punto jamming up

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Sun 2 Jul 2006 14:19
punto jamming up - welderjames
Hi all,My girlfriend has a 95 punto 1.1,when you touch the brakes(the pedal feels very tight)the brakes jam up and stick to the road with a sudden clunk.Then you have to reverse to free it.The clutch pedal too feels a bit strange too,and there is a looseness feel through the car as if the front end is about to fall out.Any ideas?...
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Sun 2 Jul 2006 17:01
punto jamming up - Hamsafar
Check to see if it does this if you pull on the stick brake while moving, if it does, the problem will probably be inside the rear drums. If it doesn't do it, the problem will probably be at the front.
The front pads on these are so easy to change and only cost about £15 a set.
If you're a DIYer take the front wheels off and inspect, and you may as well have the pads ready and do them while you're there, if not, go to any quick fitting type place and they should be able to replace them for about £40 or tell you if something more seious is amiss.
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Sun 2 Jul 2006 17:34
punto jamming up - robcars
Check the front discs closely and urgently.

It sounds as though a disc is about to shear/ has sheared and could cause major accident injury/death!

Sorry to be alarmist but had a similar problem on similar car before and owner was still using it daily.
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Sun 2 Jul 2006 17:49
punto jamming up - bell boy
welderjames get car to a garage pronto ............
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Sun 2 Jul 2006 17:54
punto jamming up - pmh
Do not drive it without a professional opinion.

If the clutch is also giving problems you could have 'pedal box' problems which could result in total braking loss. Worse still, what is the history of the car? If your name is anything to go by you should recognise if the front half of the car belongs!
--

pmh (was peter)


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Sun 2 Jul 2006 17:54
punto jamming up - Number_Cruncher
welderjames get car to a garage pronto ............


I agree.

The brake locking and needing to be reversed to release sounds more like a rear drum problem to me - return spring broken?, or shoe debonded?, and the leading shoe locking due to self servo action.

But, whatever it is, the advice remains - get it looked at - BEFORE using the car any more.

Number_Cruncher
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Tue 4 Jul 2006 20:13
punto jamming up - welderjames
Got the punto fixed,
Turned out that the caliper on drivers side had come loose,the top bolt had come out and when braking the caliper rolled forward and stuck between it and the wheel,hence the jamming and freeing when reversed,and as for the clutch pedal feeling ropey,apparently its always been like that......?thanks to all who replied,cheers James.
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Wed 5 Jul 2006 00:03
punto jamming up - Crinkly Dave
Suggest you let her upstairs buy the lottery tickets this weekend. You have used your luck up for this year
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Wed 5 Jul 2006 00:09
punto jamming up - bell boy
Suggest you let her upstairs buy the lottery tickets this weekend.
You have used your luck up for this year


and post the numbers soonest ;-)
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Wed 5 Jul 2006 01:19
punto jamming up - welderjames
Her indoors will no doubt be ringing me again from Tescos car park when her 1995 punto packs up again,I have been told head gaskets go every 30k,
It was suggested that I drill a 6mm hole in the stat to relieve the pressure on the cooling system /head gasket and this may keep the beast (the car,not the girlfriend) on the road a bit longer.
I was under the impression that the stat allowed the coolant to cool in the rad before cooling the engine,and so on and so on.
If the coolant keeps going around and around,will it get enough time in the rad to cool?..........
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