Brake problems on a 131

[kev131]

Some of the forums members may have been aware from previous posts that I have been having problems with my brakes - Ever since I bought the car in fact. On the test drive the left rear drum seized emitting a horrible burning smell.? You can just see the smoke in this picture.



Two attempts to cure it, the second with two new brake cylinders resulted in a very long pedal but sufficiently good braking effect for the drive from Frankfurt to Limerick ...provided I left lots of braking distance and stayed extremely alert!!

Back in Ireland various attempts to cure the long pedal (it failed the NCT because of it) brought the pedal back up but the brakes starting sticking again. New Fiat shoes were then fitted in the hope that new adjustors would cure the problem. They did ...but temporarily. On 3MA07 Simon smelt buring brakes from 2 cars back and a roadside adjustment freed the binding but a long pedal made an unwelcome return. Needless to say, any spirited driving during 3MA was tempered by the fact that the brakes were not up to the car's performance.

Next course of action was to consult with a Fiat trained mechanic who had served his apprenticeship in a Fiat dealer in the 70s and continued to work on them through the 80s. First attempt to cure the long fadey pedal was to replace the brake hoses in case they were expanding and causing the pedal to sink down. A thorough bleeding and an adjustment to one shoe (it had been sticking) left me with a high pedal and much more confidence.

Sadly the improvement declined over the next few weeks and our attention turned to whatever was left - The last culprit suspected as being the master cylinder. A call to Ricambio sourced one?and once it had arrived in the post the 131 was booked in again.

Once fitted, the fluid was replaced and the system bled again before I set off to test the results. That was 2 weeks ago and I'm delighted to say that the pedal is still firm. Fingers crossed as I'm not sure what is left to replace at this stage!! I've had cylinders, shoes, discs, hoses and now a master cyliner and new fluid - Hopefully that should hold things together for 3MA08!?

[simon131]

Let's hope that it's all been fixed once and for all now Kev. Best of luck

[Tristan]

one thing to check Kevin is that there is free play in the rod going into the master cylinder , if not the brakes can lock up after a while , not just on FIATS but on all cars.

[Baja141]

What about the brake load compensator at the back of the rear axle, Kev.. you haven't mention that you have touch that thing ...or did I miss out reading ? ..maybe that cylinder seized, or that rubber holding the linkage worn, thus off adjustment.
That load compensator via linkage sense & controls the brake fluid distribution to the rear slave cylinders whenever there is a change in load at the rear, this is to prevent lock up in situation your are on light rear load.
If the rear locks up when every other components are ok, maybe the fluid do not release pressure/return to the main line.