MarkEllis

I should have said .... Open the bleed nipple on the caliper before you try to push back the piston! Catch the brake fluid with a bleed pipe and capture pot. This has two benefits 1. You can see the condition of your brakes (look at the fluid that comes out) 2. No Turkey baster needed just a top up with fresh Brake fluid as you pump the brakes back up. BUT don't forget to close the bleed nipple before you pump the brake up!
Also when buying a car it is likely that the car has been serviced well if there is no Black Crap in the bottom of the brake fluid tank which will have been pushed back in there by just retracting the caliper pistons without locking the pipe and opening the bleed nipples.

MarkEllis

OBDII is a "Standard" to enable the bare minimum of maintenance on "transistorised" vehicles. In theory it allows the investigation and sometimes the adjustment of operational perimeters relating to the engine that would "in the day" have been adjustable by spanners, screwdrivers, MK1 Eyeball and scenes of smell. :-) It is generic to all modern vehicles
VagCom gets to the rest of VAG's electrical systems and only VAG's system so Seats to Bentleys

LMSI-G35X

I did my fronts and rears over a couple of different days this past week. This write up is very helpful as are a couple of YouTube videos online. I've done the same thing on my C6 A6 so it's not new territory, but a couple of observations from what I went through.

1. On the front brakes it is a 21mm for the caliper bracket bolts
2. My rears needed a 13mm socket and not a 12mm as was mentioned
3. Also on the rears you need a 15mm wrench that's thin enough to fit on bolt next to the rubber grommet (apprx. 7mm wide). The one I bought was too thick so I actually had to grind it down with a angle grinder. But now it's perfect.

Just have patience. Brakes are easy to do in theory but as with brakes they can be tough because of the wear and corrosion they see. having the right tools and reading up on these guides and videos will save you a lot of headaches when you do the job.

r1racer

Typically you do the brake fluid flush as well so I don't bother.

graycat89

Beautiful explanation. Quick question: You mention that you have to use a battery tender if taking longer than 2 hours. . Any specific amperage? Should I turn the car off after the electromechanical brakes in the rear have been retracted??

I just bought a 2012 A7 and they are identical cars. I was able to do the front with no issues and went with Zimmerman rotors and Akebono pads which I have also used in My 2008 Audi A6 Avant. Thinking about picking up an inexpensive scan tool like Schwaben or Icarsoft to retract the rear brakes. Apparently they are quite good. Thanks for your input.

felek_pl

Video on how to replace rear brake pads and rotors on 2014 A6 C7

Tanket

Does he lube the pins in that video??

felek_pl

Yes, but I think that part is of the video is sped up

Chris McPherson

Great thread and lot of detail. Recently changed the front and rear brakes on a friends 2013 Audi A6. Followed the process in this thread and when completed, pressed down on the pedal and it was soft to the floor before it felt like it was braking. Unless I pumped it then it felt like there was pressure. Thought somehow I got air in the lines even though I didn’t break the system. Performed standard bleed of the system (without a pump) with almost 2L of fluid. Still no change. Temp check on rotors and rears were showing much higher temps than front. Front were almost not being used. Verified there was pressure by cracking caliper bleeder and seeing pressure. (Although not sure of the pressure). Drove around like this for a few months and then brought it into a shop.

They hooked it up to the reader and mentioned that the abs valve values need to be reset on these after a brake change and after they did that the pedal engagement was normal. Now this is the second time I’ve changed these front brakes but the first time I’ve had this problem and had to take it in due to not having a reader.

Has anyone else ever run into this? Appreciate any feedback.

Tanket

Done many of these and never heard of this before....interesting.