Brakes and Pads all round have I been stiffed into it ?

[rutland-boy]

Just fitted Disc's and pads all round, from DSGwagen -great deal , however I'm do feel a little miffed.

Did this as when I went to Audi they told me Discs worn badly, pads worn badly, and a badly chaffed flexible brake line.

Immediately after the service and check (and I do mean immediately - went in without it and came out with it) the brake wear light came on.

Having now done the changes, I have checked the wear on the disc's and they are defintely usable for perhaps another 4-5K

Also having checked all the flexible lines more closely - did quickly and thought I saw what they were taking about, I cant see aything now

A really strange one on the front pads, one side had the pads sensor cut away from the pad, leaving a very short (1-1.5MM) lead on the pad, the wires
where they connect to the car (you know where the socket is on the strut), had slighlty longer leads (3-5mm) which would appear to have been cleaned and
joined together ?

I checked the circuit on the other side (properly conected) and no closed circuit (ie I take it not indicating wear?).

I'm pretty sure (?) that both sides had the senor (why wouldn't they?) but of course I cant be 100% sure.

Have I been conned by Audi ? - would joining these two wires together cuase the brake wear indicatior to come on ?

Either way, the brake change went very well - only took from 13:00 to 18:45 - well what else was I going to after the wedding of the year ?

She stops great, I know that everything is the right spec and Audi genuine, so have great peace of mind from that front however just cant get away from the nagging feeling i've been stiffed - am I paraniod ?

Trust what I am told normally however this time i have a nagging feeling - trust you guys so what do you think ?

[Ian_C]

Are you suggesting that a garage would dare pull the sensor wires off the back of the pad sensor and short circuit them to cause the brake wear light to illuminate on the dash?! :p

If you bought the discs and pads privately and fitted them yourself, you probably paid 1/4 of what Audi would charge for the whole job, so I wouldn't worry about it!

[drybeer]

Did you measure the thickness of the discs with a gauge?

The minimum safe thickness is stamped into the bell housing of the disc.

[Rupert]

You need to measure the discs with a micrometer and check the minimum thickness as stamped on the bell.
The brake warning light is triggered when the circuit is broken, i.e. when the wires are disconnected. It is a normally closed circuit.
Both sides have sensors in the pads.
A bad connection at the connector will cause the same warning light.
You definitely saved money by not having Audi do the work - their parts prices are more expensive and their labour rates are a joke, but you get free coffee and a somewhere nice to sit.

[rutland-boy]

Thanks Guys, as ever good advice.

Looks like I was being too harsh, perhaps the previous owner did the cut job etc. as this would actually help not hinder, and I got the cricuit operation the wrong way round

Faith in humnan nature restored/

Ok about the disks etc, having measured them they have 1.5mm / 1.7mm on the front with similar on the rear, this means they didn't need replacing staright away - however now have peace of mind about the pads and the disks for a little while yet which is great

I was also impressed by the quality and sheer weight of the replacement Audi discs, no wonder the cost a small fortune....... also impressed by the engineering
of the whole lot - really superb. Will keep my eye out for some spare OE pads for front and rear, I was super impressed with the rears having new sprung steel clips and also new bolts with loctite all ready on it - lovely although made sure with some of my own as recomended.

Anyone know if there is an approved tightness for the bolts on the rear calipers, looked but couldnt find, the only one I could find was for the front (82 ft/lbs) but not the rears so tightend up to what I think is an apprpriate level.

As ever thanks.

[Shoppinit]

35Nm

[rutland-boy]

Thanks - Appreciated

Out with the torque wrench to check them out.