New brake discs and pads

MA3TDIQ

MA3TDIQ

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Hi,

So a warning light cane on my dash saying I need to replace my brake pads.

Kind new this was coming as they had given me advisory at last MOT that the front pads were worn. They also said that they would always advise replacing the pads and discs at the same time.

I am tempted to have a go at this myself to save some money. I’ll buy the discs and pads from euro car parts and put them on.

Is it a difficult job? What tools will I Need? Anyone able to give advice? Perhaps a tutorial of how to do it? Thanks!
 
definitely worth doing yourself.

if its your first time changing brakes, id read up as much as possible, and watch a few videos on other people changing brakes even on other makes and models.
there may be differences between cars, but the general principle is the same.


i wouldnt say its difficult, its made to be quick and straight forward to change them.
tools- socket set, spanner set, jack and axle stands, i believe on the a3 the front calipers are held in by allen head bolts? so an allen key set or ideally allen head sockets, copper grease, wire brush.

make sure to clean the surfaces of the hub and carrier/caliper where the pads slide into with the wire brush. use the copper grease on the parts of the pad which will come in contact with those same items, so the edges and back of the pads. also use it on the hub face, and the part where the disc touches the wheel.

depending on which discs you go for (coated or not) youll have grease on them. clean the disc before you put the pads on. use brake cleaner. what i did last time was to wash them with washing up liquid and then wipe over with white spirit. brake cleaner is less hassle tbh.

this video should help as a starting point. golf mk5 so practically an a3.
 
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He made that look easy :sm4: Make sure you have the right tools first and a can of brake parts cleaner, you should clean all the parts you are going to re-use with the brake cleaner and a wire brush . Remember the way the shims, pins and clips go, taking photos before you remove parts helps.

Press the brake pedal a couple of times when finished so the pads close up the gap. When you drive the car the first 50 miles or so the brake pedal will feel a bit springy, don't worry all will be ok.
 
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Avoid Pajid discs. We had 2 sets warp when hot on a TTS.
I recently fitted Brembo pads and discs to my Mk 4 GTI. No problems with fitting and no judder either.
Remember the fluid will rise in the master cylinder and you don’t want that on your paintwork. I use a medical syringe to remove it.
 
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It can help to turn the steering wheel to full lock so the calliper is almost out of the wing to make it easier to get to the Cali per bolts.

Also you may need an impact hammer to free up the screw that holds the disc on, if they haven’t been off before they can stick up up and you don’t want to strip the screw head


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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prt57 said:
Avoid Pajid discs. We had 2 sets warp when hot on a TTS.
I recently fitted Brembo pads and discs to my Mk 4 GTI. No problems with fitting and no judder either.
Remember the fluid will rise in the master cylinder and you don’t want that on your paintwork. I use a medical syringe to remove it.
Click to expand...

I was thinking of getting the brembo ones from eurocar Parts

What do you mean the level will rise in the master cylinder?
 
Also this may be a stupid question but when looking at the euro car parts website there are different brake disc thickness. What size do I need for A3 8p 57 plate 170 TDI?
 
in your spare wheel well, you should find a sticker. on the sticker are PR codes; option lists for your car.
look at the second row, it should have your front brake PR code. match that up to the fitment detail on eurocarparts. at the bottom of the fitment detail, they list the PR code that those brakes will fit.


as the pads wear, the caliper piston moves outwards causing the fluid in the reservoir to drop. sometimes the res gets topped up by owners/garages to compensate. when you push the piston back in, the fluid level rises in the res, and can spill out of the res.
 
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MA3TDIQ said:
I was thinking of getting the brembo ones from eurocar Parts
Click to expand...
if you aren't in a rush, consider getting them from Demon Tweeks online.
I priced up full Brembo Discs and Pads for the S3 and they were a few quid cheaper than OEM from TPS, but they don't stock them so you will have to wait. I did order them not realising the stock situation as I was going to change mine over the weekend, but they won't get here on time so I cancelled my order and will buy OEM instead.
Bit of a shame, but i'm on a time constraint so I had to change my plans.
 
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With safety in mind, if you are asking this question, I think you need a more experienced person to help you do this job as there is more to it than undo the bolts, change the parts and do the bolts up again. Have you got all the tools, how are you going to retract the caliper pistons? Do you know where to add the copper grease etc etc?
I am not trying to be a party pooper but this is not a job for a novice mechanic on their own as brakes are quite important!!
 
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prt57 said:
With safety in mind, if you are asking this question, I think you need a more experienced person to help you do this job as there is more to it than undo the bolts, change the parts and do the bolts up again. Have you got all the tools, how are you going to retract the caliper pistons? Do you know where to add the copper grease etc etc?
I am not trying to be a party pooper but this is not a job for a novice mechanic on their own as brakes are quite important!!
Click to expand...

Yes i totally Agree with your comment - I would feel stupid if I couldn't get them on properly and end in an accident as a result!

I think i might buy them and ask a friendly garage to fit them for me!
 
So I will buy myself and ask garage to fit them - so I guess i would only need to buy the discs and pads - Is it advisable to buy new sensors swell or is that not needed?
 
So i just checked the codes but none of the codes match up with the ones on the website - I think need 1KJ or 1LJ - none of which I can find on eurocarparts..
 
MA3TDIQ said:
So i just checked the codes but none of the codes match up with the ones on the website - I think need 1KJ or 1LJ - none of which I can find on eurocarparts..
Click to expand...
You will easily get your brembo disc's from ECParts and the pads as i did and they weren't that expensive to be honest and if you go to the fitment detail and scroll down you will see your PR code ie ( 1kj or 1lj ) which in turn should tell you if front or back .
 
ok managed to find them now! I am tempted by the performance discs - the vented discs just look quite cool. The only thing is not sure what pads to get with them.. would they fit my standard callipers?
 
If you are having a garage fit the parts, why don’t you go and talk to them? They will have a much better database then the system that ECP use and so you should get the correct parts fitted. You also should be able to say you want Brembo etc fitted as it is you paying the bill.
 
Yeah but I don’t want to be overcharged at the garage for the parts. I’ll speak to the customer support at CP4L to see which ones fit my discs..
 
Should I really be driving my car with the disc brake warning light on? I guess it’s an orange warning and not a red so should be ok to drive about for another week or so?
 
I changed mine today, and the warning light hasn't come one yet.
See for yourself how low they were and why I wouldn't risk driving it with any warning light on as I would feel it was too low.
 

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Side by side with a new pad the difference is quite distinguished, but unless you are tracking it daily, the old pads would have been good for several 000's miles more in my opinion
 
I don't track my car and never will.
Yes I agree that there is still some meat on them and they could go another couple of thousand before the wear indicator triggers.
My point is that the warning is very low on the pad, and I wouldn't feel happy knowing how little is left now I have seen these pads for myself . This is of course personal opinion.
 
audi upgrades
Daveyonthemove said:
I don't track my car and never will.
Yes I agree that there is still some meat on them and they could go another couple of thousand before the wear indicator triggers.
My point is that the warning is very low on the pad, and I wouldn't feel happy knowing how little is left now I have seen these pads for myself . This is of course personal opinion.
Click to expand...

I normally change mine when about half way worn out, brakes are important and I like them to work well, don’t see the point in scrimping


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Just looking at the performance discs and pads now. Found the discs that I want - EBC ones with grooves and dimples. The only thing I am unsure about is what pads should I get with them? Do performance discs need performance pads too? Im thinking about the EBC ones swell but not sure how good they are. Anyone fitted EBC discs and pads?
 
EBC red stuff pads wore out very quickly, maybe 7000 miles.
EBC grooved discs are fine matched with Brembo pads
 
Oh, just bought EBC grooved discs and EBC pads. Can always get the Brembo ones when I need new pads I guess
 
I've just had delivered some some brembo front discs and pads for my A3 170. Current set have clocked up 33k and pads still only half worn but brakes have started vibrating badly when heated up. Inner disc looks unevenly worn and most likely warped so I'm gonna swap them on Wednesday when I'm off.

Personally I don't bother with all these vented and drilled discs. Currently have them on my RS5 and the drilled holes just cake up with brake dust. When they are due for renewal I'll be putting on standard discs which are good enough for road use. Audi want nearly £650 for front drilled discs. Can get decent after market non drilled for between £120 and £250 depending on brand and for normal road use will be unnoticeable.
 
I cannot confirm that either way. The brakes felt quite wooden until warmed up whereas the Brembos felt positive, even when cold
 
I have 1ZK code for my fronts. Audi have recommended to me to get them replaced by them for £450.

Looking at getting them myself and getting them fitted else where. Does anyone know what the difference is between the pads below? Only thing I see different is the brake system ATE or TEVES.

Brembo Brake Pad (Front) Product Code: 10144158A
Brembo Brake Pad (Front) Product Code: 10144116A

Looking at getting these discs
Brembo Brake Disc (Front) Product Code: 10444124A
 
Guys, i'd be careful buying 'Brembo's' from EuroCarParts...bought some Brembo discs and pads last year for my Type R - packaging all looked fine, but having fitted them the discs scored up very quickly, am pretty certain they weren't genuine brembo's...or Brembo has cheapened the quality of their products.

Had a word with the guy at my local garage and he said he fitted some Brembo's from EuroCarParts to a customers car and he was certain they were fake, as they needed deburring and were not good quality at all, sure enough the customer complained a few weeks after fitting that they were scored up already and he had to replace them with another brand.

Just my experience, no idea of they're fakes or if the quality has dropped off in Brembo? Anyone know if Brembo has moved their manufacturing somewhere cheaper?
 
Thanks for the heads up, what brand would you suggest and what website?

How long ago was this incident with the Brembos?
 
read similar things about ECPs pagid brakes. ECP are the only uk distributor of pagid, and supposedly the quality is *****. i personally wont buy discs/pads from ecp just incase.

when my front pads and discs go, im looking at either textar, ate or ferodo from somewhere like mister auto. havent really seen anything bad said about those brands oem brake parts.
 
Are vagbremtechnic j hooks any good ?

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I really dont think a company like Europarts is going to be bothered trying to sell fake brembo pads given the huge cost and prison sentences dished out if caught. The bad publicity would probably finish the company. there have been cases of sole traders buying counterfeit parts from China and selling them on ebay but that's not quite the same as reputable companies shifting this stuff on mass.

https://www.bremboparts.com/europe/en/products/customer-services/recognize-original-products
 
You make a good point Paddy, as I said, I've no idea if they actually were fake or if Brembo are producing lower quality products these days than their reputation would suggest. I still have the front discs unopened in the loft, will check out these indicators (hologram, QR code, etc) and will report back!
 
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I think the point is if europarts were selling fake brembo then Brembo distribution would be well aware they were not supplying europarts with the 1000's of brembo items they were selling.
There was big con with brembo Motorcycle master cylinders a while back, cheap copies being made in China but these were flooding ebay and not being sold by reputable dealers in shops or company websites. ( unless in China)
 
I had a reply from a independent specialists near me. They said "Cost to supply and fit new front brake discs and pads is £282 including parts, labour and VAT. This is for Brembo discs and Textar pads. "

This good? What are Textar like?
 
audi upgrades
textar are an oe supplier to many makes, such as porsche. theyll be fine.
 
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