Dommi3

The car's parking brake hasn't gotten any better at holding the car on hills? I thought it would. Does anyone know what type of adjustment needs to be to the parking brake handle or actual brakes to hold better on these extremely steep hills of San Francisco?

Also, the front brake pad indicator (0) still does pop on every so often even though I know the pads are fine. Any suggestions on that one?

dommi3 Tiburon, California
1997 Audi A8 4.2 Quattro
Silver/Gray 17" Audi A8 Wheels
Every Available Option
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Previous Audi

CLeonard

Or are A8's different from other cars?
How far up can you pull your parking brake handle? Mine only comes up a couple inches, Paul's goes to nearly a 45 degree angle. I would think what you need to do is adjust your parking brake cable.

Colby

Dommi3

Mine Goes up 45 Degrees but I think it always has. It used to hold and now it now longer does. I believe it was a very gradual process. In other words, it took some time to go from good to bad.

Go figure?

dommi3 Tiburon, California
1997 Audi A8 4.2 Quattro
Silver/Gray 17" Audi A8 Wheels
Every Available Option
------------------------------------------
Previous Audi

barryl

Hello,

The hand brake only operates the rear brakes.
When the handle goes up high, it means your rear
pads are wornn, or something is wrong. You should
remove a rear wheel and check your rear pads.

Bary

CLeonard

like my Porsche does, or does it just lock the factory caliper? If the former, then pad wear could cause the problem, but if the latter, pad wear shouldn't be enough to cause a parking brake to no longer engage...My guess would be that the cable has stretched over time. I would first see if there is any more adjustment left on the cable. It wouldn't hurt to also check the pads as well.

Colby

Dommi3

I have over 53K miles on my front Pads.

On all my previous cars, I went through several sets of front pads to each set of rears.

The pads I have on the rear can't have more than 25K miles on them.

I know my Wife's New Beetle seems to go through more rear Pads than fronts, however I thought that was a recall issue so I discounted it.

What do you think about that?

dommi3 Tiburon, California
1997 Audi A8 4.2 Quattro
Silver/Gray 17" Audi A8 Wheels
Every Available Option
------------------------------------------
Previous Audi

barryl

Hello,

The parking brake works by applying the rear pads. There are no separate pads, the regular rear pads apply the braking force.

The front pads wear at a rate of approximately 2:1, meaning you generally need to change the front pads twice as often as the rear.

If you only have 28K miles or so on the rear pads, they should be fine. The other problem may be the parking brake mechanism. It is supposed to be self adjusting, ie, as the pads wear, the brake pads are supposed to stay the same distance from the rotor. Perhaps the mechanism is frozen and not working properly? Either way, the only way to diagnose the problem will be to remove one of the rear wheels and examine the caliper. You will see the cable from the parking brake, and you will be able to observe how it operates when you pull the handle.

Good luck,
Barry

Dommi3

dommi3 Tiburon, California
1997 Audi A8 4.2 Quattro
Silver/Gray 17" Audi A8 Wheels
Every Available Option
------------------------------------------
Previous Audi

steveq

you can adjust the amount of lift on your handbrake ( if not over worn) by looking under the central tunnel ( there is a heat shield you have to remove this first) underneath this is a " t-bar" arrangement with a single cable going to the handbrake and two studs ( adjustable) heading to the rear. if you carefully adjust these , this should sort the problem out. however if it is not because the cable has stretched then replacement rear pads should be considered. also ( i know this is a bit obvious, sorry) if you over tention the t-bar then it will allow the rears to rub.
hope this helps