Technical Fiat eLearn manual mistake?

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Technical Fiat eLearn manual mistake?

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Just checking the torque settings for the front brake caliper pin bolts on my Stilo 1.4. The manual says they are M10 bolts and recommends 70Nm torque. In fact the bolts have 13mm spanner hex heads which would make them M8. According to many torque charts the max torque for a dry 10.9 M8 bolt is around 35Nm. Am I missing something?
 
Just do them tight with a small ratchet
They sent something that requires being torqued to spec no garage would ever do them to a set torque
It's not like suspension bolts where the torque can effect it's operation
 
There was a post some time back for a Panda which reported a rattling from the front calipers because the pin bolts were not tightened sufficiently. I have got a similar rattle on my Stilo and wanted to be sure the pin bolts were tight enough.
 
As far as it goes, eLearn is correct. An M10 bolt would have a torque setting of 70Nm.

But the caliper pin bolts (the ones with the blue goo on them) are definitely not M10. I had mine off the other day to change the pads and they are M8.

The most likely answer is that eLearn contains a typo to say they are M10 whereas they are actually M8.. or eLearn is calling some bolts "front brake caliper pin bolts" (or however you identified them) whereas they mean something else which is an M10... (but not the "front brake caliper pin bolts").

Bill's comment about the head of the bolt is correct, although it's more true if you go "old" :D or go outside of automotive bolts. Automotive bolts these days are usually DIN standard (where M8 has a 13mm hex head). There could be the odd Japanese "JIS" bolt out there, which conceivably could find its way into a caliper pin kit etc. depending where it's made ... but in that case you would find a 12mm head on the bolt, so it's not too different to DIN.


I wouldn't worry aboot the Panda.. the "loose bolts" was probably literally "loose bolts". If yours are tight-tight using a short 13mm spanner then they are tight enough, and using more torque is not going to get you anywhere.

If there's a rattle, it could be sloppy pads.. check that the anti-rattle springs are in there (I have a few lying about if you need the odd one or two). They're usually stainless so you can clean them up and re-use them if you manage not to bend them... but a new fad (to save money?) is to make them out of japan-blacked steel, which presumably wll rust, deform and not work any more.

They also have to be fitted the right way round, with the "ear" away from the disc. You'll know if they're the wrong way round, since the ear will scrape on the disc.

If your brakes "clonk" rather than rattle, then that's just boring old worn pins, rather than anything loose.

Also check that the backing plate hasn't rusted out around one of the fixing points, so that it's just flopping around. That would give a "rattling" noise.



Ralf S.
 
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Thanks Ralf and Portland_bill for this information. I have a new set of original Fiat front pads, anti rattle springs and pin bolts so will fit these shortly. Just measured the pin bolts and they are 8mm across the threaded shank, with a 13mm hex head, so definitely M8.
 
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