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Hi, i’m quite new to this forum, i’ve got a small problem with my 1996 Fiat Brava_SX 1.4 12V, i’ve already posted this on the FIATFORUM so i won’t bother, i’ll just post it here maybe i’ll get help.
“I got my 1996 1.4 Brava_SX from Austria from 1,5 years now, i currently live in Romania, i have this problem with my ride quality, i think it’s way too rough, so i decided to try and fix it somehow, i’ve spend 3 hours at 3 different mechanics and the couldn’t find a single problem in the back except the After-Market KYB Excel-G Shocks i’ve got on the car are so hard that makes the ride unbearable, is it normal to be this hard ? they needed a large crow bar to move the rear arm with the shocks connected to it, all the bearings are good on all four wheels, also, there’s no play in the rear arms so the bearings in there must be okay, it’s just that every time i hit a hole i get a little earthquake in the car, it’s very rough, also, in the front they could not find any faults except a little play in the right site arm rear and front bushings and other mechanic suspected the front anti-roll bar bushings (all of them), also, every time i hit a speed bump especially with the wheels steered in any direction (left/right) i get a damped sound, like you would hit a iron block with a rubber hammer only more metallic (the sound it’s very insignificative but i hear it everytime), also i get the same sound if i go at a very low speed, IDLE – FIRST GEAR speed (10km/h) and i hit the breaks fully the whole front of the car (nose) swings forward and down ( goes down) and i get also a damped/metallic sound.”
I also get this sound when i jack up the car/let it down and when i get 4 people in the car and the back lowers when they get off i get the exact same noise.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJUf0PN4xgo[/video]
-http://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-brava/342008-general-suspension-problem.html-
Later edit.
I’ve also posted some diagrams/pictures of the suspension assembly cause i bet you don’t see a lot of euros around here, especially this kind.
Any suggestions are welcomed.
Thanks in advance.
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I’m not too good with suspension but the first thing I thought of was tire pressure.
Have you checked the pressure and made sure your tires are aligned with good tread? Even tire brands and types will cause different sounds when driving.
Thanks for the replay, i did check that, the tires are okay, i only hear the noise over bumps so can’t really be tires fault.
I find over inflating tires will make bumps much more pronounced.
If the tires are a correct psi…
Do you hear something in the car loose when you hit a bump or is it just the vibration from the bump traveling through the car?
🙂 From reading your post, and with the information you have provided, I would want to look at your rear torsion bar. This is a metal bar that is tensioned to a certain setting to provide a flexible suspension piece that absorbs the up and down motion and converts it into a twisting of the torsion bar. You could have the bushings that hold the torsion bar in place could be old and may be seizing on the torsion bar. This would make the bar less effective at absorbing bumps and would make a noise as you raise the car. You need a repair manual for this model to be able to work on the torsion bar assembly. Also there is a preset amount of tension for the torsion bar tat can be adjusted but you need a manual to know what the setting is and how to adjust it. Knowing Fiat, it may not be repairable and you may need to replace the torsion bar assembly in the rear.
Another source of problems under the rear could be the bushing that hold the lower control arm to the torsion bar assembly. You could have the rubber in those arms seizing up also. Since you have been to three different mechanics and no one has found any problem, you may want to talk to a mechanic that works only on Fiats to get his perspective on your problem. With as many Fiats as there are in the world, I would try a google search and see if there is a solution to this problem that someone else has seen with this model also. Good Luck.There is no torsion bar in the rear, only a anti-roll bar, i’ll check the bushings on that, also, there is no bushings on the rear arm bushings, the rear arms are pivoting on berings, you can see that in the diagrams.
The knocking sound comes from the front, not rear.
[quote=”sjrobinson” post=86194]
Do you hear something in the car loose when you hit a bump or is it just the vibration from the bump traveling through the car?[/quote]There is a slight clonking noise when i go over bumps and i hear the same noise when i go at about 10 km/h and i apply the breaks fully, the front of the car swings forward and down and i get that noise, but i can hear it especially when i have my wheels steered.
Thanks in advance !Perhaps its something in the wheel arch or by one of the wheels that is hitting it.
It would make sense that when you brake the front of the car goes lower which would make whatever that is closer to the moving tires as well as hitting a bump would smack it against the tires.
Is everything stock? Recommended tire size? Stock front suspension?
[quote=”Bebyko” post=86209]There is no torsion bar in the rear, only a anti-roll bar, i’ll check the bushings on that, also, there is no bushings on the rear arm bushings, the rear arms are pivoting on berings, you can see that in the diagrams.
The knocking sound comes from the front, not rear.
[quote=”sjrobinson” post=86194]
Do you hear something in the car loose when you hit a bump or is it just the vibration from the bump traveling through the car?[/quote]There is a slight clonking noise when i go over bumps and i hear the same noise when i go at about 10 km/h and i apply the breaks fully, the front of the car swings forward and down and i get that noise, but i can hear it especially when i have my wheels steered.
Thanks in advance ![/quote]I am sorry if I misunderstood what your rear suspension parts are. Our suspension parts use similar names but seem to function differently. I was trying to address your noise problem with the suspension as you posted in your video. Since the only moving part in the rear suspension is your swing arm, I would test the movement of the arm and see if it makes noise when compressed. If possible you need to raise the rear suspension off the ground. If you use jacks to raise the rear, you will need to support the body on jack stands for safety before working on your vehicle. If you can access an lift you can perform the work without the need for the jack stands.
You need to carefully remove the rear shock and maybe the rear spring also, then you can use a jack to move the rear swing arm up and down through it’s range of motion and see if the bearing are making the noise you hear in the video. If it not the problem, then you need to suspect the rear sway bar bushings as the source of the noise.
Your bump in the front suspension could be the front sway bar link that is moving if the bushings there are worn. When you changed the rear shocks and installed new ones, did you change the front struts also ? You could be getting some noise from worn upper bushings there. Good Luck.I think i’ve identified the problem, i won’t bother with the rear for now, but in the front the front bushings from the right arm are a bit worn, i got a replay on fiatforum about this.
“My experience with a Brava (2001) is that KYB Excel gas dampers are quite firm, but not excessive. Nearly all front end noises (especially clunking over bumps) are due to worn front wishbone bushes – also on Tipos and I guess Puntos. On my car I have changed these, also drop links, track rods, track rod ends – all over time. Very common areas for wear and noises….
On my Tipo (1995) a lot of crashing from the back end was due to failed subframe mounting bushes – you can find some special “replacement” bushes for the Tipo and Brava/Bravo if you look in the right places.
If you are happy that the rear trailing arm bushes are moving OK then you could work on the brake balance valvce – again on my Tipo this seized up with age and rust etc, I changed mine but I think if you spray it with oil and move it about then you can free it up enough. You will need to take off the rear plastic undertray to fix this.”
To me it sounded like a ball joint was making the noise as you lifted the vehicle. As the group has pointed out, tire pressures were what I was thinking as well. In addition to the pressure, the tires themselves also play a big part. Let’s just say that some tires are better than others. The next thing that controls ride quality is your dampers. Personally, I’m not a fan of KYB, but you also need to make sure you prime them when they are installed. If not, they can create all kinds of issues. More information here, including how to find suspension noises. I’ll also post my video on strut replacement so you know what I’m talking about when I say ‘prime’ the struts.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car
Eric, i already watched all of your videos to 2-3 times! the back sound i think is coming from the rear break balancer, i has a sprig there, that must be pretty siezed up.
What other sources are there to make that noise ? Also, how can i know if they primed the shocks when they changed them, i didn’t do what, the previous owner did that.
I come with new details about the problem, today snowed pretty good, so it was pretty icy roads, i took the car for a spin, i noticed if i break fully and the wheels lock and the car slides on snow and hits any kind of bump i get that CLUNK, it’s the one that i’m talking about, if the breaks are lock in anyway i get that HUGE CLUNK, i noticed if i do this it’s way louder, don’t know why, maybe it’s the wishbone that has the bushes shot that comes from it’s place since the wheel it’s locked and hits the sub-frame or what it’s bolted on, that’s what i’m thinking….any ideas on that ?
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