S8 Front ceramic brakes removal
 

So today I wanted to remove the front disc due to the shield needing attention. I looked at the service manual and ELSA (same document) and it seems pretty straight forward. However, there is some confusion as to whether the pads need removing or if the caliper carrier can be unbolted and the whole assembly removed.

I decided to play safe and remove the pads first. After some struggling I got the springs off and removed the guide pin bolt. I cannot though for the life of me get the guide pin out. It is not stuck on the pads but seems stuck on the caliper.

Any advice on how to remove this without cutting it off? Audi do a replacement kit with the guide pin, bolt and springs for around £50 which I'd rather not spend on something that should slide out! Thanks

Well I tackled this today and hopefully it will help someone. The guide pin was still stuck so I removed the caliper carrier bolts as per ELSA and the caliper does indeed slide off, pads in situ. Then the easy bit, removing the grub screw and then the disc. One downside of ceramics is that they have probably never been touched so the grub screw decided to chew it's head! After faffing around for a while, I managed to shear the head off and take the disc off. The left over bolt was drilled and tapped out but I didn't have another bolt so I thought bolt it all back together and the wheel bolts will hold the disc as per normal and it will just be a bit fiddly.

So all back together and all was well. Test drive was fine until I turned full lock to the right and there was a very slight knock at slow speed. Only going forwards too. Back inside, jacked up and I rummaged through my spares and found a grub screw lying around (yes I'm lucky!) although I wasn't sure it would cure it but it did!

So my mis-conception that the bolt just holds the disc aligned for when the wheel goes on was incorrect. I tested this by removing the wheel and putting the bolts in...there was a very slight movement which would cause a clunk at slow speed.

Anyway, all well and good, car back to normal.

+++