vutekho

I just finished bleeding my brake lines today and wanted to share something. Vehicle is a 2013 model with about 55k miles on it. While the rears had nothing to worry about, the photo shows what look like metal shavings in the two front brake lines. As soon as I broke the bleeder valve open, the debris started coming out. I flushed it till it was clear of any debris or air bubbles.

To give you an idea how much was in the system, I had 2 feet of 1/4" clear tubing, and there were debris floating along the 2 feet of tubing upon initial bleeding.

vutekho

Also, the rubber boot that covers the front bleed valve had Brembo on it. Can someone clarify whether or not our brakes are made by Brembo?

rdA4WtQ5

TRW made the brakes on our Q5's through model year 2012. Brembo after that.
Have you flushed your brake lines before this?
Brake fluid tends to go bad near the calipers due to super high heat causing debris.
An incorrect brake fluid can cause rubber parts to come apart and cause debris also.

Redd

Call me paranoid, but I would want to thoroughly flush the entire system, purge out all of the old fluid in case someone put in something wrong, and make sure it was all clean and new.


You might want to try use a Motive pressure bleeder (various models with different adapters) as they make the job very easy, you just hook it over the fluid reservoir, pump it out, and then open each bleed valve while the pressure pushes out all the old stuff. Beats all hell out of vacuum systems and "pump, pump, pump, wait..." (G)

yakev724

thanks for sharing.

will add this as a step to my planned diy 75k mile service

DennisMitchell

I believe the maintenance schedule is for brake fluid flush every two years.

rdA4WtQ5

With Audicare it gets done twice.

BarryT

Is it every two years now? It used to be three years or 30k miles.

Redd

Brake fluid really should be tested for moisture and for copper content. (The copper comes from the way brake system tubing is made, it isn't "just" a simple tube.)

Some tests are done with test strips, little paper strips that change color after a dip. Others are done with a tester that looks like a fat fountain pen and tests conductivity.

Randomly changing the fluid, based on months or miles without any way to account for the environment (high desert? moist swampy lowland?) is just a waste of time and money. Sure, it works. But for under $50 you should be able to buy both testers--and the dealership should have them and be using them in any case--and that $50 will tell you when you need a change.

If the maintenance schedule (from any automaker) said "Change headlights and all marker lights every third year" would that make any sense? Sure, they might burn out, but why not take a look at them first?

vutekho

I'm the original owner, and this was the first time it was change for the Audi, but not my first time bleeding brakes. All my other vehicles came out clear. Was just curious if anyone else had this come out upon their first flush.