Changing car brake pads- piston wind back thingymijig question

Fancy having a go myself- can’t be much more complicated than the bike brake pads.

Car is an Audi A3. Appears I need a piston wind back tool. Question is am I likely to need a set (with various adaptors) or will something like this[/url] do the job? Says fits Audi etc

Any mechanics around who can advise? Cheers

depend on many you can get a bar in and wind it bacl manually anyway

Probably best to good or ask on audi website

Either way best say what type of Audi – oh wand what colour your orange 5 is and what level of IT yo work in 😉

I use one similar to the one you posted (mine’s a generic one from GSF). On cars where the adaptor hasn’t fitted, I’ve just left the old pad in and wound against that.

double post

Yes that’s the right type of tool. However make sure it fits – sorry can’t help you there. That one looks the same as the Laser 1314 below, in which case the pin centers are 22mm and 32mm either side. I was assured on a make/model specific forum that it would fit my S Type, however it didn’t. Either get a kit of pop one of the pads out and measure before purchasing.

Assume you’re talking about rear pads, if not then a g-cramp and a wood block or the old pad will work.

Front pads , you don’t need a wind back tool

Rear pads , that tool should do the job . Be prepared to replace the calipers on the rear as they have a habit of the pistons seizing and not winding back . Make sure you clean all the rust from the caliper bracket around where the pads seat . Failure to do this will make the pads difficult to fit and cause premature wear .

Be very careful of the advise you follow on internet forums , I have seen some right drivel spouted about how to replace brake pads some of it really quite dangerous . Remember , your brakes stop you from killing yourself and others .

You can hire the tool from most tool hire places.

Charcoal grey orange five 😆

On cars where the adaptor hasn’t fitted, I’ve just left the old pad in and wound against that.

This was my first thought but the piston is threaded so not sure that approach will work on the rear brakes. As it’s only cheap I’ll give it a go and if it doesn’t fit ill take it back.

thanks

edit: yes im talking about rear pads.

Ill have a look at hiring too, cheers

assuming A3 is the same as mk4 and mk5 golf and the 6n2 polo.

then the tool in the op will work…use mine fairly regularly for this purpose.

That’s what I use on all cars I’ve done with wind back caliper pistons…..just be careful to make sure your winding them back squarely, sometimes I’ve had to run the plate backwards which requires five hands to get it started.
Never windd them back all the way to the bottom harder if you do unwind an 1/8 of a turn or you can make the piston seize in place…..and ideally if you’re going to really be doing it properly connect a one way bleed house to the bleed nipple and release the nipple so that old fluid is expelled into an old jam jar or other container…..prevents any contaminants being pushed into your Abs pump/system.
Finally alas you may find that your bleed nipples have been done up by some ham fisted over zealous monkey or have suffered galvanic corrosion ( the rear calipers on VAG group I’ve found to be particularly bad for it) so if it won’t undo easily either use release spray/penetrant or freeze spray as it will likely snap.
Can’t think of any other pitfalls but it is an easy job.

thanks for the tips. If I release the bleed nipple I presume I won’t have to remove the reservoir cap (which a guy in work said I should do to allow room for the fluid to come back up)? I’ll release the nipple as it should prevent contaminated fluid going back up the system as you suggest.

Any need for copper slip on back of pads? Conflicting advice on various forums

One tip I’ve always found useful is to release the bleed nipple before you remove the caliper. That way you have more purchase on it it, and if you can’t get it off you haven’t taken brakes apart !

Some poor advise in this thread but you won’t listen to a professional so crack on .

Unless your bleeding the brakes dont bother messing with the bleed nipples. If your worried about contaminated fluid going back up the lines you need to bleed the whole system not mess about winding back with the nipple open.

Have used a pair of needlenose pliers to do the rear ones on my Cmax, would be easier with the proper tool but it is doable with some improvisation using normal tools.

😆 not used a garage for servicing my VWs or Fords or Vauxhalls for 30 years and indeed you can get bad advice….my advice if your brake fluids older than two years is to bleed the system all round……..I wouldn’t however just go and buy new calipers unless the old ones are knackered…….and would of course check on the state of the discs first, no point putting new pads on worn out discs.
And not all ‘mechanics’ are ‘technicians’ and vis versa and not all mechanics are professional…….
I am not a paid mechanic but am very experienced and keep my families and my cars in very good running order…..
therefore take my advice with a pinch of salt 😆

Go and do a search on YouTube too see someone demonste it for you.

Seen some great car DIY videos on their before tearing my car to bits with a hammer.

Pair of long nosed pliers works for me.
Might invest in the proper tool though.

Honkiebikedude has it spot on. Last vag car I did needed one new caliper. Winding the piston back was a massive pita even with the correct tool.

Yep mk4 my golf needed one of the calipers changing when I went to do the pads Then took me ages to get it bleed but good advice on one of the vw forums about it

The one question you have all missed on an Audi A3, is how is the handbrake actuated, cable no problem crack on with your wind back tools, electronic, then you need to disable the calliper with a diagnostic tool, then wind the piston back.

If you have an angle grinder, the disc removal tool is often a perfect fit.

Assuming it’s a standard cable operated handbrake, you’ll be needing a wind back tool, as the world and his dog said above.

I had one very similar to the one you linked to. Lost some of the parts to it, so I got a 15 quid ebay universal kit which has a dozen or so different adaptors for different pitches of wind back pin, as well as LH and RH threaded windback tools. I’d go for the ebay kit every time – the wind back tools are overbuilt for what they do and a big kit will have a decent chance of fitting your next car.

And I ended up replacing both rear calipers, and the handbrake cables as they were seized into the calipers.

If there’s a good way of removing hand brake cables, I’d love to hear it! Heat melts the outers, belting them tends to just mash them about, clamping them in mole grips crushes them…

Yep standard cable operated hand brake. I’ll have a look on ebay / the internet for cheapish kits to see what’s about, otherwise I’ll have a go on the one I linked to. As far as the callipers / additional work goes I’ll cross that bridge if and when I come to it

thanks all, just wait a few days for ‘what calliper for Audi A3’… 😆

Don’t forget to remove the cap on the brake reservoir before trying to wind it back..