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Hi All, I have been looking for a while and finally picked myself up an RS4.
All going great, the only thing I have noticed is that if the car sits for a week or three without use the brakes bind a bit. I parked the car with it still in gear but with the hand brake off to see if this stops.
The other day I asked the better half to take the car for a spin to keep it ticking over and she mentioned to me that the brakes had stuck on again, even with the hand brake off.
Once the car has been used, the brakes are fine. Anyone ever come across this / has any tips? Or is this just a characteristic of the car?

I have had the disks and pads checked and been reassured that both are fine.

Before I leave the car sitting, I always wash the car / wheels thoroughly so it does not sit with any brake dust on them.


Cheers for any help / advice

Chrisc

The RS4 brake pads will stick to the disc if moist is present. I find that I have to drive it and apply the brake several times until it dries otherwise it will bind the next day and the noise it makes as it breaks the binding is horrible. So my advice is drive it and dry the brakes after carwash everytime. Once you've done, it won't bind even if you let it sit for days.

Yep most cars will tend to stick their pads if they're stabled when very wet. If i wash mine thoroughly and then garage it overnight, next morning it can be like the handbrake is actually on - sometimes there's even a 'bang' as the pads unstick. But then after a mile or so any noise associated with the temporarily 'rusty' discs disappears.

Two questions: (a) is it doing it in the dry? (b) is the grinding/binding/graunching just for a mile or so and then disappears completely?

If answer to (b) is 'yes' then sounds like little to worry. If answer to (a) is yes, i'd suspect the rear calipers - they're the 'wind back' type (the pistons are on large threads, so rotate in and out, not just straight in and out) and are more prone to seizing up.

Also, where do you live ? I mean what climate? If it's humid then that qualifies as at least a bit 'wet'.

Finally, and should have asked this up front - are the rear discs pitted and a bit rusty? If so, they'll need skimming or changing - this can be a source of noise and it's very hard to 'wear' it off.

chrissy wrote:Before I leave the car sitting, I always wash the car / wheels thoroughly so it does not sit with any brake dust on them.

It's not the brake dust which cuases the brakes to bind - it's the rust caused by washing and not drying the disks.
After you wash the car, take it for a short drive and get some heat into the brakes to dry them.

I recently got back from two weeks holiday with my RS4 left in an airport car park - no brake binding problem at all when we got back.

As already said it's important to dry the pads and discs before parking the car.

BTW when driving with the wipers on the RS4 ABS system will very gently apply the brakes to keep the pads and discs dry (to avoid the "no brakes on first application in the wet" problem that used to affect earlier Audis - my B6 S4s both suffered from it.

rjkflyer wrote:Yep most cars will tend to stick their pads if they're stabled when very wet. If i wash mine thoroughly and then garage it overnight, next morning it can be like the handbrake is actually on - sometimes there's even a 'bang' as the pads unstick. But then after a mile or so any noise associated with the temporarily 'rusty' discs disappears.

Two questions: (a) is it doing it in the dry? (b) is the grinding/binding/graunching just for a mile or so and then disappears completely?

If answer to (b) is 'yes' then sounds like little to worry. If answer to (a) is yes, i'd suspect the rear calipers - they're the 'wind back' type (the pistons are on large threads, so rotate in and out, not just straight in and out) and are more prone to seizing up.

Also, where do you live ? I mean what climate? If it's humid then that qualifies as at least a bit 'wet'.

Finally, and should have asked this up front - are the rear discs pitted and a bit rusty? If so, they'll need skimming or changing - this can be a source of noise and it's very hard to 'wear' it off.

Thanks to all for the replies and info. It must be the fact that the wheels / disks are still damp when being tucked away. I will try this out after the next bath time.

Rjkflyer, thanks for the info. In answer to the questions, As soon as the car has moved and the brakes used once or twice there are no issues, no graunching etc. As for operation in the dry, all is fine. Well for as dry as it can get up in Scotland-shire. I have checked the disks for any abnormal wear, rust, pitting etc and all are fine

PertolDave, thanks for the info too. How in the hell did you find that out!

I will make a point of having a final drive round the block before tucking her.... I mean it away for the night.

Cheers again

Chrisc

chrissy wrote:PertolDave, thanks for the info too. How in the hell did you find that out!

It was in several magazines when the B7 update was announced.

PetrolDave wrote:

chrissy wrote:PertolDave, thanks for the info too. How in the hell did you find that out!

It was in several magazines when the B7 update was announced.

Its also in the manual

Marcus-RS4 wrote:Its also in the manual

Manual???

Wassat???

Just an update from my original post back in August. Thanks again to all for the info that was passed on. I took the advice and took the car for a spin prior to parking up for a while and it seemed to help.
I called home whilst away and asked the missus how the car had been and I was told that every now and again the brakes would stick and it would beep or some sort of alarm would go off. Once I got home I checked it out and found that it was the brake pad warning coming on. I took the pads off for a look and found that the sensor connector on the pad had corroded. I gave Audi a shout and had them look at it. Their tech confirmed the problem and swapped out all the pads there and then FOC.
I don’t know if this would have contributed to the problem but ever since the pads were swapped out there’s been no binding or squeaking from them.

Just thought I should post in case anyone else gets this.

Chrisc