Hi All,

First post. Be gentle. I'm not a Fiat owner but I've had my cousins 1.2 Stilo Hatch out the back for over a week now.

We replaced the rear sub frame bushings on it last weekend. Holy crap. What a job !

Anyway, in the process of changing the rear pads I smahed a rear caliper. Popped it into a 30 tonne press to try to push the piston back in.
I'm sure that will produce a few giggles among you. You can guess what happened. Suffice it to say that the caliper was in no fit state to go back onto the vehicle (I still haven't found some of it).

Got a set of refurbs that were nicely wound in and everything is back on now.

What I found after a good bleed etc is that the handbrake had to be adjusted a huge amount. Even now it won't hold the car.

Also, and more importantly, although the brake action was very strong after we replaced the calipers and pads, the brakes became very soft over the course of a 1 hour journey.

I'm worried that we have done something wrong. It all looks fine.

I've done quite a bit of reading on here and haven't found anything that exactly matches my problem. Please help.

Does anybody out there have experience of the brakes going soft over a short time after this type of work being done? My cousin is going to bleed again today but I suspect that this won't resolve anything.

I read on here that the rears are self adjusting. I don't understand how the pistons can turn over time if that little nipple on the back of the pad is positioned inside the groove on the piston??

Also, we have an ABS failure warning light on the dash. All connections have been made so I'm a bit worried about that too.

All help much appreciated.

Regards,

EDIT: I'm thinking that the best approach at this stage would be to take it to a Fiat dealer but I would really like to know what went wrong. Cheers.

I've done quite a bit of reading on here

Wow! You should have done that first before tackling the job. Reading between the lines I think you may have damaged your ABS unit if you forced fluid back up the hydraulic lines, damage may already have been done

But to answer your puzzles

What I found after a good bleed etc is that the handbrake had to be adjusted a huge amount. Even now it won't hold the car.
The handbrake should be self adjusting but when you fit new pads you need to slacken off the handbrake cable first and then, once you've done the job of fitting the pads, apply the footbrake forcefully with engine running around 15 times to adjust up the brakes, then retighten handbrake cable

I don't understand how the pistons can turn over time if that little nipple on the back of the pad is positioned inside the groove on the piston??
The caliper piston doesn't turn on it's way out, that's why the peg stays still on the back of the pad. You only turn the piston to screw it back in along the self adjuster for fitting new pads. The screwthread is the self adjuster and stops the pad backing off too far away from the disc which would make the handbrake ineffective (just like you're experiencing)

I have the feeling you're going to need a garage to put right some of this damage, you can't take chances with brakes

I have to say it, Read up before you tackle something as important as brakes

Hi Deckchair,

You're absolutely right. I read all about the bushing replacement but didn't think that brakes were any different to other cars that I've worked on (bimmers and Toyotas).

As far as I'm aware, we didn't intentionally force any fluid back up the lines. The calipers were off and the hoses pinched rear of the subframe for all work done.

Best bet is to take it to Fiat as you say. That's happening this week. In the meantime, if anyone might know what could cause the brakes to become soft over a short time then please chip in. We'll be checking for leaks etc. (edit I reckon that if it was a leak then the brakes would fail completely)

Ta,

The calipers were off and the hoses pinched rear of the subframe for all work done.
ok that's good

I reckon that if it was a leak then the brakes would fail completely
Cars have dual circuit diagonally split brakes these days so if one circuit fails then brakes diagonally opposite each other still operate.

Are you losing any fluid?

Is the pedal actually going soft and spongy or just going further down before anything happens?

Hi,

Thanks for taking time to answer.

I'll contact my cousin today to see what the latest is. Last report was that they deteriorated in performance (not sure whether spongy or other) but have stabilised.

The handbrake is still poo.

Thanks,
Ken.

Sounds like the brakes need bleeding again
and again until correct.

Loosen the handbrake cable off completeley
check on the correct procedure to bleed
abs type brakes. Bleed if possible with an
automatic bleed system ie Gunson Ezi Bleed.

Operate foot brake 15 - 20 times to pull the
handbrake rear cylinders up to the correct
height. When the brakes are rock solid when
applied adjust handbrake cable to the correct
amount.

John

Hi, doubt it's a big part of your problem, but when I changed the back pads on my Stilo the handbrake was really weak. It took maybe 3 months of normal driving before it got better, just had to wait for the pads to bed in. The fronts bed in fast as they do most work. Rears take a while. I also noticed less nose dive after a few months of driving. I only do maybe 7-8k a year. So higher mileage drivers would bed them in quicker!

I noticed that my stilo was the same after changing the calipers, handbrake cable had stretched on o/s too, so this was replaced at same time. Even now the handbrake will not hold the car in any decent hill, (get grief off the wife all the time for this) because obviously its my fault...
Any way, if I replace the pads now, do I undo the handbrake cable, wind in the pistons and then do the "forcefull braking" with the engine running, (what does this do?) and then adjust the handbrake cable accordingly?
Any help in doing this greatly appreciated, don't wish to get rid of her (or the wife) as she's now done over 160k but is still achieving over 51mpg.