ThunderDent

So here I am again... only worse this time.

Driving down a hill. Going about 55-60. Trying to come to stop at intersection.
Press down on brake. It goes to the floor.

No power brakes at all. I had to bury my foot to the floor and engine brake hard in manual, to barely make the stop sign at a T-intersection.

Pulled across the road into a turnout. Parking malfunctions galore on the DIS. Brakes only work fully depressed and barely. Parking brake will not work.

What... The... F**k?

This is a serious safety issue.

Not sure how my engine tune would have ANYTHING to do with this.

Last time I had a brake issue, it turned out to be a bad MAF. That time it caused my parking brake to engage while driving on the interstate. This time I have no brakes at all.

It has to be a bad brake control unit or something.

Going to have to have it towed to closest Audi dealer. Not my usual dealership as I am out of town.

Seriously pissing me off. HUGE SAFETY ISSUE!!!!

ThunderDent

Waiting on tow truck.

Here's your problem.... right rear caliper came apart. Wow.

BlackAce

Oooof. Not cool, dude.

All I do is wish you good luck!

spijun

Unbelievable that this is possible
I hope it is not something serious,

I do not see well in the picture, whether you cracked servo hose

soonerfan

Who removed the calipers and reinstalled after painting?

ThunderDent

Last time calipers were off was 8,000 miles ago. The Audi dealership replaced rotors (Adams)/brake pads (OEM).OEM

No problems since then until now.

It looks like bolts were loose and now gone. I don't see any fracturing of the calipers, or any sheared off bolts.

Audi roadside service was pleasant and the towing service is taking it to local Audi dealership /service center.

I'll find out more Monday.

Not sure how this could have happened. I'm sure the bolts were torqued properly at dealer. Unless someone is trying to kill me. You never know I guess.

MP4.2+6.0

Looks like the caliper bolts probably backed out. From working on my Audis with basically this same design (ignoring the electronic parking brake) in the rear back into at least the mid 90's, those caliper bolts on the back aren't particularly meaty--like 8mm threads on a 13mm head. The new parts counter bolts come with Lock tite on them, though a lot of caliper kits don't include new bolts. Audi specs now basically seem to say any suspension or brake bolt that gets removed is supposed to be automatically replaced; they can be seen on work orders as part of the parts stuff, whether warranty or paid work. You might want to look at your prior invoice and see what you can find on parts items used.

Besides that, if you are familiar with them, tightening can be a bit tricky too. They tighten into the sliding/floating component of the carrier. Normal open end wrenches don't fit in there to hold the sliding component while you are tightening the rear bolt into it. I have found my 40 year old Campy bicycle hub cone wrenches just happen to be the magic tool here. Again I would think any dealer would have the tools...but they have to use them and get it torqued along the way. If all they did was tighten bolts but not use the other wrench to resist turning, it won't have been well torqued from my general experience w/ the job.

I have come around to pretty much just replacing these brake type bolts now any time I do caliper work, or if I have none on hand/unplanned work at least being sure I clean the threads and re-Locktite them. This post re-enforces that big time.

Good luck getting back on the road, and safely.

ThunderDent

Thanks all for the well wishes. I am fine, but it definitely could have been worse.

Hopefully they'll be able to install new bolts and all will be good. It shouldn't be any fault of mine, but we will see how this dealership is to work with. I've never had my car there before.

I am safe and no one was hurt, so that is really all that matters.

D_Frost

That... is... scary... Definitely an eye opener for anyone that has had their brakes serviced (or modded). Glad you were okay...

ThunderDent

Stopped by the dealership (Star Motor Co. Audi/WV) today where they took my car on the flatbed Saturday. Wanted to make sure it made it there before I left to come back home (2.5 hrs away/thankfully I could borrow Dad's truck). I've never been at this dealership before so I wanted to see what it looked like. It was just the closest one to where I got stranded/nearly died.

I took some better pics of the damage to show. It looks like bolts came out. I am so surprised that there is not a safety locking pin in them somewhere. Anyway here are the new pics. Going to call in the morning to find out the deal.









They also had a couple of cars there for anyone interested. There was a dark gray metallic Golf R for $36K, and a beautiful A7 S-line. Love the lines on that car. But for $72K, it ought to be nice.

There was also a new 2012 A3 sportback 2.0T, S-line, Scuba Blue, Beige/black interior, S-Tronic/DSG, Peeler rims. I was really surprised to see it sitting there. It was marked down to $26K.


Lastly, I saw this gem sitting there, which one can only hope they still use for a shuttle service. Too much...