Brake job on my 4KCSQ finished... I've got a question.
 

I did the brakes on my 4KCSQ this week. Nothing fancy - Brembos rotors out front, ATE in the rear (stock sizes) w/Mintex pads. Really a relatively easy job all things considered. Had to buy a 12mm allen wrench to compress the rear brake pistons but otherwise no real difficulty.

One thing I noticed however was that the inner pads on both sides of the rear were worn quiet a bit more than any other pad. The fronts seemed to be wearing uniformly (with maybe a 1/4 inch of material left), and the rear outers seemed to have as much left on them as the fronts did. But the rear inners were maybe 1/8 inch thick.

I checked and lubricated the guide pins on the brakes (no problems noted) so anyone have any reason that they may have worn this way? Or is this a normal occurance?

TIA,
J.

noted the same on my front pads
 

inner was much more worn than outer.

My guide pins really needed clean/lube, so i was of the opinon that this was the cause of my uneven pad wear.

Still kicking my self for being too lazy to take them apart a little ealier :-(

same uneven wear here, guide pins on my car were quite dry when I changed out front pads and rotors

Question about those rear pistons...
 

... Been fighting with the brakes on my daughter's A4Q for two weeks now, today's the first day I've been able to spend some quality time with it.

After a week of letting Liquid Wrench do its work to allow me to finally knock the left rear rotor off I found that I couldn't move the pistons in. Either side. With any of three pin-type 3/8" attachments that I bought. Yes the brake fluid reservoir cap was loosened, the parking brakes were off, I even put some negative pressure on the bleeder screw with a hand pump.

Giving up and coming home I searched AW's A4-B5 forum and I guess the solution is a bigger hammer in the form of a tool that applies pressure while turning the piston. AutoZone is holding one for me to borrow tomorrow so I'm hoping it'll do the trick.

Reading your post I checked some pics of your calipers. Simple 12mm hex in the center. Do you have to apply massive pressure while turning as the A4 apparently requires?

Maybe this A4Q is a solid and fun drive but when it comes time to work on it I prefer my 4KS any day...

Re: Question about those rear pistons...
 

No massive pressure required, I have the compression tool which worked fine on the fronts. The rears did require a 12mm allen wrench, but went in pretty easily.

J.

Re: Question about those rear pistons...
 

Maybe then there are some internal differences as well between earlier Types and the B5. After installing the AutoZone tool I had to give the jam nut some impressive pressure to get the piston started, but within a minute I had the piston retracted fully. Jeez I love it when things go that well! I leaned on that piston with a keyed-tool and a ratchet as hard as I could for hours yesterday and it wouldn't bite.

From the talk about the subject on the A4/B5 Forum it's a common hurdle. You guys with the 12mm hex pistons should consider yourselves fortunate I guess, if they retract that easily!

My mechanical curiosity has me wanting to take the calipers apart now since I have no idea what's going on in there to have caused me so much anxzt... ;)

fwiw... and possibly for next time around...
 

you can do the a4 rear calipers w/ a small pipe wrench, needle nose pliers and a large C-clamp.

You get the piston turning w/ the pipe wrench, then spin it a few more times to make sure it's all free and loosey goosey, then put the C clamp on. You put the fixed part of the c-clamp on the back of the caliper and then put the rotating spindle on the piston itself. As you turn the c-clamp, it's enough turning movement and pressure to turn the piston into the caliper. Also, you can use the pipe wrench to turn it a little bit if it's not turning enough via the c-clamp.

They're a PITA, but once you figure out the trick it's a breeze. I did the same procedure on my brother's old CQ. Glad you figured it out though, I can relate on how much of a pain they are... but who says you need to proper tool to do the job ;)