Rear Calipers Compatibility

[aragorn]

I need to replace the rear calipers on my '96 A4 and noticed that the later cars (97 on?) use alloy ones.

I'm trying to find out if these later alloy calipers will fit my car, i suspect i will need the carriers that match, but if i can get a pair with the carriers will they fit my hubs?

cheers

Kevin

 

[Lee Goodall]

I've just done mine but to save any bother I got pre 97 calipers which obviously went straight on.

 

[aragorn]

Hmm it seems to be getting worse and we're supposed to be driving to northumberland tomorrow...

I'm going to have to just buy a new steel caliper tonight and fit it after work along with new wheel bearings, disks and pads. The bearing in theres probably taking a bit of a roasting so i'll change them to be on the safe side.

Since you have done it already how difficult was it, ive read over the haynes and the only bit i'm worried about is the handbrake cable adjustment, as these adjusters can quite often be siezed solid.

Did you need to adjust the cables on yours and if so was the adjuster free?

 

[Lee Goodall]

It's not a bad job but I managed to cheat with the handbrake cable by pulling it out of the caliper. It didn't need any adjustment as I put the original pads back in because they were hardly worn.

I have adjusted them before and they were stiff but WD40 did the job.

The only thing that was a problem was disconnecting the brake hose from the caliper as it was very tight and hard to get at.

 

[Lee Goodall]

Aragorn if you want I can email you a word doc containing the ElsaWin hand brake adjustment guide.. it's a bit clearer than Haynes. PM me a contact email if you think it'll be of any help.

 

[aragorn]

should have known something would go wrong!

changed the stuff tonight, didnt have a blowtorch to remove the ABS ring from the back of the disk, so now the dash board is flashing an annoying red thing constantly

then i managed to split the master cylinder resovoir with my easibleed kit!

otherwise its working.

anyone know if its possible to stop the dashboard flashing like a mental until next weekend when i can fix the ABS ring?

Also if i strip the master cylinder resovoir off to replace it how difficult is it to bleed the system?

 

[mwarrey]

You can just pry the ABS rings off. Be careful though they damage quite easily. I bought some new ones when changed my discs as the old ones were pretty rusty.

 

[aragorn]

right i didnt want to pry them without some heat incase i broke them

how much are new ones? might just get a pair for next weekend and the Big Repair

No gen on the resovoir? i hope the araldite seals it up, but if ive got to replace it i dont like the sounds of having to bleed the abs pump!

 

[Broken Byzan]

if you drain out the resevoir carefully, a new one can be dropped in place, if you the fill up slowly no air will enter the pipes as the cylinder is still full. Just do not press the pedal with it off or it will suck air in.

Well it worked for me, as my easibleed did the same thing

 

[mwarrey]

I think the ABS rings were around £10 each (and main dealer only)

Mmmm, not sure if heating them up will make much difference in getting them off though ? Wouldn't the discs will just act as a giant heatsink (which is what they are designed to do)

Let us know if it works.

 

[aragorn]

byzan: did you keep it within the specified 10psi or jam it on the front roadwheel??

I bled it the first time using the spare wheel, but it was still spongey on the test drive so i did it again and just clipped it onto the front wheel instead, clearly the resovoir doesnt like 30psi!

eurocarparts have the rings for £13+vat each, dunno if the main dealer would be cheaper?

 

[Broken Byzan]

I used the front wheel but lowered the pressure to around 15, it was fine, i did make sure i bled around half a litre out of each wheel as thats how much it took to come out clear.

 

[mwarrey]

Forgot to say it was around 5 years ago when i did mine, so prices would have gone up by now.

Don't overdo the pressure on the ezibleed. I did once and the cap blew off the master cylinder spraying brake fluid all over the place.

 

[aragorn]

Lol thats the point, i cracked the top of the reservoir and sprayed brake fluid all over the windscreen and roof!

I've sealed it with araldite but if that doesnt hold i'll need to replace it

 

[aragorn]

little update today

baught two new ABS rings from audi during the week so took the replaced disk off and fitted that, was a complete **** to fit, ended up having to take a file to the inside of the ring so i could actually get it over the hub, i'd imagine a hyraulic press and the right sized drift would get it on ok but with some careful filing i managed to get it on as a tight fit

nipped to the scrappy and got another master cylinder resovoir off an Audi 80 and fitted that, went on with no problems and i didnt have to bleed the system either!

fitted the other disk and pads and it all went ok, but i think we might have another dodgy caliper, the run home is 12 miles of winding backroad and the disk i replaced today was ROASTING when we got home. I dunno if the backroad on a freshly fitted disk has just got it that hot, or if the other caliper is sticking! The other side was quite hot last week when we drove home, but im not sure if it was that hot. The strange thing is the caliper didnt look that old, certainly no where near as knackered looking as the one i changed last week.

i'll see how hot it gets tomorrow and decide then if i need to change it or not. I want to bleed the system through to get the old crappy fluid out of the lines anyway so i'll see what happens.

 

[mwarrey]

Brake discs do get hot. Have you tried jacking up the rear wheel and see if it spins freely ?. Also check that the wheel bearing is not too loose ?

 

[aragorn]

by hot i mean the wheel was roasting...

when i put it together there was a bit of drag, if i tried to spin the wheel it would probably manage about 1 rotation before stopping

i'll see if its the same tomorrow

one thing i've thaught about, i seem to remember reading that after winding the piston back in your supposed to wind it back out half a turn, i didnt do this, can anyone confirm thas required?

 

[mwarrey]

by hot i mean the wheel was roasting...

when i put it together there was a bit of drag, if i tried to spin the wheel it would probably manage about 1 rotation before stopping

i'll see if its the same tomorrow

one thing i've thaught about, i seem to remember reading that after winding the piston back in your supposed to wind it back out half a turn, i didnt do this, can anyone confirm thas required?

I have never done that and had no problems, they should self adjust when you set up the handbrake. Is there a lot of corrosion around where the pad guides touch the caliper. I always give these a good cleanup with a file and add a touch of copper grease. Could the pads be getting stuck there ?

 

[jcb]

unless you are dragging a quattro drive train I would say one revolution to try an spin the wheel is not right.
mine is a quattro and I can spin the wheel more than one rev.
suspect you either have pads dragging or the bearing.
even on a heavy run you should be able to put you hand on the outside of the wheel without burning it!

 

[jcb]

unless you are dragging a quattro drive train I would say one revolution to try an spin the wheel is not right.
mine is a quattro and I can spin the wheel more than one rev.
suspect you either have pads dragging or the bearing.
even on a heavy run you should be able to put you hand on the outside of the wheel without burning it!

 

[aragorn]

right decided to bite the bullet and buy another caliper for the offside today.

Went to fit it and discovered it was exactly the same, binding quite a lot with the handbrake off, Turns out one of the guide pins was bent! £1 later at the scrappy and i'd aquired two streight guidepins from an audi 80 and everything went together as it should!

seemed to have a bit of trouble bleeding them, i bled them with the eezibleed and took it for a drive and they felt very spongey, bled it again and got more air out and again felt spongey, did it 2 or 3 times more and it seemed stop putting air out but they still felt the moved a bit more than before, i dunno if its just because the two calipers which were a bit dodgy before are now working correctly or not, the brakes certainly work perfectly and arent spongey any more so i'm happy enough.

Fronts are on the cards to be replaced next, but they're still servicable so they can wait till next month

Anyone know if i can use complete audi TT calipers, instead of just the carriers, as i figure if a set of carriers is £70 and the complete setup is £80 i may as well buy everything and can paint up the calipers before i fit them...

 

[Broken Byzan]

I am pretty sure they will fit, just need the A6 discs to go with. Its what i want to do when i need discs next

I had similar problems with mine swapping the pads out last week, ended up woking the piston out and in a few times and cleaning the crap off them. I was amazed how much gunk came out each time i pushed the peddle to extend it.

I was going to put stainless hoses on but my calipers have banjo type connectors and the goodridge hoses i have dont !!