My Bravo hgt ABS light on

[ant_dcruze]

hey my abs light is on my HGT and the break pedal doesn't go to the floor the car has been sitting for about 3month with out even been turned on and the brakes look really rusty i know if you leave it for a while then they look rusty but these look bad. Do you think they might have ceased if so what do i do to sort them out get a hammer and bag them.?? don't ask me to drive it, cause im putting the drive shaft back in and replacing the lower arm so it won't move. but after 3 months of not moving the engine started 1st time and sound sweet. but about the breaks please help!!! thanks
also if you know there is no power steering this might be because the tyers are flat and the lower arm is hanging off but why is it everytime i go to turn the wheel full lock the horn beeps??? i really need some help please cause i wanna get it up and running as soon as i can iv just bought it and i wanna get rid of my punto thanks again
its my little project

[larsen_huw]

Right.

I only drive older cars, so am no help whatsoever when it comes to fancy things like ABS.

However, with the brakes binding i can offer some advice.

Jack the car up and take the front wheels off. Prop with axle stands (i know i'm probably telling you to suck eggs, but i wanna make sure people don't get hurt following my advice).

Take off the front calipers ... on the cars i know (old rear wheel drive Ford's) that's a simple case of unbolting the bolts which hold them to the front suspension ... i have no idea how you'd do it on a Fiat.

When the calipers come off, support them, don't let them hang by the brake line. In the caliper are brake pads. Take these off (usually by removing a clip and sliding a pin out ... the pads then drop out). You should now be able to see the pistons (round thingys in the middle of the calipers).

Take a small piece of wood and place it over the piston ... then apply pressure to the wood to push the piston back in. Whatever you do, don't apply pressure or hit the pistons directly, they break easily. Opening the top of the brake resevoir can make this task easier.

Once all the pistons have been pushed back, have a look at the brake disks. If they're really pitted and rusty, then go and buy a PAIR (if you ever replace anything on the brakes, do it in pairs!!! Don't change one side but not the other!) of brake disks and a set of brake pads (buy the brake pads whatever ... unless the old ones are very, very new).

If there is just a light bit of surface rust, go over them with some fine sandpaper to remove most of the rust. Don't try and make them look polished and shiny, you'll probably damage the disks. Just lightly remove the worst of the rust.

Then reassemble and bleed through (you probably won't need to bleed, but with brakes it's better to be safe rather than sorry!) and hopefully you'll have nice new un-siezed front brakes.

One thing i can think of for the ABS ... there'll be a sensor on the caliper ... check to see if the wire going to that has got a rusty conenction ... if so that might be causing you ABS light to come on.

If any of this sounds scary to you, seek the help of a professional mechanic! Don't take any risks when working on the brakes of a car ... it's a very safety critical item!

Remember that this is just my views on how to sort binding brakes ... i've enver worked on Fiats or cars with ABS, so take it all with a pinch of salt! :)

[ant_dcruze]

thanks for that i hope its that simple, would that cause the pedal don't to go down when the engine is still runnig??

about the power steering why would it not turn so easly and why does the horn go off eveytime i try and turn it?

[larsen_huw]

Dunno is the answer for most of that.

Like i said, I mainly do old Fords ... stuff you fix by hitting with a hammer until it works again! :D

Never worked on a car with power steering ... although if my understanding of them is correct, they run off a pump driven by a belt from the crankshaft pulley.

Maybe the belt is slipping?

As a rule of thumb, it shouldn't have any visible damage on it, and if you try and twist it along it's longest length, you shouldn't be able to twist it more than 90 degrees (that last bit is a rule of thumb for alternators ... but i'm assuming it's still valid as the principal's the same!).

And if yo uwant a guess for the horn ... dodgy connection in the steering column ... if you feel brave, take off the wheel and open up the steering column ... see if there's any dodgy looking wires in there! :)

[larsen_huw]

Just had another idea.

Are your brakes servo or vacuum assisted?

If they are vacuum assisted, make sure the vacuum pipe is wired correctly, and isn't perished.

Dunno how the servo works ... but it's probably run off the engine... so it must have some connection with it (either electrical, or physical) make sure the wire or belt or whatever is correctly attached.

Sorry i can't be of more help.

Rivolette you got anything you can add?

[ant_dcruze]

it is a survo im sure i im just hoping its the pistons cause survo is a pain to change and expensive for a HGT. but i have a funny feeling it is that cause when i was drivin an old fiat van the brake servo went on that and it felt the same i couldn't really push the pedal down at all. might hav found the problem. but this is my little project car and it is begin to get expensive :mad:

[larsen_huw]

Well I'd hate to say 'serves you right for buying a Fiat' ... ;)

So i won't! :D

[ant_dcruze]

yeah well i hav a punto if i tell u what has gone wrong with that we will be here all night. il never learn, but il never buy a ford italian blood means italian cars. and italian stupidity
oh well il have to (F)ix (I)t (A)gain (T)omorrow
that phrase is so true


:D

[larsen_huw]

FORD

Fix Or Repair Daily

:)

Well i'm quarter Italian (Mum's Mum was born Maria Annunsiata (sp?) DiMarco) and have only ever owned Fords! :)

[rivolette]

The reason why your horn is going off every time you turn the steering wheel, is because there is a short were you wheel meets the dash. You would have to carefully take the wheel off and see where the hosn leads are exposed and repair them. It's rather complicated to take the steering wheel off (only if you are not mechanically inclined). You would need a steering puller and a decent attention span.

As for why your power steering is not working, it is most likely because the power steering pump is either shot or there's air in the system (similar to the radiator and the break system, the hydraulic steering can have air locks in it.)

Be very careful when you are working around the ABS brakes. Do not alter anything unless you know you can bring it back to it's original setting.

Bottom line, if you are in doubt, call a professional mechanic.

[larsen_huw]

Other thing to remember when taking the steering wheel off is the airbag.

Try not to set that off! They're expensive ... it'll scare the crap out of you ... and if you're too close it could injure you.

[ant_dcruze]

thanks guys i thinkk its just one of the sensor that have gone because the car took a pretty big bang on the front wheel which ripped the lower arm almost off. so i hoping that when everythin is back together the brakes will work fine..