Electronic Parking Brake - Left 02432
 

Hi There,

Got this error code the other day from VCDS, though arguably the whole car shouted about it. Talk about anoying....You need to pull 4 fuses. Two in the boot, two in the drivers side to shut it up!!! Though driving a couple of minutes will cancel the audible alarms until you stop at a junction/lights and it starts again! All for an almost irrelivant parking brake.....I mean park on an Auto makes the EPB all but redundant in most cases!!!

Anyway. Research and it's not an uncommon fault, along with it's brother for the right! It seemed electrical and a connection but lots of wiggling, unclipping and re-clipping and contact cleaner made no difference.

Today i popped the whole unit off the back of the brakes. Two torque screws and unclipping once jacked and the wheel off and the motor unit was clear.

It had a lot of sealant goop over it and some aluminium wrap that is part sealer, part noise reducer it seems. It looked a bit bodgy though. I cleaned the back off and unclipped the back lid and there's a motor with pully belt going to strange toothed wheel / wobbly gear / spline drive.

The strange wheel thing didn't appear to rotate properly, so lots of cleaning, WD, spray chain lube and gentle tapping in a vice to free it off. The belt wheel should rotate on it's tiny bearing (seized) and the wobbly gear spin and wobble. Took a little coaxing, but it slowly made it and after lots of cleaning (isopropyl alcohol) and then lube it's fair and freely mooving.

Gasket sealant on the rim of the back plate and some aluminium tape to cover and close out and some testing and it's all good. I was tempted to epoxy it closed but if it needs servicing again then probably best not. I could be tempted to buy a different car EPB motor (£30-40 vs £300) such as the passat and steal the gear from it
(https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a8-...ailed-2840757/)

Other options are new Motor (£300), Refub Caliper complete (£180+£100 potential refund, 1yr), OEM Caliper (£240, 3Yr) or Audi (£££). Most net searches tend to end up with people going for a Caliper and i'd probably go new as the hasle of sending back and potential refund issues for £60 and less warenty seems daft!

Thought I'd report findings for future use and it may help someone :D

Lee

Hi There,

Had another issue with this. Error'd a couple of days ago after the day of storms!

Brought it inside and broke things down a bit more thoroughly this time as it was obvious there was water ingress and things silted up.

The motor is two screws to attach, but in removing the brakes as well we found that there would be some form of rubber washer sealing this. It was missing and whomever had used some form of silicone and it had failed and there was a fair bit of aluminium exfoliation (not rust, but white powder) and I think this was the core failure.

Cleaned everything back up and got it all moving and free again and put it back together. Used a gasket sealer as i didn't have the rubber washer and it doesn't fully dry or shrink, so should have better longevity!

And NOTHING.....faults wouldn't clear, added brake pads to the faults and even basic settings at times.

Pulled it in again today and popped the wheel off and just the motor. Connector had power and was doing things. The motor when off the caliper would run.

When putting the brakes back together i had to manually back off the EPB and used a driver in the back of the brake caliper where the motor fits. I wondered if it was up against a hard stop.

I removed the motor, backed this off to a loose mid position (as it was unknown, but neither end) I then fitted the motor back.
I then used VCDS in "open for repair" which worked and then "close after repair" which also worked. Then "Brake Test" and Bingo!!!

Seems the EPB motor was at a limit and as such returning the wrong current / load for what was expected and i'm guessing testing like a broken motor!

Up and running again :rolleyes:

Well done.
As our cars get older, the EPB is becoming more of an Achilles heel.

i have also observed another possible problem - when the piston is not touching the back of the pad, the piston can spin when the motor is operating and when it does, the it's not moving it in or out, I am not sure what is happening on the inside when this happens - and the piston is easy to stop with fingers, but it never reaches the end stop and this also starts to twist the dust seal/boot if it is gripping the piston. Something to watch out for!

An Achilles heel for sure. I replaced a seized calliper on one side a few years back and have had the EPB’s ECU die. Shame.

Wouldn't mind but with the park brake on the engine of an automatic they are pretty superfluous for the most park. Not much use for Handbrake turns either, I mean, HOW are we supposed to impress the ladies now :ROFL:

I thought them largely unnecessary, the pawl brake being sufficient. But they have been known to fail. I use my EPB all the time when I park now.

We are forced now to impress the ladies by being charming, loving, respecting, honouring and listening (my favourite) to them.

Bring back the cheeky handbrake turn and a ‘dab of oppo’ make their knees weak.

So after much testing, dismantling, reassembling, hitting with a hammer, spraying with lube...... both the calliper and motor for my N/S EBC will need replacing. Damn it.

ive bought a few of these from EuroCarParts because I couldnt get them cheaper anywhere but they do hold a deposit against your old ones (unless you take them in when you pick up the new one) and after that is taken into account it wasnt too bad

At the moment if you use a discount code "FEB70" then -

Surcharge(s)* £41.99 (Refundable Deposit)
Subtotal: £576.98
Discount: - £181.90
Total (inc VAT): £395.08

After deposit refund : £353.09

Are the caliper and the electric motor sold as single units or is that the price for both items?

It's the whole thing as an exchange against your old whole thing

Ok, thanks for the assistance, I suppose i’d better get ordering!

None in stock at the moment. Damn it.

Oh dear - the ones they list seem for PR Codes 1KZ, 1KU and 01/2008>on

I remember when I got mine, there were 2x left and 2x right parts available but not now. My PR Code is 1KW and the receipt is below.
Searching the part number returns :
TRW Product Code: 133444091
This Item is no longer available. However we have found the below alternative items. TRW CaliperProduct Code: 133444111.
Not sure if it's compatible but looking on ETKA at 1KW and 1KZ http://www.realoem.me/Audi/RDW/A8/20...6/615/615065#7
It shows the part number changed in late 2007 from 4E0998281 to 4E0998281B but 1KU have two different part numbers 4E0998281A and 4E0998281C so it makes me question the accuracy of the listing on Eurocarparts.


1 133444091 TRW Caliper £229.99
1 Surcharge for 133444091 £47.99
1 CLICK AND COLLECT Click and Collect Internet Order £0.00
Subtotal £277.98
Coupon Benefit -£34.50
Total £243.48


Check http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/cali...17920_g78.html
I have used them before and they are good but the parts usually come from Belgium or Holland and take a few days. The calipers are about £180 after core return and they have all types in stock. MISTER10 gets an additional 10% off until sunday.

There's also a cheapish refurbished set on eBay

Audidothat - That motor and gear unit can be opened . There's some form of tape wrap around the back edge of that motor unit. I used a Stanley knife and trimmed it back about 1/2" an inch from the back of the unit all the way round and then found that the back clips off and you can get to the back of that drive unit.

I found mine all gummed up and dirty and so forth, but cleaning an lubing and cleaning brought it back to life. So long as the motor isn't burnt out.

Seems there's a seal of some sort between that gear wheel and the back of the brake unit that goes or isn't replaced or something. First time I refurbed it I got about 4 months which seemed strange so i investigated and added some liquid gasket to the mating faces (flat bit where screw holes are) after cleaning them up and it seems to be doing a lot better!

Naff engineering if you ask me, but we save having a hand brake leaver in the way!

Thanks all for the info, so just to be clear the S8 and A8 Caliper/motor pairing is the same item/interchangeable?

I do not understand the PR code issue, sorry!

When my friendly mechanic examined the motor he said the plastic looked deformed/heated in some areas so imagined it had burnt out.

It’s customers like me that keep main dealers books looking good!

I am still not quite sure what I am buying and from whom!

Can't say i know that. Refurbing mine has kept them going so i didn't need to purchase anything....You could ask the main dealer parts or do some net searching. Often parts are revised and updated or Audi changes the code for something to do :ROFL: