Front Brake Change

[Dalek995 0]

I recently tried to do a DIY front disk change and realised that no sooner had I remover the wheel & caliper, I had no way of taking off the disk as it appears to need a special "star" shaped tool.

 

Can anyone shed any light on to this and or recomend where I would obtain one.

 

Also - can you point me in the right direction at to where the relief for the brake fluid can be located so that I dont find fighting a loosing battle when trying to push the piston on the caliper back!!

 

Cheers :lol:

[dan 0]

I'd be interested in knowing how to do this myself... I've also heard that when changing the disks, its also a good time to service your callipers.

[h100vw 0]

Dalek995,

I think you'll find that the tool, you need to take off the pad carrier is an 8mm allen key. I would also recommend that you lever the piston back into the caliper before taking it off. Much easier while it is connected to the hub.

 

You may need to draw some fluid out of the reservoir, if it gets too high.

 

Halfords would have the allen key. I would say one that you can use with a ratchet handle is best.

 

Dan

I wouldn't go pulling a working caliper apart. You could cause yourself a world of hurt, if you don't know what you are doing. The best thing to do IMHO is do a complete fluid change. Especially if you have no idea when it was last changed.

 

Brake fluid is hydroscopic(sp), it absorbs water. This lowers the boiling temperature, which will increase the chance of brake fade/spongy pedal. The water in the fluid can also corrode the inside of the calipers. Neither of which is very good.

 

Gavin

[2cc 0]

Dalek995 wrote

I recently tried to do a DIY front disk change and realised that no sooner had I remover the wheel & caliper, I had no way of taking off the disk as it appears to need a special "star" shaped tool.

I think what you are talkig about here is the phillips type set screw that holds the disc on to the hub. If its an old one the odds are that it has been damaged and no longer has a + for the screwdriver to fit in. Drill the head off, remove the disc then you can either remove the remains of the screw and fit a new one - or just forget about it.

Best thing with the fluid is to let it out the bleed nipple when you push the piston back.

[Supercharged 2]

Yeah, as 2cc says... always use a new screw, about 20p from the dealers

[Dalek995 0]

The bolt definatley looks something like a star (similair to torque bits you get with ratchet sets but the opposite configurauin). That is why I thought a special tool would be needed to undo the thing. All I can see is that without this being undone, I cannot remove the old brake disk.

 

I asked Halfords about this and they were SUPERBLY helpfull and as a result, I still dont know if I need a special tool or not.

 

The attached image gives a VERY rough idea of what was staring me in the face when I took my wheel off

[Andi 2,147,483,647]

Isn't that just an alloy-wheel spacer?

[Supercharged 2]

or wheel bearing? - the single screw that releases the disk is not in the midle!

[Dalek995 0]

I'm getting mighty confused here. When I took the wheel off, the brake disk was loose but not removable. I realise that the looseness is due to the fact that wheel nuts play a part in fixing the disk to the hub (the disk is chamfered on the inside to fit in a compressive way on to the wheel hub) but as far as the complete removal of the disk is concerned, I could only see this weird star shaped bolt in the center of the disk/hub.

 

I presumend that if I removed this bolt, the disk would come off the hub and I could replace it with a new one.

 

Am I getting my knickers in a big almighty twist here by missing a crucialy simple bolt somewhere else?

 

Cheers all

[Joe M 0]

You need to loosen the caliper off and lift it out the way to remove the disk. I think the star shaped bit your talking about may be the splined hub nut thing? Dont need to touch it for the disks if it is.

[2cc 0]

Dalek,

OK you have removed the wheel and caliper and the disc is loose. That suggests that the small set screw that just holds the thing in position is missing - its fitted at the same distance out from the centre as the wheel bolts. There is no 'fixing' in the centre of the disc and as said above I think you are looking at the drive shaft end nut - do NOT remove this.

I'm just trying to recall (forgive me I'm getting old) whether you need to remove the caliper carrier as well. Its held on the back of the hub carrier with two 17mm hex hd bolts. You might need some added leverage on a socket tommy bar to get em off coz they are quite tight.

HTH

[Supercharged 2]

Maybe this will help...

[Supercharged 2]

The screw highlighted is the only thing that should be holding the disc on...

 

As far as I know the front breaks are like this on all Corrado's, the G60's and VR6's are slightly bigger (calipers, pads and discs) and the VR has the 5 stud patern.

[Dalek995 0]

NICE ONE!!

 

Thats the key I was looking for - the star shaped bolt in the middle will be left well alone and I will look around near the wheel bolt holes for the bolt highlited in your attachment.

 

Cheers everyone for your help on this - one last thing - realising that Haynes did not ever produce a C mannual - would it be the most logical solution to look at the VR6 Golf mannual for hints & tips on brakes and standard bits & pieces like that?

 

Or is the scirocco mannual a better one to go by?? :D

[Supercharged 2]

Halfords do the Porter manual for a fiver, or Haynes manuals for similar age cars will be fine for brakes and other components shared across the VW range - Passat, Golf etc...

 

The best and only true manual for the corrado is the Bentley - not the best at explaining how to do things as its aimed at trained mechanics for reference but the diagrams are superb and it has wiring diags for the whole car!

[Supercharged 2]

Also may be of use....