Hey there,

I would, please, like to ask some advice. I have a Fiat Uno Cento and had the front brakes done around July 2006. Since then I have had to return to the service center twice as the brakes start making an awful noise once they have warmed up a little... it sounds like I have no brake pads at all! :bang:
On both occasions they fixed it for me but no it has begun again and I'm not even going to bother to return there as they are obviously clueless on the real cause. I would like to as if someone could explain to me how I could do the brakes myself, I usually do everything else but haven't ever done brakes.

Also wondering how I could clean my carburettor as I think it needs a clean.

Thanks! :worship:

Recently done the front brakes on my Uno 60's. Which has brought back just how easy they are to do yourself.

There's really very little to the braking system on the Uno, so my assumption is that as long as the (a) Disc's are new (b) Pad's are new, and (c) Calipers are in good condition, you'll stop the noise from coming back again.

Here's a detailed guide for you (assuming you're replacing front PADS & DISCS only).

1. Get the parts first! You'll need:

(a) Two new solid Front Discs - there is only one type for all the Uno models except the Uno Turbo ie (Price: Between £5 - £9 per disc)

(b) Four new brake pads (a pair for each side) - there are two types for the Uno models, except for the Uno Turbo ie, but the two types are both compatible. They'll usually come as a pack of four. (Price: Between £12 - £20 per pack).

(c) One brake pad fitting pack, (you'll need this to prevent excessive brake squeel and rattles, and to ensure the calipers are correctly seated back in their carriers), the pack should consist of four brake pad anti-squeel spring clips, and at least for split pin type clips). (Price: Between £2 - £3)

(d) One small tube of Copper Grease, (again this will prevent squeeling, and seizure of most of the components). (Price: £2 - £3)

The job (repeat for both front sides):

1. Loosen the front wheel bolts, but don't remove the wheel.
2. Jack the front of the car up, using a suitable trolley type jack, or axle stand, and ensure the car is secure when jacked.
3. Continue to undo the wheel bolts, and remove the wheel to reveal the brakes, and hub assembly.

*Removing the Caliper*

4. The Caliper on the Uno is held in the Caliper carrier by two metal shim pieces. The shim is held in with a split pin.
5. With a pair of thin nosed pliers, remove the split pin from the top and bottom shim, at the rear of each shim.
6. With a flat blade screw driver, and hammer, tap the shim from it's rear it will move outwards, and release the caliper. Do this for the top and bottom shim.
7. Push down on the Caliper, and lever the top half out of the Caliper carrier, then fully remove the Caliper, and rest on the hub/disc top so as not to put strain on the brake hose. *DO NOT LET THE CALIPER DANGLE FROM THE HOSE*

*Removing the Caliper Carrier*

8. In order to remove the disc, you'll need to remove the caliper carrier so that all the disc is accessible, and removable.
9. At the rear of the disc/hub assemly you'll see two large bolts holding the carrier on the hub. Undo these bolts. *These are likely to be very tight, and partially seized*, if you have problems here, spray lots of penetrating oil on the bolts, leave for a few minutes, and repeat the spraying of oil until you're satisfied that the bolts and hub and soaked enough of the oil up and try again. They should undo.
10. Remove the caliper carrier, put to oneside.

*Removing the Disc*

11. There are two locating bolts on the brake discs. One will have a pin stick out of it, the other will be a standard bolt. These need to be undone. Be careful when undoing these bolts, they have a tendency to "round off", as the metal they are made from is quite soft. Use the correct socket sise, and you'll be fine with this.
12. Once the bolts are removed the disc can then be withdrawn from the hub. If the disc hasn't been replaced for a while, it's likely it will be partly seized onto the hub. With a hammer tap the rear of the disc all round, this should loosed the disc, and it should come free.

*Cleaning up process*

13. Before I replaced all pads and discs, I gave the complete brake assembly a thorough clean up. You'll need some engine de-greaser, or brake fluid, some old scrubbing brushes, sandpaper and flat blade screw drivers. Start with the hub itself and give that a quick scrub and clean. When dry, put some copper grease on its face. Then give the caliper carrier a clean. Pay close attention to where the caliper would need movement to brake, and once those areas are cleaned, add a little copper greae their two. Lastly, give the caliper a good service and clean. Check the rubber seal is intact and not distorted at all. If it's just distorted, you may be able to ease the distortion out, and get it back to it's original shape, if the seal is broken, it should be replaced with a new one. They are generally available from a parts specialist.

*Preparing the car for new parts*

14. With clean hands, get the new disc, and bolt it up to the hub.
15. Now re-fit the Caliper Carrier, ensure the carrier is well fitted and tight.
16. Working with the caliper now, you'll need to push the piston further back into the caliper, as the new thickness of the brakes and pads needs to be accomodated. Either buy a brake piston push back tool, (£7/£8), or using two levers and brace them against the edge of the caliper and push the piston in. Personally I'd spend the £7/£8 - it makes the job far easier, and you'll be able to use them again for most other cars.

*Final fittings*

17. With the piston fully home in the Caliper, with clean hands, get the new pads, and on the top edge, clip the anti-squeel pins on. The potruding part, needs to be on the outside edge of the pad - so that it's visible.
18. Now fit the pads into the Caliper carrier - they'll only fit one way.
19. Smear some more copper grease on the outside of the pads. *DO NOT LET ANY GREASE GET ON THE PAD, OR DISC ITSELF*
20. With Caliper ready, start with it's bottom edge and slide the caliper back into the Caliper Carrier, the Caliper with then slide over the new pads.
21. Once the Caliper is in place, you'll need to tap the metal shims at the top and bottom back in place. Start with the top one, and if needs be use a flat blade screw driver to lever the Caliper a little to make room for the bottom shim.
22. Once both shims are home, tap the new split pins into the holes on the rear edge of the shims, to lock them in place.
23. Check that all is sound, and the disc moves freely, de-press the brake pedal a few times until it feels stiff again.
24. Smear a little copper grease on the disc hub face (not the braking area), this is so the wheel doesn't seize on the hub.
25. Refit the road wheel making sure the road bolts are tightened.
26. Lower the car, tighten the road wheel bolts further, start the engine, and test the brakes a little.

Now you'll need to repeat the process for the other side.

It sounds complicated - but it's easy, and this has really been broken down in detail above.

Good luck.

Hi there and welcome to the forum!

I wouldn't say that the service centre is necessarily at fault or indeed 'clueless' - some brake pads are persistent squealers!

What the service centre probably did was to apply some copper grease to the backs of the pads, since the squealing is actually caused by vibration and has nothing to do with how well the brakes work. Copper grease works well but often has only a limited life.

When you buy new brake pads, you should look for ones with a rubbery coating on the back, not just hard black paint. These are usually more expensive, perhaps in your case not locally-made.

Alternatively there are some products on the market (at least here in NZ) that apply a rubbery coating to your existing pads (well-cleaned first of course, I used hot soapy water). This has worked perfectly for me, so if you can find it, it's worth the money. Mine's an orange paint in a bottle. I think there is some sort of aerosol as well, I'm not sure how well it works but it is probably worth a go.

If the noise is more of a grinding than a squealing, you should investigate right away.

To change the pads on our Unos, there are two wedges that hold the caliper in place. Remove the wire clip (through a hole in the wedge) and drive the wedge out using a screwdriver hit with your hand, OR pry the caliper inwards, towards the centre of the disc, and then remove the wedge with your fingers. With both wedges removed, the caliper should lift out forwards. When fitting new pads, remember to transfer the anti-rattle clips from the pad edges, and use a carpenter's G-clamp to gently push the piston back into the caliper (the reservoir may overflow as you do this, if someone has kept the fluid level religiously topped-up).

The Haynes manual does a good job of showing all this. Never remove the brake hose connection unless absolutely necessary and you know what you are doing as the system will then need bleeding. Brake fluid removes paint. There is no need to bleed the brakes if you are just doing a pad change, though if you want to change the fluid as well, you do this through extended bleeding.

Later FIATs such as the Tipo, and different Unos such as the Turbo, have a later brake design that uses sliding pins with rubber boots. The wedges were particularly prone to corrosion/seizing in some markets - probably not South Africa and NZ though! If your Uno has these later brakes (possibly a SA-assembly item, I don't know) then you will need to undo the bolt from the bottom sliding pin and swing the caliper upwards. You are supposed to use new bolts on assembly but Loctite applied to cleaned old bolts will be fine.

When working on brakes, remember to apply the brakes several times before you go for a drive (to bring the pistons out to the new pads) and test them when driving slowly! Braking needs to be gentle for a few hundred km to allow the pads to bed-in (take the shape of the disc) without glazing.

Also, if you have undone any bolts, do them up to about the same tightness as they were before (as a general rule!) Apologies if this is too elementary but with safety-critical items it pays to be careful

Cleaning the carburettor - I could go on for hours, but basically after you remove the air box from the top, you should see several brass slot-head 'screws'. These are the jets - be careful not to damage the slot with a hole in, as that's a calibrated air bleed - you can remove these and blow through with compressed air (the jet and the carb).

The throttle plate (accelerator butterfly) sometimes benefits from a clean at the edges but to do this, you will have to take the carb off the manifold. Two long bolts go right through it. Please don't use silicone sealant to put the carb back on with - silicone doesn't stand up to petrol, it softens - but you can use a non-setting gasket compound or an anaerobic sealant (I use Loctite Master Gasket). Or, you could buy a new gasket

EDIT - obviously, I was writing my post as circolo was writing his - that's an excellent description of the process leaving nothing to chance. I agree completely!

The only suggestion I might make is that in the rather dry climate of South Africa (and even the wet climate of NZ with unsalted-roads), unless you're on the coast, the corrosion to the disc or to the caliper carrier bolts will be slight. So the need to replace the disc is probably less than for our friends in the UK (I've only ever had to replace a pair of discs once). And the bolts will probably come out fairly easily

Have fun,
-Alex

all this advice guys t,is good stuff .
why not make a guide? https://www.fiatforum.com/uno-guides/

Circolo's post is perfect for a guide - just needs some pics

-Alex

I'm afraid I'm "old skool", and don't even own a digital camera.

But I reckon following Alex's instructions and mine you'll be fine.

I did the front brakes in just under an hour, (which admittedly is with plenty of past practice). But it's an easy job, and you'll save yourself some money too.

Hey guys,

I would just like to thank you for all the advice and information.:slayer: Will be fixing them myself this time...

Once again thanks.

Regards,

Lifesigns