Calipers mkiv

[POWERSTROKE]

2002 golfs. Are you people replacing rear calipers when the parking brake lever doesn’t engage or is there a way to fix this? Also for calipers in general, including fronts, what is a way to know if they need to be replaced other than signs of seal leakage?
As for the rears, I just replaced the two on my car about 2.5 years ago and they are already getting crappy. Ridiculous.

 

[GlowBugTDI]

You sure your parking brake cables are good? Calipers don't usually go "bad" unless the boots are torn in which case they rust. More often the pins rust in place on the bottom bracket which causes the inside pad to wear out fast.

 

[POWERSTROKE]

The levers on the caliper get stiff. The cables move freely if disconnected.

 

[GlowBugTDI]

Ok, Interesting. Are they oem or part store ones? I live in MN and don't think the levers in mine are even rusty.

Best way i would say to know if they need replacing is if their dragging in the wheel after pressing the brake. The rear ones are more common too, but if you push the pistons in then brake pedel them out and push them in again after a few times they loosten up. Ive never had to replace my calipers except for when i had one rust till stuck when the boot tore.

 

[JDSwan87]

I replaced both my rear calipers for the same reason powerstroke mentioned. The little lever shaft corrodes and gets stiff in the aluminum housing (my best hillbilly guess). Both of my rear calipers had this failure. You can R/R it with new seals etc but I chose new TRW units from IDPARTS.

 

[Geobmx4life]

Parking brake cable upgrade

As many of you know, there are really two types of Volkswagens; those that need parking brake cables, and those that will need parking brake cables. But the A4 platform cars, by far and away, are the very worst for this. Volkswagen must have been paying attention, and after 15 years (yeah...

forums.tdiclub.com

 

[burpod]

one thing i've noticed in the mk4 particularly at least, is the crappy wire parking brake cable hangers they use in the rear... always rub cuts in the sheathing and then it gets ruined in short order especially in rust belt areas. i get rid of those and just use some sort of zip-tie and some old heater hose or other such rubber cushion around the cable at the tie point to keep the sheathing safe from getting ruined.

as far as the internal mechanism failing and getting sticky, it's on my bucket-list of things to do, rebuild an old rear caliper. doesn't look terribly difficult, but whether it's worth the time and fuss over buying a new one is debatable, depending on your situation. one thing i've noticed, is they can work fine in above freezing weather, but in the cold they are more prone to sticking. i have one in my car that functions perfectly unless it's really cold, in which case it will sometimes hang up if i've used the parking brake then i have to bang it back out and it's good again.