Where do I start?! Brake pads warning indicator (indicated from front left) came on recently and I had an advisory for rear brake pads at the last MOT. Along with these I had an ABS/Traction control fault, at first it was intermittent and then indicators where on permanently. A bit of research showed that the wheel speed sensors are usually to blame. So being fairly mechanical minded I thought I'd have a crack at the lot, I ordered Brembo discs and pads for the front and rear and an aftermarket sensor. I also bought a caliper winding tool (ebay special). Front pads and discs changed with no problems at all yesterday, came to undo the locking bolt on one of the rears and it's rounded off, tried hammering it on but kept slipping. So today took it to a local garage who managed to get it off with a windy gun. Cost me a couple of quid, result! Then onto the rear discs and pads, left rear wheel off, sensor changed, caliper removed and can't remove the carrier for the pads as I haven't got the right sized torx socket, I had one that was too big and one that was too small, very annoyed at this point. So I thought I'll just change the pads as the discs were still usable, only problem being, the caliper piston will not wind back, it winds out and slightly back in but will not go in even most of the way. Everything I tried didn't work. Extremely annoyed at this point! Right, old pads back in, only the piston won't retract anymore and there was no way of getting the caliper back on, so I left one pad out (cowboy I know) and stuck all back together and drove it down the road to a local garage and left it there. Brakes didn't feel right at all and went slightly spongy at times, I hadn't broken into the brake lines at this point so hopefully it's just because of me being gash. On the drive there the ABS/Traction lights flashed up again so the sensor didn't solve it, could be the loom or the ABS ECU which would be expensive! The garage will be looking at it tomorrow so hopefully the brakes get sorted as I need the car for Thursday to drive home on leave...... feeling pretty gutted tbh. Sorry about the epic post.
Never trust the Germans... seriously though, driving it with a pad missing probably wasn't a good idea. Sorry that was a completely unhelpful post
brakes do genrally feel spongy after eplacing pads as for the rear caliper do you have right hand and left hand wind back tools some are left handed i have both but upto now ive never needed the left hand tool but cant say ive used it on a audi also if the pistons come out too far they are a bastard to get back in i was very close to buying a audi a4 last week still like them but just cant seem to come to terms with the price looks like im maybe going to stick with honda as for the money i think you get more value for money yes if you get a good audi they are maybe more luxury than a honda but my last 2 cars have been hondas and for over 10 years ive had trouble free motoring a friend who owns his own repair garage tried to put me off audis as hes had a fewin for repair with expensive repairs it seams they can be prone to a few (what look like ) problem cars know in the trade as friday afternoon cars where the build quality isnt as good as they should be ive been running a 2.2 diesel civic for the last 6 to 7 years 155000 miles on the clock still runs like a dream and over 60mpg on a decent run at steady speeds (slightly over speed limit)
It wasn't my finest moment driving it with 1 pad but I needed to get it to the garage asap so it could potentially be sorted for Thursday. The ebay special kit came with both left and right but maybe the piston just came out too far. I'd had the car for almost 4 years and it hasn't been too bad so far, the DPF has failed twice in that time, forced regeneration cured it the first time, then I had it cured permanently the second time if you know what I mean. I still think it's a great car and I'll be keeping it, just felt a bit down about not being able to do it tbh but onwards and upwards
New caliper required, piston won't wind back in at all, it wouldn't when I tried at first tbf, car should be ready for tomorrow lunchtime so not being held up too long thankfully
Rear caliper went on mine...a new one was £50 or so online. I love the brembo option...my poor a3 gets the cheapest of everything. Abs pump goes on them all too! Got to love having a go though. Save a fortune....and a great excuse to buy lots of tools.
I enjoy having a tinker, just get frustrated when it doesn't go my way lol. I only went for Brembo as euro car parts were doing 30% off and it was only a few quid more than other options. The applicable caliper for mine is coming in at £130 with 20% that they are doing at the minute so I'll just leave it to the garage to pick one. New tools are always good buys even if they don't get used lol
