Been meaning to do this for a while now, I’m currently on holiday from work, so one of the things I’ve been meaning to do was service my rear brakes before the next MOT.
One of the problems that was highlighted during the previous MOT was that there was a brake imbalance at the rear. The MOT mechanic advised me it was a pass, but recommended I look at the sliders. I trust their advice, as it’s never let me down. I like the garage as it’s traditional, and they know I’m comfortable doing all the repairs on my car.
I’d been meaning to do this for a while, because my brakes have been getting progressively worse. The handbrake travel was getting higher and higher when applying it, and the car felt like it wasn’t engaging on the handbrake. I’d started leaving the car in gear “just in case” so thought it was about time I just cracked on with it
Tools for regreasing Audi A3 rear brakes
These are the tools I used to regrease the brakes on my Audi A3 in order to service it
- Trolley Jack
- Axle Stand
- 13mm Spanner
- 15mm Spanner
- 10mm Spanner
- Hammer
- Locking Wheel Nut
- 17mm Socket for Wheel nuts
- Impact Gun
- Hammer
- Drill with Wire brush attachment
- Screwdriver
- Ceramic Grease (for screws)
- Red Rubber Grease (for rubbers on sliders)
- Silicone Grease (for brake slider pins)
Safety first when working under the car
I don’t waste my time when working on the car now. So I jacked up the car on the rear axle, then put the stand under the jacking points on the sill. My sills are a bit poop (they’re crushed) but still solid as they’ve been jacked up incorrectly over the years. So when my skills increase with welding. I’ll be restoring the sills completely and putting in solid jack points
Once I’d removed the wheel, I used it as a chock and put it behind the front wheel. That way there’s no chance of the car rolling backwards
Inspections of the brake calipers
After the wheels were removed it was time to break down the brake caliper system
Removing the slider pins on the Audi A3
As you can see from the above picture, looking at my brakes, there was an imbalance on my OSR brakes. To remove the slider pins, you use a 13mm spanner on the outside, and a 15mm spanner on the inside nut to lock it off. As a note, if you don’t have thin head spanners (which I don’t). You can use the screwdriver to wedge the internal nut with enough force to hold it whilst you crack the outside nut loose.
As I was inspecting the sliders and whilst the top slider came straight out. The bottom slider pin was stuck stiff on the car. I had to use a screwdriver and hammer to “chisel” it out of the caliper. I then used a wire wheel to clean up the slider pin.
How bad was the slider?
You can see in this Youtube video that I made it was fairly stuck. They should easily move back and forth, and I couldn’t even budge it
What about the brake pads?
Brake pads are OK for now, although I’m probably going to get some spares ready to whack straight onto the car when needed. I can’t remember which pads I’m using currently. I was using Pagid pads for a wheel, but switched to Ferodo or Mintex at one point, so not sure what I’m using. Rear brakes aren’t too much of an issue, as they’re mainly to hold the weight of the car (when the handbrake works)!
Brake pads were evenly worn on both sides of the car. I didn’t get pictures both sides. Just for info
What about the Near Side brake sliders?
Silly question, of course I did these too. Surprisingly the caliper pins were free on this size of the car, but when adjusting the handbrake it feels like the piston is seizing up (which makes sense, as reading my last MOT the NSR was highlighted as fluctuating). Very strange. I actually already have my old calipers inside the shed, and I purchased a caliper rebuild kit from Bigg Red for this reason. As the calipers are shite on the rear of the Audi A3 and Golf MK5. They’re always seizing. So this will be the next big job before the MOT to get them ready if I can’t free up the caliper to work properly on the NSR. I did the same for the sliders on the NSR too. Cleaned them up with a wire wheel on a drill, then used silicone grease on the pins to keep them moving. I also used a smidgen of red rubber grease on the boots, and some ceramic grease on the securing nuts.
Adjusting the handbrake on my A3
After I had regreased the sliders. I made sure the handbrake was down completely and returned the carriers back to their stops, and went through the calibration procedure for the handbrake. This is the point where I noticed the NSR piston appears to be seizing up on the car as I had to give it a thump with the hammer to move it at first (I’ll try spraying some lube in case the springs are just a bit stiff too)
I then went about calibrating the handbrake on the car in order to get it working to spec, and tightened the compensator with a 10mm spanner so it was as level as I could get it
How do you adjust the manual handbrake on the Audi A3
Calibration procedure as follows if needed. The handbrake is normally “tight” around 4 clicks. Generally if you apply it on and off a few times it will feel tight afterwards.
- Handbrake completely off and cables fitted as they would be
- Compensator loose cables inside it’s position
- Keep the compensator level, turn the compensator screw with a 10mm spanner until stops move
- Keep doing this until the handbrake spring is between 1mm – 3mm away from the stops
- Apply handbrake (around 4 clicks)
- Handbrake then adjusted, around 4 clicks it should be tight
- If not, could be poorly adjusted, calipers stiff, cable stretched, pistons not pushed out fully, etc
Job completion and after thoughts?
As after thoughts as the work is completed. It took me around 2 hours (approx). I also got major heatstroke as I made the stupid mistake of working in 27’c temperatures which didn’t help.
Anyhoo, this is my after thoughts after my inspection
- Purchase new pads ready
- Regrease/Overhaul existing calipers , or spares
- Recheck the brake system around start of August (August 06 would be approx date for rebooking)
- Put on a new bonnet lock on the car (again because they’re shit). I regreased mine but looks like it’s failed too much. I have a spare
Tidy up remainder of jobs I haven’t done yet for the MOT. I haven’t fixed the mount but have one ready, as for number plates I just need to pop into Halfords to get some made up. So I’ll go down on the weekend at some point.
I’m under no illusion that my car is getting old now, however for it’s age it’s still in good condition. I recently scanned the car with VCDS, and there are only 6 faults total. My car is currently on 171,000 miles, which I think is respectable for its age
- Glow plug fault (3 cylinders)
- Fuel tank solenoid
- Interior fan for temp sensor
- Something else for the interior fans (can’t recall off hand)
Once the car gets to the point where it needs major work. I plan on getting another car anyway, and using this for projects/restoration and taking it off the road completely (I’d love to do a twin-turbo setup on the car as I like the torque from diesels). I don’t however forsee any major work required for a while, so just want to keep fixing things up
