Parking brake return spring

I have a 96 b4. The parking brake levers never return all the way on the calipers. Is there a spring that can be installed to make them return all the way?

People pull the springs off the later A4 VWs, but it’s not an end all fix. Converting to the AL calipers, isn’t the fix, either.

Every so often, my levers get hung up and I have the springs on them. I pull the cable lever, get a pick and pull the dust boot back. There will likely be a ton of rust in there. I blow it out with the air hose and shoot some lube in there. It’s good for at least another 6 months.

I think I’m still on the original real calipers.

-Todd

short answer, NO
brake parts on cheaply made econo cars are meant to be replaced.

long answer, yes. like todd said but i remember seeing a thread about this with some custom fab with stainless parts. problem is that they get too hot and they rust like craz.

when a car maker decides that a part is good enough to go down the road but called in for service, there is not much you can do about it. its a common replaceable service part that was designed for short term life, maybe 2 years at best. most were always repaired and or replaced back int he day during the brake service interval .

Mongler98 said:

short answer, NO
brake parts on cheaply made econo cars are meant to be replaced.

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You think the B4 was an economy car? It might have good economy, but it was not an economy car at the time.

long answer, yes. like todd said but i remember seeing a thread about this with some custom fab with stainless parts. problem is that they get too hot and they rust like craz.

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Wait a minute, stainless parts 'rust like craz'? I thought they were stainless, which is fairly rust resistant.

when a car maker decides that a part is good enough to go down the road but called in for service, there is not much you can do about it. its a common replaceable service part that was designed for short term life, maybe 2 years at best. most were always repaired and or replaced back int he day during the brake service interval .

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So you think the calipers were a 2 year replacement part? Where do you come up with this stuff. I had some that lasted almost 20 years, but they weren't subjected to rust all the time.


For the OP, you can put springs on there, part numbers 7H0615295A and 7H0615296, but I doubt they'll help a ton if your parking brake actuator is sticking. Still, they're cheap, so why not give it a try.

Is it the rear caliper or the cables? If you're still running on original cables I would look at those as a potential contributor to the problem.

Steve

Excellent point. Easy to check, just disconnect them and check.

Abacus said:

You think the B4 was an economy car? It might have good economy, but it was not an economy car at the time.

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Yes, it was an econemy car of the time, VW has a clear standpoint on its cars, its the affordable every mans car.
granted, the passat was always a bit more "luxury" but the reality sets in that this car was priced low, made cheep, lots of them where made and they were good on MPG and easy and cheep to work on. this makes it an economy car.
Wagon Original MSRP / Price Engine
Passat 4dr Wgn GLX Auto $22,320 / N/A 6 Cylinder
Passat 4dr Wgn GLX Manual $22,320 / N/A 6 Cylinder
Passat 4dr Wgn TDI Manual $19,860 / N/A 4 Cylinder Turbo
just the fact that the diesel sold the cheapeist for its day makes it the economy car of the b4's let alone the fact that this price range of less than 25K makes it indeed an economy car.

Abacus said:

Wait a minute, stainless parts 'rust like craz'? I thought they were stainless, which is fairly rust resistant.

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No i meant that the stock parts rust out faster than we would like, like todd said above. The mod was to get a "stainless steel cable and fab up a 304 ss arm and bolt. Problem is that most cables you have to make yourself and SS cable is usually just coated galvanized or polished galvanized.

Abacus said:

So you think the calipers were a 2 year replacement part? Where do you come up with this stuff. I had some that lasted almost 20 years, but they weren't subjected to rust all the time.

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No, i dont think so but yes, yes they are. the cost of them are and were even back in the day, almost the same cost as the pads them selves.
Seeing as there is a rebuild kit for this issue sold by VW when the passat was MADE, yes its safe to say that VW knew about the issue and said, "its one more part to sell"
Not saying this is how it was in the first 5 years of the b4, but surly like most VW parts, they either last a life time or dam near it, or have issues ALL THE TIME.

The arm/lever rusting isn’t the issue. The rust forms on the shaft, under the boot.

As mentioned, I don’t think I’ve ever replaced a rear caliper on either of my B4s, and I’ve owned the wagon since 2011. I consider my cleaning as maintenance.

Next time I’ll use silicone grease, rather than silicone spray.

-Todd

Mongler98 said:

Yes, it was an econemy car of the time, VW has a clear standpoint on its cars, its the affordable every mans car.
granted, the passat was always a bit more "luxury" but the reality sets in that this car was priced low, made cheep, lots of them where made and they were good on MPG and easy and cheep to work on. this makes it an economy car.
Wagon Original MSRP / Price Engine
Passat 4dr Wgn GLX Auto $22,320 / N/A 6 Cylinder
Passat 4dr Wgn GLX Manual $22,320 / N/A 6 Cylinder
Passat 4dr Wgn TDI Manual $19,860 / N/A 4 Cylinder Turbo
just the fact that the diesel sold the cheapeist for its day makes it the economy car of the b4's let alone the fact that this price range of less than 25K makes it indeed an economy car.

No i meant that the stock parts rust out faster than we would like, like todd said above. The mod was to get a "stainless steel cable and fab up a 304 ss arm and bolt. Problem is that most cables you have to make yourself and SS cable is usually just coated galvanized or polished galvanized.

No, i dont think so but yes, yes they are. the cost of them are and were even back in the day, almost the same cost as the pads them selves.
Seeing as there is a rebuild kit for this issue sold by VW when the passat was MADE, yes its safe to say that VW knew about the issue and said, "its one more part to sell"
Not saying this is how it was in the first 5 years of the b4, but surly like most VW parts, they either last a life time or dam near it, or have issues ALL THE TIME.

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Not that I think this is the place for this discussion but:

Back in the 90's VW was struggling badly and didn't have the dealer presence they have today, in fact, in the capitol of Iowa there wasn't a VW dealer until 96/97, VW was up the road 35 miles at a small VW / Porsche Mazda dealer in a college town. The next closest one was 100 miles away where I went to college in Cedar Falls. That's why in Des Moines you often don't see anything before 96/97 if you do, and when you see cars from before that it's rare or they were driven in by people who moved here.

This was the backdrop to what VW was doing and pricing cars at premium levels was not an option for them. What they needed was market penetration and to get that you price below ALL your competition and offer more standard features and options that don't cost as much as they do on competition.

The Passat was the Volkswagen flagship, it was the luxury model, but it couldn't be priced above where the competition was and if you look at competition like Avalon or Maxima they were right in that ballpark.

VW did not have direct competition to MB or BMW, and based on quality fit / finish it was no question, it wasn't the same level. But in the same category it was comparable and comparably priced, if not slightly better in an attempt to win customers. A BMW of the same interior capacity as the Passat would cost you $15,000 more than Passat.

The economy car in the VW lineup in 1996/97 was a base Golf GL 4 dr sedan 2.0L 4 cyl MT with probably only AC and maybe cruise and a radio. And that's not even the cheapest version that was built, but we didn't get the super cheap versions because VW didn't feel they would sell here. We didn't get the Golf CL or 'City' versions which were even less 'opulent.'


Economy can mean different things, like how far it will go or how much it costs to maintain etc or perhaps initial cost but not typically.


Steve