A4 brake wear
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A4 brake wear
I recently took my A4 99 (Oct 98 purchase) in for the final 'free' maintenance with a grinding noise coming from the rear.
It turns out that my rear brake pads were shot and had to be replaced. Service department commented that, "rear rotors are good... checked front brakes and found 7mm-good"
What is expected brake wear on the A4? Miles between services? When do rear brake pads wear faster than front brake pads? How smooth should the rotor be? Is there supposed to be a large raised lip along the outer edge of the rotor? I can feel subtle ripples in the surface of all rotor surfaces. Any advice?
(Please no jokes about leaving my emergency brake on. To my knowledge - and I drive the car 95% of the time - this has not happened.)
It turns out that my rear brake pads were shot and had to be replaced. Service department commented that, "rear rotors are good... checked front brakes and found 7mm-good"
What is expected brake wear on the A4? Miles between services? When do rear brake pads wear faster than front brake pads? How smooth should the rotor be? Is there supposed to be a large raised lip along the outer edge of the rotor? I can feel subtle ripples in the surface of all rotor surfaces. Any advice?
(Please no jokes about leaving my emergency brake on. To my knowledge - and I drive the car 95% of the time - this has not happened.)
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Re: A4 brake wear
I think its weird that the rear pads wore out first.
When braking, the weight transfer is towards the front of the car meaning the front brakes do a lot more work than the rear ones. This means your front pads should wear out quicker.
Maybe you had defective pads on the rear. This would explain why the rotors are okay but the pads are toast.
I dont think you should be able to feel the grooves in a rotor. I dont know enough about this though.
Maybe you could try a different Audi service department for a second opinion.<p>---- '98 A4 1.8T QMS ----
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Rear pads wore out first???
That's VERY strange. The parking brake would have been my first guess. My next guess is that the fronts were replaced already (perhaps without your knowledge), I seem to remember people getting about 30,000 miles out of their front pads, so this would make sense (I'm headed in for my 25,000 mile service next week and will ask them to check the pads to see how much is left. You might want to look back through your service records to see if they replaced the front pads at a previous service. Otherwise, the only time I can imagine the rears wearing faster than the fronts is if someone has adjusted the bias so that the rears are doing more of the braking (I believe the A4 does about 70% of its braking with the fronts, and I don't think the bias is adjustable). As for the wear on the rotors you described, that's normal for disc brakes, which is why it's often necessary to have the rotors "turned" when replacing the pads (to get rid of the wear pattern created by the previous pads).<p>Regards,
Rodney
'99 A4 1.8tqms
Rodney
'99 A4 1.8tqms
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happened on our a6 avant
I would have thought the same about the front wearing
more but the rears were so bad the rotors got changed
as well.
fronts have like 1/2 left or so.
it's an auto and it's emergency brake has
probably never been used... FYI
more but the rears were so bad the rotors got changed
as well.
fronts have like 1/2 left or so.
it's an auto and it's emergency brake has
probably never been used... FYI
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Re: A4 brake wear
I just had them replaced at 35K. I do have a manual though. The new pads squeel like crazy. they said it is normal even though I have never heard this before. they say it is from metallic pads that have replaced the asbestos ones. I dont think they should squeel at all speeds though.
I have been back 2 times to fix it and the second time they shaved down that lip that goes around the rotor. They still make noise.
I have been back 2 times to fix it and the second time they shaved down that lip that goes around the rotor. They still make noise.
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My rear brakes were replaced this week at 45K service
To my knowledge, my front brakes have not been replaced ever. At the 45K mile service, the dealer replaced the rear brake pads and rotors. They said the front brakes still had 40% left.
BTW, I have had no brake noises to complain about. There is a possibility that the people with brake noises did not properly "seat" their brakes when they were new. Apparently, you are supposed to take it easy on new brakes until they are a little bit worn in. This will ensure an even contact between the pads and the rotors for the life of the brakes. At least, this is what I was led to believe.<p><b>Drew S.</b> <a href="http://members.aol.com/drewinva/audi/" target="drewinva"><img src="http://members.aol.com/drewinva/images/98.5.jpg" border="0" align=center></a> <b>98.5 A4 2.8 qm</b>
BTW, I have had no brake noises to complain about. There is a possibility that the people with brake noises did not properly "seat" their brakes when they were new. Apparently, you are supposed to take it easy on new brakes until they are a little bit worn in. This will ensure an even contact between the pads and the rotors for the life of the brakes. At least, this is what I was led to believe.<p><b>Drew S.</b> <a href="http://members.aol.com/drewinva/audi/" target="drewinva"><img src="http://members.aol.com/drewinva/images/98.5.jpg" border="0" align=center></a> <b>98.5 A4 2.8 qm</b>
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