Electric rear calipers. Can they be rebuilt????
 

My N/S rear caliper has worn my 2 month old pads out, the seals have gone and as a result will not wind back into the caliper properly. Last time new pads were fitted I knew it wasn't going to be long before a new set wouldn't even fit into the caliper lol.

Now, I've already replaced the O/S caliper unit, and it's ££££££'s... would like to know whether anyone has seen or heard of a rebuild kit for them. I know Audi don't do them, but I also can't find anything on the net. Everyone is saying it can't be done? :(

Cash flow is beyond tight, so any help greatly appreciated +++

Bex :D

In theory, it could be rebuilt, but if Audi don't do seal kits, etc then you may be stuffed... A8parts may be the only option.

I wonder if a rebuilder could help? e.g.
http://www.brake-caliper-painting.co...facturing.html
At least they are more likely to have comprehensive seal catalogues to see if they are actually available.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1273965/seal_1661793c.jpg

There are a few companies who do stainless steel caliper pistons, they may be able to help

If N/S Caliper is Left Caliper, there is Brand new genuine left rear caliper including motor on Ebay at present.
Item No. 140748030138 for £375. Motor on its own is £230 & should sell easily if you wanted to recoup some of the outlay.

Thank you all for your replies, I'm metal on metal now :'( so must sort this quickly lol (don't want to be ruining my nice new disks)

Joe, I have noticed that caliper on ebay-would be a nice quick fix but as mentioned, funds are tight and I have customers not paying invoices left, right and centre at the moment :(

Audi have a "brake housing seal kit" listed, but the word housing doesn't fill me with confidence.??? It's only £13.34+vat so I've got one ordered to see if that's the right part. I've already replaced the o/s caliper and don't really want to do this one when there is nothing wrong with the park brake mechanism at all. (Park brake motor went in the other side so I had no choice)

Can anyone confirm whether audi describe these as "caliper housing seals"???

Many thanks once again.

Bex :(

hi chick,
the ebay one says make an offer
why not try £175 see what happens
its worth a try

also im wondering if these calipers need removing and cleaning to prevent future problems for other people

I might well do that once I know more about these seals Audi have listed :ROFL: This will not only help me-but other A8 owners if I find this out. Bloody calipers are £491+vat from Audi. I get a 20% discount on that thankfully but not everyone can :'(

Bex +++

Do you know the part number?

Yes, it's 4B0 698471 A

??? :)

4B0698471A are listed as housing seals for the A8 and it is not clear from the parts diagram if they are piston seals, but the part is also used on VW Toureg and the diagram for that looks like piston seal and dust boot, although no piston is listed as a spare part so is not on the picture.

When you get VAG piston seals, they usually come with a sachet of red marinade that you have to soak them in for a few hours before fitting, so factor in half a day or so all in all.

http://www.vagzapchasti.ru/photos/3543b.jpg

There are images on google image search and it looks just like a piston seal and concertinad dust boot.

Good luck!

SUPER! thank you everyone. Everything I found on google suggested they were the fronts??? But, surely the front calipers have more than 1 piston :ROFL::ROFL:


Well, fingers tightly crossed then, all I need now is a tool to open and close the rear calipers. FFS I think that Audi ahould supply these little gadgets with the car...at least then you can diy a simple pad change :rolleyes:

Many Thanks again-I will update when I know more. :cool:

Bex

Yes, I think you have wrong part no.
471 seem to be for fronts.
Rears are :
19 3D0698671 set of seals for brake caliper housing £11.

Thank you so much! Super chuffed that I can now see the exploded diagram. I have both on order, so I'll let you know how I get on :)

If these seals don't come with any of that liquid mentioned, does that mean they dont need soaking???

Bex :)

Yep.. just make sure they've got a decent grease on them to stop them drying out.

Not sure if VCDS can deactivate the rear calipers, it possibly can. Anyhow before I had VCDS I bought one of these pieces of kit of the bay of flees for deactivating the rear calipers, it actually does what it says on the box and will clear EPB fault codes +++ +++

http://i01.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/448/1...115448_748.jpg

VCDS certianly does operate the rear calipers :) The procedure is on the ross-tech wiki somewhere. Used it when I did my (now on ebay!) PF :)

That's the tool I'm after. I don't have VCDS so will just get a cheap caliper tool :)

There are also VAS5054 tools on fleabay for under 100 quid, not sure how much use they are, but that's the one for all the guided stuff in elsawin..

If you didn't stay at the other end of the world you could have borrowed mine

Would a 'tool' gag be inappropriate at this time?

absolutely its a yes from me

go for it Richard - im sure there are some interesting words like Rubber, flange and oiled that you can get in there . . . . :p

Another quick update. My rear caliper was rebuilt and has since been working perfectly. No brake binding or dragging and the PB works perfectly every time.

This I'm, sure will save people a fortune! Wish I'd have known this before I bought a new caliper for the other side :-(

Me next...
 

Glad I read this thread, my warning light has come on for the parking brake, last week it didn't cycle properly and now the error - although it still seems to work OK. I know the rear pads are 80% worn but I don't know if this affects it or not?

Will run it into Audi next week but I bet they say "new caliper @££££££ please" so if it is just a sticky piston I will look at doing the seal change. Otherwise maybe it just needs a good clean up? Haven't put 50k on it yet but I guess mileage has nothing to do with number of brake activations...

Any suggestions welcome... +++

Hi all
I have the parking brake malfunction warning too (and a problem with my MMI screen but thats for another day!). Might the seals be the problem? Presumably I can order them through a main dealer?
Not a car techhie myself so would need to hand the old girl over to someone to do whatever needs doing. Is it reasonably straightforward or should I be looking for an Audi specialist (and if so any recommendations in the London/Surrey area).

Grateful for any advice.
Thanks Adam

Are you sure it isn't just a broken sensor wire on the front wheel which is a common problem

You do get a different warning for the EPB if it fails, kind of like the brake wear warning, but with a lightning strike through it.

Have you checked the contacts for corrosion?

Thanks both for taking the time to reply.
I haven't checked anything, wouldn't know what I'm doing tbh.
I have a P symbol on the dash with a diagonal line through it and two 'lightening' arrows either side, one top left and the other bottom right.
My wife described the situation to her cousins other half who works for Audi and he suggested a new rear caliper and £500.
I thought Google would be my friend and here I am....

Is your wife's cousin on commission?

Firstly you need to find out if it is the front or back brakes causing the problem. As I posted earlier the front sensor wires can break and cause the light to show on the dashboard.

If any of the pads are low it will show a light on the dashboard, you need to have them checked and the sensor wires checked.

Thanks 47p2.

He's a lovely guy....

I'll do what you suggest.
Does anyone have any Audi Specialists they could recommend near my area?

Thanks for the advice.
I've taken my car in to a local specialist today. They have diagnosed a new motor is required. £360 including fitting. Its booked in for next Wednesday.

£360...ouch, keep us posted how it goes

ARGH, wish I logged into here more often... :(

Don't just take it to Audi-they are really reluctant to just sell the seals-in fact, the first time this happened to me, they told me you cant replace the seals alone and I paid for a new caliper without needing to (at the above price) :(

I can recommend a friend near brands hatch, who will happily help you.. He fitted my new seals and I've had no problems since.

PM me if you haven't had this fixed yet and you want Andy to take a look :)

Bex.

P.S apologies for the delay in replying. (Oh and the wrning you are having has nothing to do with your front brakes-it's deffo your EPB)

Hello Bex It was done yesterday morning would be grateful for details incase I get a problem on the other side+++
Adam

Hi Adam. No problem. I will pop the part number of the seals up once I gan get in the glovebox (my Audi is on the ramp at the min)
NOTE-that is the calliper seal not the motor seal ;-)

Thank you

Agggh. One year later the same happened to me. I noticed boot was damaged last time, and should have sorted it.
Now moisture must have got in and it was not dragging until it wore down to the backplate despite 6mm on other side.
Just did pads and disks and found it was the culprit.
I hope to buy the seals at VW tomorrow and stick them on at the weekend.
Hopefully the piston and housing can be cleaned up with metal polish or similar.
If not they are only ~£280 at Eurocarparts exchange price (with £48 core)

All sorted, part was £18 from Audi dealer incl. sachet of castor oil.
Left caliper on car (didn't disconnect hydraulics or electronics).
Took a while with VCDS functions to pop the piston out as the instructions from ELSAWIN didn't achieve this. Hardest part was keeping it clean inside, kept washing out with isopropy alcohol spray and brake fluid.
Took the piston into house and cleaned off the black hard deposits/corrosion with 2500 wet and dry and washing up liquid under the running warm tap.
The caliper looked fine apart from the rubber boot recess which I scraped out. The EPB thrust nut that you put back in the caliper and screw all the way back and the piston needs to be correct orientation so the thrust nut engages into it Cleaned out the caliper and fitted the oiled up new seal and then oiled up boot and fitted that to piston as per ELSA. Offered up piston and teased dust boot into it's groove. . Pushed the calliper in with caliper winding tool and dust boot pops into other groove on piston.
Refit to pads and carrier and then do a few function tests and all OK.
Bleed that corner's brake fluid thoroughly to wash out any particles and stray castor oil.

Good write up!