Jan.04, I had a siezed right rear caliper. I followed a procedure written by Fred Munro to try to "rehab" the emergency brake cam/lever and avoid the total replacement. Didn't work for me and THIS rear caliper overhaul procedure wasn't around at the time.

So it was either buy new calipers (PN 447615423 - right, 424 - left (Note: Check these PNs with the dealer because odd numbers usually = left).

My dealer had no UrS rear calipers in stock (1 week delivery) so I bought a "reman" right rear caliper "made" by Fenco for $115 (CDN) (C8484 = right, C8485 = left). It was excellent. In fact I can't really believe it was a reman. It looked brand new from Girling. The only difference was some coloured epoxy over the VW-Audi info. I installed it with little or no instructions sitting in my cold garage. I liked the caliper so well, I went and bought the left rear, including a $110 (CDN) core charge. Unfortunately, I never had to install it (left caliper was working fine). But today, I decided I should install it so the caliper ages aren't too far apart and so I can get my core charge back. Of course, I forgot all those tricks I "learned" the first time. So I thought I would share what I relearned today.

First of all here is a diagram of what you are going to be dealing with:



1. Put car in gear, release the emergency brake, block front wheels.

2. Remove wheel bolt cover, and loosen all five rear wheel bolts (17 mm socket counter clockwise (duh)).

3. Jack up the rear wheel. I used my little hydraulic trolley jack under the rear A-arm.

4. Remove wheel bolts and wheel. Place them away from the immediate work area.

5. Block car as required for protection in the event the jack ceases to function.

6. Note how the brake line and emergency brake cable are oriented. (I forgot to even think about this first thing - as you will see - it "bit" me later)

7. Try to loosen the brake line at the caliper (14 mm open-ended wrench). If you can loosen it, snug it up gentley again. If you can't, spray some WD40 or liquid wrench on it. Wait a bit, tap it lightly and try again. Repeat until you can loosen the hose and then snug gently.

8. Loosen the carrier bolts (Item 5 in the diagram above). The head of the bolt is 13 mm but you also need to hold the carrier pin (Item 4) with a thin 15 open-ended wrench. Remember you are working backwards and figure out which way is "loosen" before you go at it.

9. Remove the carrier bolts and swing the caliper away from the rotor. Rest on the A-arm.

10. Remove the pads from the carrier. Note which one is the inner and which one is the outer. Place in a safe clean dry nearby location. If there isn't much pad left, replace with new pads (and rotors if they are bad). Mine were fine. The rear brakes really don't do very much work. But they do some and that's important.

11. Twist the caliper around gently and remove the emergency brake "ball" end from the emergency brake cam lever. To do this, place a broad-bladed flat head screw driver in the return spring (Item 1A) hole and twist to release the pressure on the ball end of the cable. Push the ball end toward the caliper body until it clears the slot in the cam lever. (This can be a bit tricky, I ended up removing the return spring entirely so the "twist" was easier).

12. Remove the clip that hold the emergency brake cable into the caliper. Note how it is oriented (with the loop end away from the caliper and the open ends towards the caliper).

13. Remove the the emergency brake cable from the caliper. It may not want to pull out easily because of corrosion. I used a little WD40 and some light tapping before it would come loose. But it did.

14. Inspect the cable end and rubber boot. On the one I did in Jan. 2004, the boot was on wrong. The fat end should be away from the ball and the narrow end should be up against the ball. Apply never-seize to the exposted part the of the cable. Fill the boot with some as well.

15. Bring the new (remanned) caliper close by. With some rags handy to wipe up any spills, loosen the 14 mm caliper brake hose fitting just enough so it is loose. Spin the caliper off the hose (yep, you heard me, spin the caliper). The hose can't take the wind-up that would be needed to ge the hose out of the caliper. Easier to wind the caliper off the hose.

16. Put the old caliper down with the hose connection end up (so it won't drain on your nice garage floor) and grab the new caliper.

17. In a reverse of the removal, spin the new caliper onto the hose (making sure that you aren't cross threaded). Keep spinning until you are pretty tight. Snug the fitting with the 14 mm wrench.

(17A. If you want to replace the rotor, this is the time. The proper UrS rotor (Item 9) is 269 mm dia x 20 mm thick (ventilated) PN 857615601.)

18. Now, this is the step that I "Doh'd" out on the first time: Trial the caliper up against the guide pins. IF the brake hose is too twisted, rotate the caliper until the the hose is not as twisted (I forgot to do this and had the emergency brake cable back on and was snugging the the carrier bolts before I noticed the extra twist in the brake hose. D'oh!! (Merde). There was only one cure - remove the carrier bolts, and the emergency brake cable and untwist the hose by rotating the caliper). Once you are happy with the caliper and hose orientation, rest the caliper on the A-arm - don't let it hang on the brake hose.

19. Remove the guide pins from the carrier. Before you do, wipe the crud of the rubber bellows, especially at the end closest to you. Pry (gently) the rubber bellows off the carrier (closest to you) and pull the pin towards the car (away from you).

20. Clean the pins and apply neverseize (or your favourite appropriate grease) and re-install. Make sure that therubber bellows end closest to you "clips" over the ridge on the carrier. (NOTE: IF the bellows have a rip, you should replace them before carry on with the remaining steps).

21. Push the emergency cable through the hole in the caliper. Re-install the clip (looped end to the car, open ends to you).

22. Reinstall the ball-end of the emergency brake cable in the new caliper's lever arm. Twist the arm with a big screwdriver in the spring slot and pull the ball end until it slips into the cable groove in the lever arm. (If this proves difficult, remove the return spring, get the cable in place and then re-install the return spring).

23. Return the brake pads to their former inner / outer position (or install new pads, Item 20, PN 4D0698451A, if required). Note: the pads should have "rabbit ears" springs - if they don't they are the wrong pad. If you are installing new pads, you will need to wind the piston back into the caliper using a caliper piston tool first)

24.Install the caliper into the carrier. Use blue Loctite(tm) to ensure that the bolts don't loosen. Start the top bolt by hand and then the bottom bolt (there will be a bit of stress here because you have to twist the caliper forward to compress the pad springs). When you have both bolts started, use the 13 mm wrench/socket on the caliper bolts while holding the carrier pins with a thin 15 mm open-ended wrench.
I didn't have a torque setting so I just got them as tight as I could with my long handled wrenches. (Please check the torque settings).

25. Remove the rubber bleeder screw cap and loosen the new bleeder screw with an 11 mm flare wrench. Put a hose over the bleeder screw and run into a glass container. Bleed as normal ( Pressure bleeders are best. I used a one man bleeder and many many slow short brake pedal strokes to fill the caliper and then remove any bubbles). NOTE: Monitor the master cylinder and don't let it go dry. I used Pentosin Super DOT 4 brake fluid to refill.

26. Tighten the bleeder screw and install the rubber cap. Wipe up any fluid dribbles.

27. Move tools away and reinstall the wheel. Snug wheel bolts.

28. Remove blocks etc. under car and lower the car on the jack until the jack can be pulled clear.

29. Tighten wheel bolts in a star pattern (82 lb ft) in the normal fashion.

30. Clean up your work area and store tools appropriately.

31. Pump the emergency brake handle a few times to move the piston out on the new caliper.

32. Check the level in the master cylinder. Top up with Pentosin Super DOT 4 (or equivalent).

33. Test drive. Gentle stops at first.

34. Return home. Park. Get beer. Sip. Guzzle. Belch.

35. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

HTH

YMMV

Dave F.