SC_A6

I didn't see any guides on the issue, so I had to wing it a bit. This is only for informational purposes of how I resolved this, and shouldn't be taken as the "correct" way of doing it.

The guide pin bushings for at A6 in the front are a bit unique, and I don't know if anyone else has had the same issue of corrosion and road salt building up to the point where it no longer moves all the way?

First the issue:
- Wobble from the front driver side when braking.

I took off the wheel, removed the caliper (but not the bracket) and inspected.

Initial Observations:
- Rotor didn't have any significant damage
- Pads were relatively new (10K miles), so uneven wear was not that noticeable.

I put the caliper and wheel back on, slowly pressed the brake pedal to set the brakes and then went for a test drive and noticed I had about 50% braking power. Popped the tire off, and realized the caliper wasn't traveling. Guide pins were clean, so I tried to press them through to see how much travel they were getting. Top one passed through easily, but the bottom one travel 50% and then jammed. Take the guide pin out and look, and see some corrosion (and road salt) inside the bushing. I try to file it down and slide the pin through, still getting caught. So I bought new bushing (part 7E0698647), and proceeded to replace.

1) Mine you could no longer see the plastic only the corrosion so I had to chisel it out.
a) I used a flat head and a rubber mallet and tapped until it came out. The old one was shot, so I wasn't to careful about preserving it.

2) Clean the corrosion out. I used a metal file and gently removed the corrosion while preserving the metal. If you over do it you may cause other issues. For me the space between the bushing and the metal was caked, the new bushing would never fit if it wasn't cleaned out.

3) The new ones required a light amount of grease on the outside of them to slide in. I tried dry, but it just wasn't going to go in. The bottom bushing has a plastic piece inside the rubber that you must keep in the correct position, so as you push make sure that you haven't turned or offset the plastic piece. The bottom one is significantly more challenging than the top one due to the plastic piece. It may take a few tries to get it to set in there correctly.
a) Try to rotate it as you push it in to keep it going.
b) Use 2 thumbs to push to keep an even press.

4) Make sure they are all the way in and the lip of the bushings are against the caliper.

JFB63

I am struggling to get the lower bushing with the plastic insert installed. Following you instructions above I am pushing from inside to outside. Once I get to the plastic piece it won't insert. Any guidance other than above?