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Treated myself to a new set of brake pads at the end of last week and set about fitting them this weekend. got the fronts done no trouble then when doing the rear pads i could not get the piston to go back in, and after speaking to an Audi mechanic mate of mine i found out that you can't! you need a special tool to do it! how rude! just another way of VW getting money out of u i guess!

buy the tool! draper or some one will make one

You don't need the tool mate.

Use a pair of thin pliers and turn the piston. It screws in and out but you have to apply pressure to it as you turn it.

thanks for the advice! will give it a try n let u know how it goes!

hey tom what pads did u get?? my mates got green stuff brake pads and he said they will never give off brake dust 2 his alloys! i need sum too...

yeah i've got greenstuff pads. From the driving i've done wit them so far they still give out dust, but that just might b cos it has been raining.

I've only done about 150 miles with them on the car so once they are properly bedded in i'll let u know how they are! First impressions are that they do have a better bite than the standard VW ones!

pagid rule mate! give out quite abit of dust tho!

tom16v wrote:Treated myself to a new set of brake pads at the end of last week and set about fitting them this weekend. got the fronts done no trouble then when doing the rear pads i could not get the piston to go back in, and after speaking to an Audi mechanic mate of mine i found out that you can't! you need a special tool to do it! how rude! just another way of VW getting money out of u i guess!

Is that because you let it come out? Would it have been ok if you had kept the piston in?

the piston is out because that is what presses the pads onto the disk. even when you're not braking they do not fully return into the caliper, they just don't put pressure onto the pad. As the new pad is thicker than the one it is replacing it needs to go back or you cant re-assemble it! That's my understanding of it anyway!

Yeah, I know that, but why wouldn't it go back in? I have a clamp thing that my dad made out of ally which I use you wind it back in - link a mini g-clamp, but are you saying that you can't do that? I know its practically impossible to push it back by hand.

I just used some massive plumbers grips like this -

but a bit bigger ....

i got the greenstuff pads too ... im impressed so far! alot more bite & ALOT less dust!!!

I would if it wasn't my car, but I think that the seals are much happier if one ensures that they are driven in squarely.

sorry could you clarrify are they the fronts or the rears?

the fronts do simply push in

the rears must be turned as they are pushed

the rears must be turned due to the handbrake mechanism

polo2k wrote:sorry could you clarrify are they the fronts or the rears?

the fronts do simply push in

the rears must be turned as they are pushed

the rears must be turned due to the handbrake mechanism

Ah yes, didn't think of that. I haven't examined the back brakes. They just seem to do their job, making my alloys covered in crap.

it is the rears, the front were really easy to do! just av to wait til ive got some time n av another luk at it!