Bad-mofo

While driving to Pahrump the "brake pad" warning came up on the Touareg. I was a little paranoid, so I took time on Saturday between sessions to remove all four wheels one by one and check the pads. Nothing to worry about: the front will last another 2-3K miles.

The calipers have similar design as motorcycle calipers (one pin), so it's 100% DIY. Now here's the question: do I absolutely need to do something to the rotors or the new pads would adjust in the matter of minutes. We don't change motorcycle rotors every time we change pads.

My second question is if there is any VW mechanic here (other than Mark H. obviously, LOL) to reset that warning light after I change the pads.

And lastly where to buy them preferably some good brand (I use EBC for bikes). Do I need to order them online or I can get them at local Pep Boys?

TIA,
Alex

Jay fooey

Alex, I don't work for VW... but maybe I can answer some of your questions...

let me ask this question to you, right now when your braking either softly or hard, does the vehicle or brake pedal or steering wheel pulsate/vibrate?

If you say yes to any of those conditions, it could very well mean your rotors have excessive lateral runout or excessive thickness variation, usually having the rotor machined/turned will fix that.

If none of those conditions exist, just slap some good quality brake pads on them, I suggest going with the OE brake pads... while you can get life time brake pads from pep boy or where ever, to me the quality isn't as good, do you have to time to keep replacing brake pads or even the rotors if the pad fails? I've seen too much junk from those places come into the dealership.

If you never ever have a pulsation/vibration while braking, I would recommend having the rotors machined/turned every other brake job, this way some checks the thickness of rotor, because if the rotor gets too thin it will have to be replaced. usually a minium thickness is stamped onto the rotor.

I'm not sure how VW clears brake pad warning light, more than likely you'll have to cleared it with a scan tool...

Alex, I'm not a VW mechanic, I'm a GM & ASE master certified mechanic, this is what I do to my own cars and the cars I work on...

hope this helps

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WSMC #689

Bad-mofo

Thanks, Jay. I wanted to ask you that in Pahrump, but forgot in the trackday excitement. I don't have any vibration/pulsation. I know what you're talking about because I had that vibration on a Mitsubishi 10 years ago. Though the Treg rotors are worn about 1mm on the outer side. Maybe it's less, but this is how it looks like. My Bimmer has the same kind of wear on the front and no issues. I think I can live with it for another 20K mi (the life span of the front pads on Touareg)

I'm hoping the light will turn off after the new pads are installed, but then I may need to use the scan tool like you said. Not sure if VW delership would wanna do it for free. I'll research some universal tool if it exists.

Thanks again.

JohnnyD

I asked a friend at work ( Mitchell 1 - The First Choice of Automotive Professionals ) , the dashboard light is activated when the pads reach a certain level of wear. When you replace the worn pads, according to my bud at work, the light will go off. According to him, BMW has the same system.

If you have need, I can copy the brake section of the shop manual - which we have at work. I would just need to know the specific Year/Make/Model, and an email address to send a PDF file.

__________________
JD

Life begins when the warranty is up.

JohnnyD

Yup - I found it in our knowledge base:

BRAKE PAD WEAR INDICATOR

Brake pads that have reached the end of their service life are indicated on instrument cluster by the Brake Pad Wear Indicator. Indicator will go out when NEW brake pads with NEW brake pad wear sensors are installed on vehicle.

__________________
JD

Life begins when the warranty is up.

Johnny Diablo

I agree with... If there is no pulsation in the pedal just swap in new pads and disregard the minor uneveness.

Now in my experience of doing this for various sisters and sister in-laws is that the brakes sometimes squeal while creeping slow like in stop and go traffic. The solution is supposedly to have them turned/surfaced.

Dad was a big fan of not turning rotors. You can only turn them so many times before you gotta buy new ones he would say.

On my own rides... I let them squeal a bit and save my $$ for toys.

Bad-mofo

Ha-ha. I'm a big fan of this approach. The wife can complain about noise (if any)... it'd motivate her to use Tiptronic and engine braking instead of riding the brakes like the rest of them, SUVers.

I removed one wheel and measured one rotor yesterday and they're appr. 31mm: better than I expected. The minimal width is 30mm according to some VW forums, which means I'll arrive there at the next pad change (20-25K miles on the Treg). Then I'll replace the rotors. The surface is not ideal, but not too bad. The rotors are not that expensive anyway: $85 each, but why waste even that money.

The model is 2006 VW Touareg V8. I don't think I need the manual as the process is very straightforward (one pin) though I'd appreciate if someone can double check the rotor size. I ordered the pads for 330x32 front rotors (again, according to one VW forum). If they're different, I can stop my order and change it to 350 pads.

Thanks for all the info and advice.

Johnny Diablo

I usually dismount the caliper and shoot everything with brake cleaner with a towel like rag to catch the darkwater.

Pop the cap off the master cylinder. Place a rag under it.

I use a large c clamp to back the piston back into the caliper. Watch fluid level in master cyl res. rise.

Smear that anti-squeek stuff on the backing and let it set up a little.

Swap the caliper back on with the new pads.

Call the wife to do the "pump pump pump - hold" routine (get your minds outah the gutter)

Give em all a comlimentary bleed starting with whichever is farthest away from the master cylinder. I have used aquarium line or whatever clear hose I can slip on the bleeder to clreate a fluid loop.

Wife-P P H, bleed caliper , rinse repeat.

Most the cars that I have done a brake job on needed a bleed after.

I have also done the lazy bleed . attach 4 bleed tubes on the 4 calipers to jars. Crack the bleeders open. Open the master cylinder cap and come back in 10 minutes. Add fluid to master res. Keep filling till you think enough old fluid has run out. Tighten caliper bleeders... your done.

Old fluid will rust the lines.