iamrizzy

To anyone viewing this post and has encountered the PITA issue of retracting the rear caliper piston, you can simply take a large c-clamp and attach the cube caliper to it for spin & pressure at the same time.

See pics:
with extension


w/o extension

SloopJohnB@mac.com

True dat. But still a pain compared to a decent pneumatic tool.

georgeb944

Or the cheaper (non-pneumatic) version from Harbot Freight.

Gsrob

I've done this numerous times on cars (not my current A6) with a pair of needle nose pliers. I used to have the cube tool that attached to a ratchet but misplaced it... Not sure if it requires more positive pressure on the A6 but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

tester123

Neat little tool I must say. All the times I've done this, it is with a c-clamp to put pressure and just used adjustable pliers to twist the piston?? back in. This technique has been working for me since the old honda days... Only thing is you gotta be careful not to "bite" the boot with pliers. I'll have to get one of these tools...

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Yep…more and more cars have the rotating piston retraction on the rear calipers…Only thing worse is the electric servo motor parking brake…THAT one you need a vag-com to reverse AFAIK. None of my cars have an electric parking brake but my next Audi or 2010 or newer car in all likelihood will.

BTW…just drove a BMW 328(?)D, some 2.0L diesel, dunno if it was a turbo or not…but it was an absolute dog acceleration wise. It had legs…I admit…walked right up to 90mph…but no push in the back on the way there like the new A6 audi supercharged diesel. At $40K it wasn't my cup of tea.

The salesman said there wasn't much demand for them in the US….arghhh..if mileage is the only issue I can see why..no performance.

The new A6 diesel, however, not bad.

tester123

Speaking of that servo motor parking brake, what are your thoughts on that? I drove a passat with this brake and just wanted to see what would happen if the brake is engaged (in a safe parking lot @ less than 20mph). To my surprise, there is no safety lock, it just froze the rear wheels and stopped the car. And, that can't be good IMO. At least couple times I've used the manual handbrake in my Audi to stop from having an accident etc. and able to let it go immediately. But you can't do that with this electric brake. It goes all the way and takes forever to disengage...

Not a big fan of it (perhaps, I like the old fashioned handbrake -makes me feel like I have a possible option out of a tight circumstance).

Maybe when I buy that Google's Auto-driving,-parking,-recharging car, I wouldn't feel bad about having a button to apply brakes....

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Heh…I did the same thing on a loaner Audi. That parking brake goes to lock NOW.

But then, it's a parking brake, IMHO. The days of J-turns using a handbrake are long gone. I can't imagine a scenario where a handbrake is going to avoid an accident today with monster brakes modulated with ABS and cross-circuit hydraulics that enable adequate brakes even with brake failures. Unless you run a system dry with gross leaks and the only thing left is a handbrake….

The real thing that pisses me off is the requirement for a computer or scan tool or vag-com to back off the rear brake caliper to slap in a fresh set of pads. But that just makes me a grouchy old man too cheap to pay $1600 for a 4-wheel brake/rotor job at the stealer.

Here's an article on fixing things….the automotive industry is still 30 years ahead of the electronics people and yet Audi is one of the worst companies for IP/diagnostics/repair manuals. Their manuals are miserable…even for Audi mechanics. 30 years ago a Motor Manual told you almost the exact sequence for any motor, tranny, diff, etc. repair/replacement…today, not so much.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...rites-his-own/

Boston Driver

I prefer the tool I can borrow for free from AutoZone

rs4-380

I've done many brake jobs on integrated parking brake calipers and never used anything other then a c-clamp ( no cube)