Coil spring colour codes

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spartacus68
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Coil spring colour codes

Post by spartacus68 »

Evening folks.

Does anyone know a link to Volkswagen's rear coil spring colour codes for Polos? It's a 2015 plate 1.4 TDI (90PS) Bluemotion. It was bought from a dealer a couple of years ago under DasWelt Auto approved cars so I've no reason to think it's anything other than genuine, but I think the back sits too high, to the point the LED lights in dipped mode just don't cast enough light ahead on the road, which you tend to notice now were well into autumn/winter, and I know the headlights can't be adjusted.

I was working on it today stripping the rear calipers to solve the problem of a dodgy handbrake. The aluminium calipers seem to attract corrosion, especially on the dust sleeve and the rubber sleeve which restricts the handbrake' integral return spring from returning properly.

Anyway colour code is two white dots, two yellow dots and an orange dot.

I tried VW parts today but they were shut, so can call on a Monday. I assume the use ETKA database to determine load rating.
RUM4MO
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by RUM4MO »

Paint dots same as my wife's 2015 Polo 1.2TSI

Ride Height (with Summer wheels/tyres on) :-
Front – 357.5mm RHS 360.0mm LHS Rear – 380.0mm RHS 377.5mm LHS while parked in garage from this year's service!

Edit:- as for the rear callipers, I fitted external return springs to that car when it was less than a week old, and clean the brakes every year now that it is 6 years old, and so far so good.

Springs I bought were - LH Handbrake return spring 7M0 615 295 (from 1998 Sharan) – 1off RH Handbrake return spring 7M0 615 296 (from 1998 Sharan) – 1off

Another Edit:- I would never say that the factory fitted LED headlights on my wife's 2015 Polo 1.2TSI were set too high, in fact I'd agree with what you wrote, so maybe just "the way they set them" - also, I would hope that I could adjust the height of the beam - I have the official workshop manual, but I've never dug deeply into that task/subject, though I'd think that I'd let a VW Indie adjust them so that he did not fail them at the next MOT - or that any non VW MOT station either.

Edit:- I have now read the thread I started back in 2015 when I bought that Polo and I see that I revised the part numbers probably due to the original numbers being superceded, see my later posting today 17/11/21.
Last edited by RUM4MO on Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
spartacus68
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by spartacus68 »

I never got around to phoning VW but I'll try tomorrow.

Thanks for the update RUM4MO regards springs. My daughter has a 1.2 TSI Bluemotion same year and it doesn't sit as high. I'll do some measurements at the weekend.

I bought the external handbrake springs, but I can't see how to fit them if it's internal only?

Regards the brake strip down, that's worked and the handbrake is back to normal. The caliper dust sleeves are a known weak point with corrosion helping to stop the piston retracting, however it was the rubber seal on the rear of the caliper where it connects to the steel plate the handbrake cable connects to that was the issue. It must have a brass insert, but it was absolutely seized in, with lots of white aluminium oxide corrosion underneath. You need a pair of long nosed circlip pliers to access inside the caliper bore to remove, then you can dismantle. There's a couple of o-rings in the kit, square seal, dust sleeve, slider rubber dust sleeves and a brake nipple cover.

I used a brass wire brush on a drill to remove corrosion, brake cleaner, etc. Rebuild with Granville red grease and ceramic brake paste on the pad edges and silicone grease on the sliders. Rebuild kit was from Autodoc. Lots of makes, but I opted for Budweg. Quality seems very good.

Handbrake adjusted in the car with rear wheels off the ground.
RUM4MO
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by RUM4MO »

I managed to fit the external return springs quite easily, I'll try to remember to check under my wife's car and see if I can send in a picture - at least on this model of Polo I didn't need to move the rear brake pad wear sensor out of the way - as there are not any!

Maybe having the correct (Sharon) springs and still know which one is for which side makes life a bit easier.

I've never, yet, needed to strip down these Lucas rear callipers with handbrake facility.
Mikeso51
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by Mikeso51 »

I followed RUMs lead and fitted the external return springs a couple of years back, and have had no problems. I bought them from an eBay supplier for about a fiver for the pair. Fitting was very easy, needing no tools. I didn’t even need to raise the car. I found a photo on the web which shows where the spring fits:
D26BFA97-6C8E-4A34-89D0-DE9ADEA0F787.png
D26BFA97-6C8E-4A34-89D0-DE9ADEA0F787.png (2.53 MiB) Viewed 1472 times
HTH

Mike
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by veteran »

Mikeso51,

Nice one! Come the Spring (ugh, sorry about the pun), I'll have to take a look at the rear calipers on my Polo. When I've operated on and around them before, I'm pretty sure I never noticed any return springs.

One observation, though: in the pic you've posted, it looks as though the coil of the spring should be sitting on a cylindrical boss of some sort, providing anchorage for the spring. (Otherwise, there's a possibility of the spring flipping out of the levers, isn't there?). But obviously there's no boss seen in that pic.

RUM4MO, are these exactly like the ones you fitted and, if so, did you test to see whether the spring could come adrift easily by, say, you putting finger-pressure to the base of the coil and generally waggling it around?
RUM4MO
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by RUM4MO »

All, it was the 7M0 that I bought, also it looks like Darkside have been maybe buying 2 RHS springs and not one LHS and the mirror image version which the RHS is.

Edit:- I seem to remember that as these cars are all primarily for LHD market by design, the "prime" side of the car is the LHS, which means when you are buying an item that is handed, the LHS part number has an odd number at the end and the RHS has an even number at the end.

Veteran, she, that picture shows the spring fitted to the wrong side I'd say, the cranked arm is there to clear the cap headed screw and so the loop faces the front on both sides, I'll confirm that tomorrow, I was just about to congratulate Mikeso51 for posting that and saving me getting under the Polo, but I'll save that until I've looked under the Polo tomorrow.

If you buy the Golf/A3/Leon/Octavia version, which might be the 7H0 version, the additional spring returning effort is a lot higher than needed and might make the handbrake action heavier than it needs to be. Edit:- this is wrong, the Golf/etc/etc/etc is another version maybe 4K0!

Edit:- I seem to have corrected the part numbers I used at the time to be the 7H0 versions, for part numbers see next post!
Last edited by RUM4MO on Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.
RUM4MO
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by RUM4MO »

This was contained in an earlier thread on this forum:- viewtopic.php?f=56&t=67046&start=15

Seems like I updated the springs part number to the 7H0 version, ie Springs I bought were - LH Handbrake return spring 7H0 615 295A (from 1998 Sharan) – 1off RH Handbrake return spring 7H0 615 296 (from 1998 Sharan) – 1off!
RUM4MO
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by RUM4MO »

Sorry for any confusion, but I have just checked my VW Group online parts listing, and part numbers 7M0 615 295 and 7M0 615 296 do still exist, they can be bought via ebay coming in from China.

The 7H0 615 295A and 7H0 615 296 are for the A3/Golf/etc/etc they are close to the 7MO versions but not exactly the same, so if possible I'd stick with the 7M0 version which is for a MK1 Sharon.

I'll try not to update this again but I felt obliged to add this extra info as some of what I wrote earlier was not completely correct.

BTW, I have in the past bought both versions and still say the 7M0 version is the better option for Polos.
RUM4MO
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by RUM4MO »

There are 2 pictures of rear callipers on the darkside website, the second one is more representative of how these springs, either the 7M0 or 7H0 versions fit.

https://www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/ ... 5-296.html

Edit:- also the pictures of the springs actually show the 2 versions if you look closely at the one end in both pictures, one version has a bent over end at both ends of each spring, the other version has a sort of dogleg at one end of both springs.
spartacus68
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by spartacus68 »

Thanks for the links to the return springs, that's really informative. I can fit them when I'm back home at the weekend. With these fitted I'll have guns like the hulk!

I would say though if anyone has a handbrake is failing, and mine was although still low mileage at 40k miles, is to rebuild the caliper, especially that insert rubber boot that you can see near the handbrake cable. The main dust sleeve will have a lot of corrosion too. I'll post some pictures too.

I bought myself a Laser brake bleeding kit, as I think I've sufficiently pee'd off family members including my wife and daughters from acting as apprentice mechanics and helping with brake bleeding.
RUM4MO
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by RUM4MO »

I've used Gunsons Easibleed for many many years, on to my 3th kit now, I couple that to a modified pump up garden spray thing, works quite well. I even have a heavy lab quality glass bottle with 2 holes in its lid, one for the old liquid to get into the bottle and the other as a vent, I just got too pee'd off with lightweight tins etc tipping over - and that bottle fits tightly into a wooden block I used to have to use on 1990's Fiestas when lifting the rear up, nothing got wasted!

My bleed pipes are lengths of car vac hose, so are as long/short as suits each calliper/car.

Disposing of old brake fluid, I find the easiest way, for me, was to buy sawdust and soak it into that, bag it and into the general waste bin.

Where do you source your calliper repair kits from Bigg Red or elsewhere.
spartacus68
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by spartacus68 »

Where do you source your calliper repair kits from Bigg Red or elsewhere.
I used to use Bigg Red, but honestly their website has been under construction for months now and their EBay shop has conflicting information. Nope, Autodoc for me. So much choice. I replaced the rear caliper seals on my Allroad. Audi don't even offer the kit, but found it easily enough on Autodoc. If the piston is scored, then they offer those too.
RUM4MO
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by RUM4MO »

I think that I've written on some of these forums in the past that for someone thinking that they are a competent DIY car fixer, replacing these seals etc should be something that is always good/sensible to do maybe every 6 or so years on any car.
For me, so far that has just remained talk, in the past where there were official seals kits form the braking component manufacturers it was easy to do when and if you found it necessary, and now with what seems like most if not all proper brake component manufacturers having stopped supplying kits, it can become a bit trickier, I think that I ended up, last time I looked, being unable to work out the piston diameter for the rear brakes, maybe I need to try harder and put "talk" into "action"!
Going back to my Ford motoring days in maybe 1979, trying to source a clutch master cylinder repair kit when that leaked before the car's first MOT was a nightmare - Ford main dealer needed not only the car details but all the details from the plastic tag on the master cylinder, and then send that to Ford UK so that a seals kit could be provided.
spartacus68
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Re: Coil spring colour codes

Post by spartacus68 »

If you're attempting this job RUM4MO, then get yourself some internal cylinder circlip pliers. I don't really rate Neilsen tools, but their pliers are very good for this job. Also Autodoc tends to throw up numerous versions of brake rebuild kits, so look at the brake code for your car, if rear discs, etc, will be in the build data, this hopefully avoids you ordering the wrong part.
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