Can someone help me with the roadblock I've hit on the pad/rotor replacement I'm doing on my '06 A3? I can't get the rear caliper piston to retract. I've searched around and read articles about a special tool that's needed, or that you need to turn the piston while compressing. I also saw a few people talking about vagcom being needed to release the parking brake before the piston can be compressed.

I don't know if I have the electronic parking brake that needs to be released with the vagcom (only had the car about a month), and the only sensor or cable that I see that might hold the electrical cables looks like it runs into the axle rather than the caliper. The owners manual doesn't specify if the parking brake is electronic from what I can tell.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

If you have a switch for parking brake they are electronic & a special tool will be needed to electronically compress calipers . If you have a handle , you need a tool to turn & compress caliper pistons at the same time.

 

Thanks for the reply. I don't have a switch for the brake, just a handle. Sounds like I need the tool that compresses and rotates then. I didn't see how a manual handle could be electronic, but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.