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Technical newby with a 97 Brava, and problems

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Technical newby with a 97 Brava, and problems

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Gregovic

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I've recently acquired my first ever car, a 1997 1.6 Brava. So far i'm liking it a lot, but it has a few things that need fixing. Most of it I can just do myself, but I have some questions.

Biggest problem at the moment is the windshield wipers. They stopped working properly yesterday. When I switch them on (any position) they don't start moving, but when I give them a little push downwards, they get going. When it's on intermittent it just does 1 cycle and then stops, when it's on constant it keeps going.

I assume it's a problem with the park switch/intermittent relay, but I hope someone here can give me some advise before I strip down the whole thing and find out it's a loose wire somewhere else ;)

Second one is that the throttle seems to be a tad responsive on the lower end. (going from idle at 700 or so revs to 1500 with only the touch of a toe). This causes the whole car to shoot forward a bit, causing my foot to press the pedal a little more, then it bounces back and it drops down again. This means the whole car starts rocking back and forth like crazy and makes me look somewhat incompetent :cry: Am I actually too stupid to drive or could there be something wrong with the accelerator pedal or ECU?

And lastly, the previous owner had a couple of mega speakers in the parcel shelf, and cut the wires for the original speakers. I can't find the original wire coming from the radio. Does anybody know where it should be if it's still there? (The previous owner was also an idiot, as the parcel shelf seems to come from a Bravo, not a Brava. It doesn't really fit properly.

Thanks for the advice and, Hi, I'm the new guy :D

PS: If anybody has any other good tips for things I should check/do on my new ride it'd be much appreciated.
 
Hello Welcome to the forum.

Wipers first, sounds like they have just gone out of time. Check the hinge is not stiff. Then remove both wiper arms 13mm bolt. Then turn the power on and make the wiper mechanism do a sweep with the arms still dissconected, turn the power off, this sets the motor to its parked/starting position. Then put your wiper arms back on, on the glass is black alignment dots some are LHD some RHD but it all becomes obvious. See if they work and report back (y)

The throttle sounds a bit tricky. I would check the intake pipes for air leaks first, from the head back to the butterfly valve. Then check the butterfly valve its self see if its is closed properly when the car is off and check that its not opening too far when the pedal is to the floor.

The original speaker wires have yellow connector blocks if that helps.


On both my Bravo's I slowly went over every electrical connection/relay cleaning and spraying with WD40. Polyeliptical headlight are one of the best modifications, guide. You could fit hard plastic door handles from a Marea if yours are rotten rubber. I fitted Bravo 2007 washer jets, guide.

So what colour is your Brava? Ive seen some really nice Bravas in the past there is a lot you can do with them.
 
It's Venetian Blue. The paint is still pretty good, except for a few bald spots on the lower corner of the wheelarches and some stonechips on the bonnet. (I plan to just coat over the spots in the wheelarches with a good layer of undercoating, since their just the bottom bit that noone ever sees anyway)

The washerjets are on the to do list, they currently spray the windshield of the car driving to the right, not my own :p So they need replacement anyways, since the originals only adjust up and down, not left or right.

As for the throttle stuff, I'll check it once I get under the bonnet tomorrow. The airfilter is on the list to be replaced as well as I have no idea how old it is and they are not that expensive. (Might throw in some new sparkplugs while I'm at it) I noticed the filterbox is not closed properly either, so that might be a problem right there.

And the doorhandles, yeah, they are not so much rotten rubber as missing. There's a few bits left, but most of it is just the inside plastic.


Thanks for the advice, I'll report how it goes.(y)
 
This is a good thread to look at https://www.fiatforum.com/members-motors/110973-my-bessie-brava.html that member fitted momo leather seats.

https://www.fiatforum.com/members-motors/117216-fiat-alfabrava-sx-photos.html

I like this spoiler
garage_vehicle-3362-12796051743.jpg
 
Check tension of throttle cable. It should not be full tensioned.
 
It must allow butterfly valve to close. Set it one tooth less than fully tensioned when valve is closed
 
Well, the problem wasn't in the timing. After the nightmare of removing the scuttle panel to get to the motor, I gave the contacts a good cleaning. The thing was full of muck, not just the usual grease. Runs smooth as a babys bottom again. (y)

Now to refit the whole shebang and on to the shops to get some Rain-X, carshampoo, new airfilter and sparkplugs. And than the breakersyard for a new third brakelight (Mine's busted after a slightly invisible tree got in the way while reversing in the dark :() and to see if they have some Marea doorhandles.

Thanks for all the advise so far :worship:
 
:bang::bang::bang:

Turns out my battery needs replacing. I had my suspicions, but so far it worked fine. Once I finally got everything remounted and cleaned up and tried to start it just produced a loud click and a lot of silence:mad:
 
Yeah, I wasn't:cry:

Luckily 2 friends happened to come by the shed/workshop I was working in and gave me a pushstart. I've got a new battery now, just gotta mount it.

Quick question,

I've checked the resistance on the Injectors, 3 of em are neatly at 15,1 ohms, the fourth is 8 ohms. Is this too low or can I delay replacing it a bit? (Local scrappy doesn't have any in stock right now)

And do the sparkplugs have to be torqued down to a certain torque? (I found some posts that suggest they do, but I can't find what torque)
 
:bang:

I tried putting in the new airfilter today, the numnut that owned it before me completely destroyed the screwheads holding the cover in place so I might be able to get them off, but not on again.

Anybody know what size thread is on them so I can find a replacement before I open everything up? I'd rather not open it and find out I can't get the filterbox back together.
 
I was afraid of that. I'll start looking around for another injector then. Thanks(y)
 
I've finally managed to replace the battery and airfilter. The new airfilter makes a LOT of difference, it runs much smoother now.
 
The bad news is my wipers crapped out again today. I suspect the brushes on the motor are corroded, as nudging them used to help and it seems to be very position related wether they work or not. The cover thing over the motor is ripped and old, so it was full of water when I took it off the first time. I tried fixing it with tape until I had a replacement, but I don't think it was enough. I'll see if the local scrappy has a unit today, he's got 2 brava's in the yard. I already scored new gassprings for the tailgate, for 5 euro's I could hardly NOT take them :p
 
Found the problem with the wipermotor. One of the brushes had gotten stuck and wasn't making proper contact anymore, so it started sparking and melted even more stuck in it's guide. This then prevented it from making contact at all. I took the motor apart, cleaned everything up and oiled/greased it all up. Getting it back together was a bit of a fiddle, but it's now running pretty well again.

Newest problem, I forgot to follow my own adage of: PHOTO'S PHOTO'S PHOTO'S, NOTES NOTES NOTES. End result, the wipers are currently trying to wipe the bonnet. Needles to say that doesn't really work :D I'll try again in the morning. After 5 hours of tinkering I've had enough for the day.

I'm planning on taking a camera (Be it a crappy one) with me, so I might just write up a short How to on the wipermotor if anyone is interested.(y)
 
Last edited:
Gregovic said:
...the brushes had gotten stuck and wasn't making proper contact anymore, so it started sparking and melted....
Click to expand...
IMHO that in itself can have a disastrous effect on the car battery and can lead to sulfation.
 
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