Ok fellas, I need your help. 2003 A4 3.0 Quattro. Audi replaced my front rotors but said my pads were ok. They replaced my rear pads and didn't turn or change the rear rotors. I was raised in the school of thought where you always either turn or replace the rotors when you do pads. The dealership said this is not so. My problem is that when I picked up the car yesterday, the pressure in the pedal was bad and the car didn't stop well. Worse, I could feel and hear ABS kick in during normal stopping. I took it back. Today they called and told me that if ABS were engaging, the ABS light would come on. I have never seen this light come on during ABS operation in this car, or in any car I have ever owned. Is this true? Does the ABS light come on when ABS is engaged? I don't think it does...

 

B.S. METER AT FULL TILT if the pabs are to thin and the rotors are at spec then just the pads are changed but if your having abs and bad braking issues then they need to fix it.

 

I totally agree with you there if the rotors are changed the pads should also be changed no excuse what so ever

 

I've only been screwin around with cars for, like, 35 years (I'm 43), but I've never, never, NEVER heard of changing rotors but not pads. Pads and not rotors, yeah, cause pads wear out quicker. But, if you change rotors ya GOTTA change pads.

As far as your ABS situation, rear brakes generally determine ABS engagement, since they tend to be most lightly loaded in hard stops. excessively worn tires COULD cause early ABS engagement, especially with fresh pads grippin things, in teh back. The ABS light? Iount know. Usually when my ABS kicks in I'm TOO BUSY prayin to notice if a tiny yellow light is on, on teh dash...[8D] Tell ya what, though, if the roads are empty, on my drive home, tonight, I'll SLAM 'EM ON, for you and see if anything lights up. OK? It's supposed to rain, here, tonight, so this cud be a fun experiment.

 

Thanks everybody for the replies!

 

Well, it dint rain, so I dint get a chance... Maybe tonight...?

 

Always change the pads when doing rotors. but you dont need to change rotors every time you put on pads. if you can turn the rotors if the thickness is above spec but Audi/VW doesnt even really recommend that so you usually replace them. ive put on new pads wthout doin anything to the rotors and they have worked fine
as for the abs stopping situation I'd bleed the brakes, they probably got some air in there.

 

Is your car under warranty? If so did they give you the option of paying for the parts that were not under Audi's specs?
Audi only covers warranty repairs for parts that are deffective or under specs.

 

Yeah, it was all paid for by Audi but they wouldn't do the pads where they did rotors and said that you generally can't machine the rears because they wont be to spec after you turn them even once. So I guess I'll just hope for the best, $400 for rear rotors is a joke, so if I have to replace them I'll be at an independent shop. But after I let the pads seat things seem to be fine, but it's only been about 800 miles. I really need a BBK...