with diesels, but it was still fixed by Fiat under warranty when I complained sufficiently.

That's as maybe, but if you get some guidance as to what the cause is, and if it is indeed normal (or within the realms of possibility of normal) then it'll help.

Or you could just be convinced you know best and ignore the collective experience of the group of people here. Your choice

 

[306maxi]

Without hearing the noise i couldn't honestly say, it may have been that the linkage was binding up a little bit when you first got it and now that it's free, the slack is making the noise you're hearing.

I'll say it again, any chance of a video?

 

[306maxi]

This is where a video recording might help. It helps differentiate between misleading dealerships and good old fashioned experience (of which there is plenty here). Or you could just play dealer ping-pong.

exactly why i asked last night. I've probably done 40,000 of the almost 49,000 miles on our 500 so I'm fairly used to the noises they make

 

[bgunn]

exactly why i asked last night. I've probably done 40,000 of the almost 49,000 miles on our 500 so I'm fairly used to the noises they make

I've done a mere 9800 of the, err, 9800 miles that mine's done, and yes; I'm pretty used to the noises it makes. Clicky free play noises from the brake pedal and a spring twang noise if you're a bit violent when releasing the brake pedal is quite normal.

I'll bet the noise changes tone, if the OP stops the engine and pumps the brake pedal a few times to exhaust the vacuum in the servo, thus taking out some of the free play in the brake servo linkage.

 

[vicksmiler]

I will take a video of it later and post it on here for you to listen to. Fortunately at my workplace there is a garage and i have asked them for a second opinion, he looked all under the car and said everything is fine mechanical wise

 

[grimwau]

My Fiat dealer said the same thing about a noise on our 500 clutch (a common theme here?). It turned out he was right in that it's a common problem with diesels, but it was still fixed by Fiat under warranty when I complained sufficiently.

Just because something is common it doesn't mean that it is right. Baxwalker and I were the first probably the first people on here back in the day (2008) to continually harass Fiat Customer Services re the clutch noise on the 1.3MJT.

All Fiat would say was that it was a common problem, which was very true, but eventually we persevered and managed in some small way to establish a warranty claims procedure involving the fitting of a damper in the clutch hydraulic line. This cured the problem 100% and this also was caused by the fact that RHD cars had to be modified to use LHD configuration parameters.

The driver's door handle, the washer jets popping out, S&S problems and the wiring loom failing at the tailgate transfer point etc. are all common but that doesn't mean that we have to accept them.

However, unless you are lucky enough to have a switched on dealership handy you will often get fobbed off with remarks like this.

I can honestly say that on the four 500s I have had I have never had this problem and I dare say if you asked the dealership to let you try out a couple of their demonstrators the odds are that they would be noise free.

If so then you should then ask them to explain why some do it and others don't. As stated above, a recording will at least enable those on here who have this problem to confirm whether this sounds the same as on their cars but if it is due to slackness in the linkage then I personally would be very aggrieved that it cannot be fixed on a 1 week old car.

 

[nottsfiat07]

I found that my clunk appeared after a few days. It was my experience that if I took my foot off the pedal in a sharp manner that released the mechanism more jerkily and so the linkage clunked. If I raised my braking foot more gently and thus not allowing the pedal to travel upwards under its own weight, the clunking was lessened. I therefore suggest that when a car is new and you are getting used to it, you perform every operation with more care, whereas when you have become more accustomed to the characteristics of the car, you relax and move your feet amongst the pedals with more abandon. Its here when the clunk happens more often and you're kind of letting the car do its own thing.

 

[bgunn]

I found that my clunk appeared after a few days. It was my experience that if I took my foot off the pedal in a sharp manner that released the mechanism more jerkily and so the linkage clunked.

Spot on. I hypothesise that this is the case, and your reasoning is pretty accurate too.

When you first get a new car (or a 'new to you' one), you often don't notice any little creaks, noises or foibles until a few weeks on. There are a couple of little rattles of the trim in my 500, but I'll fix them when I dismantle the trim to soundproof the car.

 

[nottsfiat07]

I noticed the seat squeak on my Abarth when I test drove it which I had in my normal 500, but it actually just felt like coming home. In the very cold weather I have a creak on the dash too but as the weather or the car has warmed up, thermal expansion stops it. Nothing my 500 does is anywhere near as annoying as the rattles in the Mini I had. They made me want to get out and beat it with a stick.

 

[nottsfiat07]

Oddly, haven't noticed the brake clunk tho!

 

[306maxi]

Yes, the noise is definitely caused when you're not smooth with the pedal. When you're smoother it's far more quiet.

 

[bgunn]

In the very cold weather I have a creak on the dash too but as the weather or the car has warmed up, thermal expansion stops it.

Mine's the same, sounds like it's the large coloured trim panel rubbing against the dash moulding..

 

[nottsfiat07]

Sometimes if you press it, it reseats it and it stops. Mostly it's fairly short on rattles though and the sub on the inter scope drowns out most things lol. My father in law has just bought a new MG6, and riding in the back I noticed a rattle from the rear hatch, and riding in the front noticed one in the dash. Was only in it for a few miles and it got on my nerves.

 

[scout]

My 500 is surprisingly quite considering its an open top (obviously more noisy with the roof down) but it makes my old Hyundai Coupe sound like I was driving around with 100 marbles thrown in a 100 tin cans and then put loosely in the car. Such a relief

 

[306maxi]

Just because something is common it doesn't mean that it is right. Baxwalker and I were the first probably the first people on here back in the day (2008) to continually harass Fiat Customer Services re the clutch noise on the 1.3MJT.

All Fiat would say was that it was a common problem, which was very true, but eventually we persevered and managed in some small way to establish a warranty claims procedure involving the fitting of a damper in the clutch hydraulic line. This cured the problem 100% and this also was caused by the fact that RHD cars had to be modified to use LHD configuration parameters.

The driver's door handle, the washer jets popping out, S&S problems and the wiring loom failing at the tailgate transfer point etc. are all common but that doesn't mean that we have to accept them.

However, unless you are lucky enough to have a switched on dealership handy you will often get fobbed off with remarks like this.

I can honestly say that on the four 500s I have had I have never had this problem and I dare say if you asked the dealership to let you try out a couple of their demonstrators the odds are that they would be noise free.

If so then you should then ask them to explain why some do it and others don't. As stated above, a recording will at least enable those on here who have this problem to confirm whether this sounds the same as on their cars but if it is due to slackness in the linkage then I personally would be very aggrieved that it cannot be fixed on a 1 week old car.

You've also owned 4 fairly noisy 500's (compared to a 1.2) First was a diesel, second a twinair and since then you've had 2 abarth's. I should point out that my video was taken with the engine off, have the fan on two, the engine running and the radio on and you'll never hear it. Personally I think if the vast majority of people got into their 500 and stabbed the brake pedal they'd hear this noise. Brake as if there's an egg under the pedal and you'll probably never hear it

There is also a certain degree of tolerance in parts. Perhaps Grimwau has been lucky to have a car where all of the parts of the mechanism fit together 100% snuggly and never make a noise, but tolerances mean that this won't always be possible.

 

[jrkitching]

Brake as if there's an egg under the pedal

Nah, tape the egg to the top of the pedal .

 

[nottsfiat07]

Waste of a perfectly good egg. Get in, put on some tunes and drive the car that makes you smile

 

[306maxi]

Waste of a perfectly good egg. Get in, put on some tunes and drive the car that makes you smile

That's my feeling too! If something is wrong with my car I fix it or have it fixed, but little noises don't bother me. Radio turned up, fan on 2 blowing on my face and 55-60 showing on the speedo for economical yet not too slow progress