I recently succumbed to the allure of the Giulia Super. Lovely car - I can see why you guys love these things.
After replacing the suspension bushings, etc on the Super I jumped in, started her up and pulled out of the hoist. Hit the brakes and then recalled that I had forgotten to bleed the brakes. Fortunately I wasn't going fast enough to create a new opening in the wall and once my blood pressure returned to normal, we put it back on the hoist and started to bleed the brakes. Starting at the back as I usually do it took me a moment or two before I realized that fluid was gushing out of the front. Thinking it was a loose hose I was surprised to see that all the fittings were tight and dry. But again, fluid gushing out of the rim.
Obviously the piston seal had blown so we pulled the caliper off and I started to dismantle it. But it was coated with undercoating and grim so I tossed into the sand blaster to clean it up. Back at the bench I was starting again to work the problem then what did my wandering eyes did see:
That's right, a big old crack in the caliper housing! I've never seen anything like that. And it gave no previous indication of a problem while I drove it around for the few weeks before we worked on it. But once cracked it gave absolutely no pedal resistance.
So, with a single circuit brake system once the caliper fails you loose all hydraulics - front and rear. Furthermore, the clutch shares the same reservoir as the brakes so guess what - no downshifting either! And really, who gives a thought about the E-brake in the flatlands of southeast Michigan? Well I am now, that's for sure! That and separating the brake and clutch reservoir and maybe upgrading to a dual circuit system...
After replacing the suspension bushings, etc on the Super I jumped in, started her up and pulled out of the hoist. Hit the brakes and then recalled that I had forgotten to bleed the brakes. Fortunately I wasn't going fast enough to create a new opening in the wall and once my blood pressure returned to normal, we put it back on the hoist and started to bleed the brakes. Starting at the back as I usually do it took me a moment or two before I realized that fluid was gushing out of the front. Thinking it was a loose hose I was surprised to see that all the fittings were tight and dry. But again, fluid gushing out of the rim.
Obviously the piston seal had blown so we pulled the caliper off and I started to dismantle it. But it was coated with undercoating and grim so I tossed into the sand blaster to clean it up. Back at the bench I was starting again to work the problem then what did my wandering eyes did see:
That's right, a big old crack in the caliper housing! I've never seen anything like that. And it gave no previous indication of a problem while I drove it around for the few weeks before we worked on it. But once cracked it gave absolutely no pedal resistance.
So, with a single circuit brake system once the caliper fails you loose all hydraulics - front and rear. Furthermore, the clutch shares the same reservoir as the brakes so guess what - no downshifting either! And really, who gives a thought about the E-brake in the flatlands of southeast Michigan? Well I am now, that's for sure! That and separating the brake and clutch reservoir and maybe upgrading to a dual circuit system...