166 3.0 V6 sitting in its own brake fluid in Calne!

[Rebelred 0]

Hello all,

 

Have a 1999 166 3.0 Super manual for a few weeks now. It's due a service but unfortunately after an emergency stop this evening turning into my estate I've managed to burst something (presumably a pipe???) and she's now sitting in a pool of her own brake fluid outside my house. I live between Calne and Chippenham and know a lot of you guys use someone in Lyneham to do work on your cars.

 

Any chance anyone would have contact details for them? Need to fix the leak, service her and cure what I think is a sticking rear caliper. Oh and central locking remote isn't working.... But on the plus side it has a powerfulow exhaust so sounds amazing!

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

[K9d 108]

You couldn't have broken down in a better place, the man you seek is Smaky and he will no doubt be along later to help.

 

I think he's at the Swindon meeting this evening so he may not be on till later if at all today.

 

P.S. Welcome to AlfaDriver.

[Rebelred 0]

Thanks k9d, would you have smaky's details? I'm in a bit of a fix as have no transport at the moment until I can get the 166 back on the road.

 

Thanks for the welcome by the way!

[LJ_GQV 115]

You can send smaky a message on here

 

Welcome to AD

[Rebelred 0]

Cheers LJ_GTA, thanks for the welcome!

 

As I am a newbie I don't seem to be able to send any PM's unfortunately.

 

Anyone mind asking Smaky if he would be able to PM me? Thanks again for your help!

[LJ_GQV 115]

I think theres a post limit (5-10 posts) to beat the spammers etc so a few more & you're there a post in the newbie section saying about your car etc should do it

[jhc 28]

Hello

 

Smaky will no doubt be along soon (and probably tell you to ignore everything I'm about to say) and yes unfortunately we have to use a post limit before pms can be sent to avoid bloody spammers.

 

But it is only a few posts so as LJ says an intro thread, some pics of your car in the gallery, or a couple of random posts in the chit chat forum should help you along. Don't worry about the content of them too much, our residents mostly post a load of old bollocks so anything (within the rules) will do.

 

On topic, are you sure its brake fluid? Did the brakes fail after your emergency stop? It takes a hell of an effort to burst/detach a brake hose. If it was a burst brake line your foot brakes would be non-existant as soon as it happened I think.

 

What colour is the puddle? I'd hazard a guess its PAS fluid myself, power steering pipes are much more prone to failure than brake lines. PAS fluid is a reddy/brown colour if you dont know that already. (most leaked engine fluids look the same when they're soaking into your driveway... Try putting down a few sheets of newspaper under the engine bay for a few hours. It will show the colour much better and also point out where-ish the leak is coming from). Sorry if all this seems a bit patronising, I have no idea what your knowledge of mechanics is so I'm going with the basics.

 

All that aside, welcome to AD

[jhc 28]

Ps; to fix a sticky caliper:

 

Remove wheel.

 

Hit caliper with a big hammer.

 

Lots.

 

If that doesn't work, soak it in brake cleaner and repeat.

 

If it still doesn't work, buy a caliper refurb kit off ebay, take it apart (they're very simple), replace all the rubbers and clean up any rust on the piston, then reassemble.

 

The most complicated bit is getting them to work again. That means bleeding, which is easy... If you know how. If you don't know how, get someone who does to do it, they're important!

[Smaky 73]

I am aware and PM is sent, hopefully it's a 3.0 as these are cheaper to fix than the 2.0/2.5. Another possibility is though that the pads have gone down too far and the piston has popped.

[Rebelred 0]

Cheers munky,

 

Not patronising at all mate! It's good advice and you could well be right. It's lashing rain now so can't try your test but haven't driven it since last Friday so don't know if there's any fluid left now.

 

Got a PM from Smaky and have replied so hopefully I can arrange for him to take a look at some stage. It's a 3.0 V6 Super by the way Smaky.

 

Will be sure to get a couple of pics up in the Newbie section guys as well.

 

Thanks for all the help, I will keep you informed as to progress of getting her back on the road! Really missing the V6 noise now.

 

P.S. LOL at your description of how to free a siezed caliper! Genius! :-)

[Smaky 73]

If you suspect it's brake fluid then don't drive the car anywhere.

[Rebelred 0]

Update on my brake issue. Smaky arrived earlier this evening and took a look. Put some brake fluid in and looked under front wheels, we could hear a hiss as I pumped the pedal but no sign of any leak... That is until smaky spotted the leak from the rear near side wheel! The rear brake line was leaking , not the fronts. Smaky set to work utilising a whole 156 boot of parts to cut back the old pipe and bridge in a new section. Sounds easy, but was a nightmare job! The finished result though is a very greatful 166 owner that doesn't have to get the bus to work tomorrow. Cheers smaky, thanks for all your hard work.

[Smaky 73]

No problem