Howdy,

On my second Audi A4 now, first was a 98 A4 2.8 QM that I bought new and got rid of last year at around 140K miles on it for an 02 A4 3.0 QM(couldnt get a brand new one, because I got married and had to buy my wife a Volvo S60 ((good car, but I would rather drive the A4)) ) I suppose getting married will do those kinds of things ... and I so wanted a brand new S-4, o well, maybe five years or so!

I do have a question though; (Sorry if I seem to ramble)

Ibasically stopped doing maintenance on cars many years ago when one day I was tired of fixing my 85 Fiero GT (fun car, but man what work) After paying the lovely high prices that dealerships and mechanics charge for Audis.(Yakima Audi kicks butt though) I decided that I can do certain things myself. I figure I don't have tools anymore, but I have access through my work. So the issue I am having with my audi is a fault, which I believe the fault picture stands for my brake pads ... looks like this (( )) or close to it. Is that what it is? I will change both front and rear, but is there a way to see which ones are bad? Also at 55K should the rotors be bad? The other thing I was curious about is if there is anything different with changing these pads/rotors because of the electronic sensor on them.

The other issue is that in a few months I am moving to Germany and will ship the car over. I have heard that brakes sometimes get messed up shipping overseas so is it worth fixing now? Also perhaps the repair would cost a lot less in Germany at a shop rather than here in the states.

Well thanks a lot of any help,

Audicat

 

Yeah, pretty sure the (( )) is for brake pads. Its pretty easy to do, but you might need a special tool for it (I know it is needed for rear pads on a B5). You can rent the tool at autozone for pretty cheap. The sensors are easy as well, they just plug right in.

 

Oh thanks for mentioning the special tool .. I take it that tool isnt common issue for an army motor pool?

Always special tools .. kind of like when I hit a giant rock on the highway and as a result had a giant hole in my tire. I have my nice full size spare, but that didnt matter because thekey was missing out of the tool kit .... was rather fun having my car towed for a flat tire.

Anyways back to the brakes ... do all the A4s of that year have the brake pad sensor, and if not is there a difference in brake pads that can be bought. I have been sold the wrong part too many times come to find out when I have the car taken apart. At least there is an Autozone nearby to get this tool.

Thanks.

 

Well, the tool is pretty common and is needed for many cars. Even if the tool isn't needed to twist the caliper in, it still makes the job easier than using a c-clamp. For the sensors, I'm not sure if both the front and back use them or if its one or the other, but since the brake light is on, its safe to assume you need pads with sensors.

 

*smacks forehead* Yeah it would be safe to assume that I would need the pads with sensors. Long day so I am not all here. I will see what our army "mechanics" say about the clamp hehe

Something else that irks me ... a few weeks ago the back cover of the driver's seat popped off. The black clips broke and the metal .. since the words escape me at the moment ... grill looking thing with the automatic lumbar seat adjuster thing on it ... it snapped in a place. Is this an expensive fix or can it be done by the owner, and please don't say buy a new seat.

 

duct tape? lol jk...you might be able to find something at a junk yard. The dealer could easily be expen$ive.

 

Here is a DIY site. http://www.audidiy.com/home.html