Changing the rear pads on a B8

Brennan

Brennan

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So I changed the rear pads tonight and wondered why the piston wouldn't retract, so after some swear words, it occurred to me about the electric handbrake (damn thing). After a quick search on here I was back on track again, got it sorted.

Just needed a 12v car battery and some welding wire hahaha
 
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Vcds would have let you retract calipers to lad
 
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Yeah you need to login to electronic handbrake module and set the parking break to service position. Then once the job is finished login again and return it to normal.
 
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Save up and get it bought as best investment you can have for vag cars...
 
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Least you got sorted Aaron. I have this on my list for next weekend! .. Did you get your pads from Pat?
 
Which ones did you go for Aaron? :)
 
Went with Pagid ones, was assured they are put into cars as oem fitting
 
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you cant go wrong with pagid
 
the manufacturer of an individual part which is branded 'oe' can change at any time so one week it could be ferodo, the next pagid. just depends on availability and price at the current time.
 
Yea I used them before, dead on brake pad!:)
 
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Maybe be a bit late and short notice, but i did this last year with a "Gunson 77088" ebay for £15 new, avoid all the amazon £130 and £80 ebay, does what required if you dont have Vag Com, all you need too is a battery charger too. then plain sailing really. jack rear up and use axel stands, both at same time
 
BrennanTDi said:
So I changed the rear pads tonight and wondered why the piston wouldn't retract, so after some swear words, it occurred to me about the electric handbrake (damn thing). After a quick search on here I was back on track again, got it sorted.

Just needed a 12v car battery and some welding wire hahaha
Click to expand...

Reminds myself of a horror story from a friend who had one of the earliest B6 Passats - the first mainstream VAG car to have the EPB. He had the rear pads changed by a backstreet garage who had no knowledge of this little procedure and tried to retract the pistons "the old fashioned method" and resorted to a hammer - which of course would never move it in a month of Sundays if you have an understanding of how it works. So they cracked the caliper, rendering it as scrap....

They sourced another from a breakers, and then rather than wiring it in properly, managed to bodge that as well - eventually causing a massive short which not only applied the parking brake whilst the car was moving, but also fried a large section of wiring loom along with one of the most expensive ECUs on the car. A near-£2000 visit to the VW garage to do the job properly and repair all the electrical damage followed shortly afterwards.

One would hope that the trade now understands these things a lot better!
 
lol no, we knew what we were doing, me and my dad changed them. This method was the only way to do it without vcds.
 
steve.askew said:
Maybe be a bit late and short notice, but i did this last year with a "Gunson 77088" ebay for £15 new, avoid all the amazon £130 and £80 ebay, does what required if you dont have Vag Com, all you need too is a battery charger too. then plain sailing really. jack rear up and use axel stands, both at same time
Click to expand...
Will have to look into that mate, what else does it do?
 
BrennanTDi said:
Will have to look into that mate, what else does it do?
Click to expand...
Just the handbrake, reset for Pads n disc change, but, as i have 2 x A4's, well worth the £15, does a few models too, worked a treat on the Mrs B8, haven't tried my B8.5 yet, but as only 10 months old and on 19K i wont be there for a bit, but is one of those tools to have, keep, use when required, not bad at all. Even has an ODBC extension lead included, most handy. Just keep an eye out for when they drop to £15 worth it, Honestly.
 
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So do you have to have VCDS or is there an alternative way to wind in the calipers without it to change the rear pads?
 
You don't have to have VCDS to complete a brake pad change as Aaron had an alternative method.

I found this post by disealdoos:

"The electromechanical parking brake is a 12-volt motor that engages and retracts the rear brakes.

To retract the rear wheel parking brake, you will need access to a 12-volt battery and two jumper wires.
One of the jumper wires should have an insulated clip on the end so you do not short-circuit the wires.
When you are looking at the caliper you will see the brake line and electric wire/connector going to the rear caliper.
Disconnect the electric connector from the caliper.
Inside the connector on the caliper side you will see two medal pins sticking up. Connect the two jumper wires to the 12 volt battery.
Take the negative wire jumper and connect it to one of the pins on the caliper. Then take the positive wire and touch the other pin without touching the other jumper wire and causing a short.
If the caliper piston starts to push out, stop!, reverse the jumper wires. You should hear the parking brake retract and the piston not move.
Continue until the caliper piston starts to spin, stop! Now push the caliper piston back in with a brake tool, c-clamp, etc. Replace pads as you would normally. After all the brakes have been replaced. Pump brake pedal until you have a firm pedal. Check the brake fluid. Then turn on and off the electromechanical parking brake a few times and you should be good to go."

Hope this helps you
 
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If you are going to do this you want to use a small 12V battery to power the motor. Something like a 12V SLA alarm battery is ideal.This picture off another forum. This will limit the current to the motor and you hopefully won't get big sparks and things melting if you short stuff out.
I fortunately have VCDS and it's the first time I have ever used a laptop to change brake pads and discs.

jSc9z.jpg


Karl.
 
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Cheers fella I will keep that in mind when I need to do mine ;-)
 
Whilst were on the subject of the electric handbrake, I don't like it and I don't trust it.

My driveway is on a hill and I always leave the car in gear as well. I can't even have any fun in the carpark lol I had a handbrake failure warning a few months ago, thank god it's been fine since.

Anyone else not like it?
 
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Originally when I bought the car I really didn't like it at all, now I tolerate it. As you say from the point of view of having fun in the snow I really used to like scaring the mrs by getting it going sideways with the handbrake but you just haven't got the same amount of control with the handbrake.
Fortunately it does seem fairly reliable on the B8 unlike the B6 Passats where they seem to have all kinds of issues.
When I swapped the brakes on Mine I sold the front calipers and discs but have kept the rears with the EPB motors etc just in case.

Karl.
 
The stories of the b6 Passat ones really put the shivers up me, is it something like £4k to repair it I heard
 
They aren't that expensive, they are just very unreliable, with a poor design and what appear to be poor quality components.
 
Here's to hoping Audi have put more time and better materials into building theirs
 
What like the 2.0 tfsi engine!
 
I had a snow day yesterday with work, so I got the car into the garage and changed the rear brake pads. I have changed rear brake pads before, but this was a first with an electronic parking brake and I needed to use a laptop to carry out the job!lol

I have VCDS and this made the whole job much easier, it has to be the best buy I have every made for the car its great piece of kit! :) ..

Total time about 1hr! :)

Old vs New - Quite Low
IMG_0021.jpg


IMG_0023.jpg


IMG_0022.jpg
 
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Point_Audi said:
I had a snow day yesterday with work, so I got the car into the garage and changed the rear brake pads. I have changed rear brake pads before, but this was a first with an electronic parking brake and I needed to use a laptop to carry out the job!lol

I have VCDS and this made the whole job much easier, it has to be the best buy I have every made for the car its great piece of kit! :) ..

Total time about 1hr! :)

Old vs New - Quite Low
IMG_0021.jpg


IMG_0023.jpg


IMG_0022.jpg
Click to expand...
You can keep me right Shaun when my time comes! Lol
 
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