Something's Not Right...

[innercry666]

So I recently noticed that the front right rim is getting considerably hotter than the front left after doing the commute. Also, when coming off the power to 'lift and coast' there is a noticeable feeling of braking and the car slows much quicker than usual. I suspect that the brake pad is binding to the disc. Anybody else experienced similar? There seems to be higher ware on the front right disc as well.

The car has done just over 19K since new and the discs and pads are original. What's the average wear life for the pads and discs?

[Brooner]

im on 23k original disks still about 1mm left before needing changed but pads replaced at 20k
sound like the caliper is binding i would get it looked at as soon as

[innercry666]

Audi inspected the car back in February - discs and pads were supposedly ok. There seems to be a reasonable amount of pad left at the moment but I'm going to take a proper look later today.

I expected to get 30K out of the discs and probably about 20K for pads so if they need replacing now it's not such an issue. What was the cost of the pad replacement?

[S4WON]

Not disk, not pad, calipers..

[innercry666]

Yeah the caliper is definitely binding. This disk is significantly more worn than the other. Spoke to Audi earlier and got the car booked in but it's going to be at least 6 weeks so they have recommended Audi Road-Side Assist so looks like I'm going to go down that road.

Are there any likely causes for caliper's to bind? Is it a repair or replace on the calipers to get it the problem resolved?

The disks and pads are going to need to be replaced as well so I'm going to be pushing for a warranty job...

[Nobby]

Calipers normally stick after a bit of crud gets in behind the seals - its doesn't take much to get them to stick in place, either crud via external dust seals or breakdown of a rubber hose. For a new ish car that isn't common.

Rebuilding isn't really that difficult, but I don't know if Audi commonly do it. Can you even buy a seal/piston kit for them? They might just stick a new caliper on.

[carsarecool]

got the car booked in but it's going to be at least 6 weeks so they have recommended Audi Road-Side Assist so looks like I'm going to go down that road

...Use another dealer....Audi recommending you use RA instead of them dealing with it...thats a joke.

[Brooner]

yes as above give another dealer a call and pass on the Road side assistance comment to Audi Uk
very poor response considering you have a brake issue on a high performance car

[innercry666]

I've emailed my regular contact at the dealership so will see if that get's any response. If I don't get a response in a timely fashion I will be ringing my back-up options. Drawback is most Audi dealerships in the immediate area are pretty shocking as I've been through them all before!

Thanks for the responses...

[innercry666]

I managed to get the car looked at and the caliper has been cleaned and the pads lubed up and the brake / wheel is still getting very hot despite the claim it is ' all sorted'. Audi have ground down the lip on the disc. The master tech mentioned that the calipers are usually bullet proof which may well be the case so what I suspect is that the disc is warped and hence why it's catching.

Has anybody else had issues with the brakes / discs? I need some ammo to go back to Audi to get the discs and pads replaced...

[V8mark]

I think someone is doing half a job here, if there is heat building up to that extent it's usually because the pad is still being held against the disc. As others have said this is usually because either a piston is sticking or the pads are unable to move freely (corrosion on the B7 did this).

The mechanic on the job needs to pop the pistons out of the caliper and check that they are clean and move freely IMHO .... unless they have done this, or at least checked that the pads release, half a job I'm afraid.

If the disc is warped you will feel judder when you brake. I'd like to wager that the caliper is still sticking ..... an indie might be your best bet, some dealers don't like getting their fingers dirty these days, they aren't trained for it, whereas indies will quite often take things apart and fix them.

[johnnydog]

I'd name and shame the dealer personally........

[innercry666]

Just want to resurrect this thread as the car is going into Audi next week for another look at the caliper. Since the car was in with Audi it went back again for servicing work in July and they were asked to have another look as I was taking temperature readings for calipers, discs and rims and comparing on a regular basis. The front right caliper is getting 10 degrees C hotter than the front left over the course of an hours driving on A roads and motorway. The rears are within 1 degrees C of each other. I gave the dealership this information as justification for there still being an issue.

The response I got back was interesting but a load of BS. Apparently the front right caliper was hotter because there is a water pump and radiator sat behind the front bumper on right side of the car, therefore this was why this caliper was hotter than the other! Nice theory until I pointed out that the caliper was the hottest part of that area and therefore the Audi theory didn't hold water. In fact the temps on all of the other calipers were lower than the disc temps, with the exception on of the front right. So it certainly points to the disc and the pad making contact when it shouldn't.

Whilst trying to resolve this issue I spoke to a company who rebuild Brembo Calipers and mentioned the issues and they were quite straight saying that it certainly sounded like a piston sticking. Audi confirmed that they don't have the expertise to rebuild calipers and if they found an issue they would just replace rather than repair.

The other main piece of 'evidence' is that the disc on the inside face is worn significantly. In comparison the other disc is barely worn. I'm at the point that Audi need to replace discs pads and calipers, however the amount of push back from them has been immense. They clearly understand there's an issue however they are trying their hardest to push it into the long grass when the car will be out of warranty (March 2018). It's infuriating as even though it possible to provide evidence that there's a problem, unless they acknowledge it the warranty means nothing.

Has anybody else had any similar / same issues?

In addition to the brake issue and the potential gearbox issue, I've noted that every so often I will see wisps of water vapour (steam) coming from underneath the bonnet/front of the car. Possibly only seen it three times spaced apart, with the last time being recently. The last time the weather was dry so I can only assume that one of the radiators is losing fluid due to damage. However, I don't know so if anyone has any info to add to that it would be appreciated...

I'll provide an update next week on progress (or lack there of)...

[noddy]

Take it to Audi U.K. Any potential brake issues that are ignored would potentially cause a huge fall out for them. Take the wheel of and pull the pads. A sticking pad will be substantially thinner. Photograph and email.


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