Faulty Iveco Brakes?

Hi,
I am an experienced car and van driver but I have only been driving 7.5t lorries for a few months. I could do with your opinions on a truck I was asked to drive.

On Saturday I was asked to take out a 7.5t Iveco ( don’t kinow the model but it was on a 63 plate). On starting it up there was a red warning triangle on the dashboard plus a red circle. The brakes were very soft and the pedal was easily pushed to the floor. I took it across the yard and it would stop but the brakes were spongy. An additional warning light would sometimes come on when pressing the pedal. This was obviously a brake warning light. The LCD display showed a bulb failure and the air pressure was down to 6bar.

By this time all the other drivers had left so there was no one with experience to ask. I had no choice but to reject the lorry as I wasn’t happy with it. This earned me a lot of grief from the warehouse and office staff.

I was told today that the lorry was fine. The warning symbols were just for the lights. Not checked by a mechanic but in the opinion of another driver. The lorry is still being used but not by me. I did put in a fault report but I think it has been ignored.

Is this my lack of experience and just an Iveco trait? I have seen three other incidents that suggests to me that maintenence is not a priorty (especially with the Christmas busy period coming up).

Cheers,

Paul

red warning triangle will have been to warn you the air pressure was down paul, if you had let the air build up that light would have gone out, the 7.5t iveco is a air over hydraulic system so if you pulled away without building the air up fully the brake pedal would have felt very spongy

hard to say, could do with a picture, could the circle be a pad warning indicator (worn out), did you try and build up air pressure before rejecting the truck?

Ivecos have a problem with that. If the air is at the usual level and the brakes are still soft then its a real problem and good on you for not taking it out.

How did he get the park brake off if air was low? Or do they not have spring brakes?