General Brakes!!!

[choppertoo]

There I was thinking I was one of the lucky few with a Stilo without serious problems.... anyone else had this sort of problem with their brakes? (1.6 dynamic 3door)
Came out of Leeds/Bradford Airport the othernight and had to pull up sharply because of stationary traffic ..... problem was I hit the brakes and not very much happened ... a brown trousers scenario ensued and I only just managed to avoid the car infront .... not sure what the hell happened but the brakes seem normal again now ... As I don't drive the car every day, I asked the other half how she found the brakes .... she told me it didn't seem to stop very well and sometimes the pedal felt like there was a brick under it ... thanks for telling me!!
So it's booked into the dealer on Thursday (still under 2nd year warranty and only 11,000 miles)... The dealer also asked if there was anything else that needed looking at ... big mistake!
The creaking clutch - can a dealer actually sort it? (they just sprayed grease last time and seemed to make it worse)
Rattle within the dashboard - sounds like it's coming from behind the instrument binnacle - anyone else?
Engine sounds rough at idle - I used to have an old turbo diesel ... so anything is quiet after that ... but a number of people have commented if it is a diesel ... and thinking about it is rather loud for a small petrol engine .. anyone else? (also think it doesn't idle very well and is incredibly easy to stall when pulling away without using excessive revs imho)
Recent Squealing from rear ... sounds like rear brakes are catching?

Oh well ... let's see what the dealer manages (caledonia - Blackpool) .. so far their customer service has been spot on ... but the clutch was answered with it's a feature of Stilo's!!

rant over!

 

[timr69]

Mine has slight brake issues too.
Sometimes when you press the pedal it feels solid although the car slows down ok but if you ease the pressure then press again the pedal goes soft.
It doesn't seem to affect braking performance but it can be disconcerting and 'er indoors keeps going on about it.
The garage checked it yesterday but needless to say it wouldn't do it.

My creaky clutch got fixed a couple of months ago and it was heaven but now its back again.
So long as it doesn't break I think I'll just turn the stereo up and put up with it.

 

[apierdomi]

Do not know about the brakes. They will have to check that.
Clutch can be sorted: new clutch pump is needed, any other solution will not work.
The "diesel noise " at idle is the variator which needs to be replaced.
Otherwise is the solenoid.
All this can be done under warranty.
Do not leave those problems.

 

[Deckchair5]

Holy crap! That's a damp pants experience. Sounds like brake servo failure. What surprised me is that the brake master cylinder is on the passenger side, a la lh drive , never seen that before, and Fiat have transferred the brakes via a dual control rod, all the way over to the UK drivers rh side. What a system! No wonder the brakes feel vague!

 

[choppertoo]

Cheers for that will let you know what the garage reports at 5pm!

The funny things is it's a colder today and raining and the creaks and rattles are a lot better --- sod's law ... they only seem to get worse when it's warm!

Can a brake servo failure be an intermittent problem??

 

[timr69]

Can a brake servo failure be an intermittent problem??

No.

 

[Deckchair5]

A man of few words! Usually the brake servo works or it doesn't but if you have a leak in the vaccuum side then, particularly if you've just started your engine and journey, you may find they work on the first application but then there's no servo left for the 2nd application. The brake pedal will feel hard and hit higher than nornal and very little brakes without a lot of effort. That sounds very much like your description.

You could do a basic check of the servo by applying the brakes a few times with the engine off to empty the servo then keep your foot on the footbrake and start the engine. There should be an immediate difference in the feel of the pedal which should move down as the servo kicks in. This is only a basic check though for is it working? YES/NO but if it was slow to action it might give a clue

Run the engine for a few minutes, then turn the engine off and keep applying the footbrake. It'll go down the first few pushes but should then go brick hard and high. Is that how your brake problem feels?

 

[choppertoo]

will try that if i get the car back at 5.... otherwise no lift home!

 

[NumanR]

Deck, the brake master cylinder position is very common on rhd cars, most manufacturers use a system similar, as there isnt alot of room for the brake master cylinder and servo on the offside.

 

[Stanley_Cooper]

choppertoo

Although I have a jtd I have exactly the same problem with a rough idle...it's as though something is rattleing but I can't work it out. Only really happens when it is cold, but i'm certain it shouldn't sound like that. It was a the garage last week and they couldn't work it out. Said that it would either disappear or wait until it got worse. Nice I can't wait!!

I also get a rattle in the dashboard, seems to be close to where the air con is next to the front window. The garage said there wasn't alot they could do about that. Finally I don't have a brake problem as such yet, but I have really, really squeaky brakes when using them. Is this normal on a jtd having done 4k so far?

Stan..

 

[choppertoo]

Update ....

Brakes ... apparently no obvious problems .... just bled the system and to be fair they feel a whole lot better ... so will let this one lie for a while

Clutch ... didn't explain what they've done ... but all of a sudden my clutch travel is a lot shorter??? It feels smoother and a lot easier to control + no creaking noise!! Will wait and see with this one...

Rough idle ... they say they've checked the engine out - no problems ... just a little low on oil which they've topped up... again will have to see as I only topped up the oil myself a few days ago?

Rattle within Dashboard ... they're not sure ... reckon they've had the dash apart ... found several screws loose or missing ... which they've tightened up or replaced ... but on the way home the rattle was still there ... anyone actually had this one solved? I can live with it, but it is annoying when the stereo isn't on!

 

[kiopo]

Just wanted to update this. My Stilo had exactly the same problem (even squeaking rear brakes), and similarly I had to avoid an accident when they failed to operate properly (and did so again when i tried 100m down the road).

I know it's an old thread but did the problem reoccur?

I took the car to a Fiat garage, had the brake discs and pads changed but still getting a bit of pulsing in the brake pedal from time to time (ABS maybe?)- nothing as bad as when it happened though. They couldn't find anything else wrong with it.

Is this a known problem?