what is an idler arm ?

[84pininfarinablack]

socal you really know these cars inside and out its amazing. Its like diagnosing a sick pet. who cant talk to you.

I got the car 4 months ago it pulled to the left when braking. not nearly as bad at slow speeds than at fast speeds. If i brake lightly its bad but i can stay in my lane... If i were to mash on the brakes.. the car literally lurches to the left and if i wasnt ready for it (which i unfortunately am) i would be in a wreck for sure. the harder the mash it just amplifies the effect.

Another clue. the steering wheel itself turns to the left when this happens. And when i let go of the brakes the steering wheel instantly corrects itself. (jolts to the right) almost just as violently as the initial jolt to the left.

hopefully that clue will help..

all 4 brake calipers are now new and installed and working..
new pads
new rotors.
new master cyl
brake system hold pressure when empty .
new brake hoses
brakes have been bleed by pro mechanic and bench bled first.

on the idler arm the bushings are worn. my 2 left tie rods are new.. my 2 right ones are old.. 1 is cracked around equator. the other looks good. The center rod and bushings look good.. they are old still. I just dont see a bushing that is cracked down its equator only causing this kind of violent jerk of the steering wheel. Its looks like a bushing that stops two metal parts from rubbing together during movement. Those bushings are cracked and crappy yes. And the steering may not be crisp because of it. But to cause this kind of pulling I just cannot see it..
When one of the wheels has brakes applied to it. The wheel / rotor wants to aim left . maybe causing them both to aim left as the whole assembly has to adjust. The question is why would my wheel want to aim left when brakes are applied.
Maybe im way off . new pad new caliper and new rotor.. yaaa my theory makes no sense either.. nothing would make it jerk left. yet it is.. ha

Air in the brake lines i dont think could the culprit as all wheels stop when brakes are pushed.

the harder i push the brakes the worse it is... weird..
thank you my Fiat detectives.

[So Cal Mark]

if the toe is way off, that will cause a pull. But from your description I'd say the right front isn't working

[ventura ace]

With the front wheels off the ground, have an assistant lightly touch the brakes while you go to both front wheels and try to rotate the wheels by hand. Compare the amount of effort to overcome the drag -- should be about the same. Have your assistant press a little harder and repeat. Again. My guess is that you'll get to the point where you can't turn the driver side wheel, but the passenger side will be free spinning. If that's the case, you're either not getting fluid to the passenger side, or something is fouled up with the caliper.

Alvon

[84pininfarinablack]

thanks guys ill have him try these two tests..

[ORFORD2004]

There was slack in my idler arm and when i open it, it was full of rubber seal to take the play . So i went to a bearing place and order brass bushing to replace the old one.

[84pininfarinablack]

well i got the car back from the shop. Im relatively happy however.
car still pulls to left when braking... its smoother now and not as jagged.. I think my left tie rod is not screwed in far enough causing the left wheel toe to point inwards off center.. so when i brake it wants to straighten that wheel out just a bit. causing the pull. its very slight now and the left tie rod isnt set so the wheel is straight forward.

the brake pedal needs to be pushed half way in to feel the brakes... this sucks i guess he didnt adjust that acorn nut right? but the brakes stop the car wonderfully .. aside from the pull.

my 4 new shocks from IAP were awesome for 24 hours.. now the front right has the loudest and most obnoxious squeek on every bump i hit or turn i make and on every brake... Winning the loudest squeek contest is me. Are brand new shocks supposed to squeek ? do i throw it away and put a new one in ? or jump on the car for a while? sucks.

I still love the car though and its clearly closer to correct. What a rattle trap this is though.. my rear view mirror vibrates this horrible noise... my shift boot ring vibrates as its broken i guess. New top came in yesterday ill enjoy installing that soon. I went tan vinyl.. After much thought i went that way i hope it was right choice we will see. its the right tan color were the canvas was not.

Even with new shocks the car still has a bottoming out feeling when hitting big bumps... and it sounded like crap especially on the brick roads near my house.. Do springs need to be replaced too after 26 years ? I didnt do the springs yet.. wish i didnt thave to. do these things wear out ?

Only about 300 more hours working on the car till ill be happy... im already looking forward to getting that turbo model and having two of them... by then ill be a veteran and will already have taken apart and put back together everything so it should go much faster. Plus I now know which car to pick when buying. thanks for your help guys.

[TulsaSpider]

I replaced my braking system and still had a pull. When I replaced the A arm bushings it now stops straight as an arrow. Has your car been lowered? I didn't have any problems with bottoming out until I lowered mine and it's still not that bad. I did have my exhaust re done and they got that a little low so you might check that the exhaust isn't hanging down low. Basically just check under there and see the lowest point of the car to see what is hitting. What kind of bumps? speed bumps? No idea on the shocks mine are original and still work ok, yea I know they are on my list! hey it's a looong list!

[narfire]

my 4 new shocks from IAP were awesome for 24 hours.. now the front right has the loudest and most obnoxious squeek on every bump i hit or turn i make and on every brake... Winning the loudest squeek contest is me. Are brand new shocks supposed to squeek ? do i throw it away and put a new one in ? or

Are all the nuts tight on the front suspension. I'd think the people who worked on your car would have checked, but.....
I found the nuts holding my sway bar on were loose causing a good rattle when going over a bump. I also checked the nuts holding the lower "A" arm arm on and they were a bit loose as well. I got a wrench on them and got a couple of turns on each. This made a significant improvement in the handling and now no noise comming from the front. Last year I also had one of those "A" arm mounting studs break free at the back,weld let go,perhaps that could be moving, giving you grief. Some else here would have more imput on that though.
Now I just have rattles in the back... the exhaust has to be bent a bit more so it stops rattling against the body of the car.

I hope the brake line made it and instalation fluid.

[84pininfarinablack]

does new shocks squeek like this ? do you think its a defect ? or should i be patient and hope for it to go away?

[narfire]

The front shocks I thought can be dropped without too much hassel. If the car is up on blocks can you pull a shock out and check then? Squeaky shock does not sound right to me specially a new one. Mine, KYB-G2, were and have been fine.

[manoa matt]

Have you checked that the shock is not rubbing against the side of the shock tower opening? The aftemarket and current shocks sometimes do not include the metal sleve bushing to center the shock in the top mounting point, therby relying on the small step on the rubber cushions to locate the top mount.

If the top mounting point of the shock is not right, it puts the shock at an angle, when the shock is extended it rubs on the side of the shock tower at the inward edge of the opening.

[84pininfarinablack]

manoa, Im not sure how to check for that i cant really get my head in there to see whats going on underneath the top bolt.

I like your theory though. would i just take it off and put it on again to fix it ? and hope it stays centered ?
Or aquire some kind of bushing that will hold it centered as you mentioned.

not only does it squeek but it feels like ass. a real bottoming out feeling when i hit bumps.. along with some extra noises that make me feel like my transmission just got left behind.. scary...