MK4 Rear Caliper - Sticky Return Lever

[amit9]

Hi Everyone, Happy New Year!

Not a good start for me - the passenger side rear caliper's return lever is sticking and not returning fully to the stop. The caliper is just over 2 years old, TRW brand, installed new. I have added return springs on both rear calipers and they've worked well. This week the temps have been colder, so have noticed this issue earlier this week on Tuesday. With the handbrake released, I used a hammer to gently tap the cable end of the return lever back to the stop. Then I worked the handbrake up/down a few times and it was returning all the way to the stop. I went out for some work, came back, parked in my garage, tested the handbrake up/down and it was fine. So I left it engaged. This was Tuesday night. Car sat in the garage all of Wednesday. Then this morning, the moment I released the handbrake, the car wouldn't roll back. Usually it starts to roll back slightly in Neutral, which tells me that the return levers have returned fully.

What can be done to address it? I'm thinking of applying some WD40 around and behind the return lever, not sure though. Can the parking cable be sprayed with it?

Thanks.

 

[Tdijarhead]

Emergency Parking Brake Cable (A4)

Emergency brake cable for A4 chassis cars. 1698mm. Made by Gemo or Febi. Price is for one cable, order two for a complete set. These have a ball end used at the caliper end of the cable. The same c...

www.idparts.com

Likely its the cable which needs replacement.

 

[Johhny04]

When is the last time the calipers were serviced, slider pins lubricated? Many people recommend that brakes on the MKIV should be serviced annually, especially the rears considering they don't get much heat in the winter to dry off any water, which eventually gets into the slider pins.

 

[amit9]

Likely its the cable which needs replacement.

Is there a way to troubleshoot/verify that it's the cable and not the return lever?

When is the last time the calipers were serviced, slider pins lubricated? Many people recommend that brakes on the MKIV should be serviced annually, especially the rears considering they don't get much heat in the winter to dry off any water, which eventually gets into the slider pins.

It's been a while since these were serviced, didn't think it was required since both rear calipers are not that old. For this issue, it's most likely the PB cable that needs to be replaced, or the return lever sticking and needs to be opened/lubed. For now I have hammered it back to the stop and left the PB handle down. My only concern is that when the car is cold, and the key is turned to warm up the glow plugs, if the handle is down, the DRL's will be on, and put unnecessary load on the battery. That's why it's essential to have the handle up so the DRL's are off in the cold start process. I may just have to work around this until I have this issue fixed. Thanks.

 

[Uberhare]

Disconnect the cable and see if you can lever it with a small prybar. If they are only 2 years old, it is likely the cable. It is a poor design where water can run down inside and freeze.

 

[Tdijarhead]

Disconnect the cable and work the lever a couple of times with your hand. If the lever is good, it should return on it’s own without help. The return springs tend to mask the cables slowly seizing in their sheath.

 

[Nuje]

Cables are cheap (<$20) and easy to replace (30min to do both).

 

[amit9]

Disconnect the cable and see if you can lever it with a small prybar. If they are only 2 years old, it is likely the cable. It is a poor design where water can run down inside and freeze.

Disconnect the cable and work the lever a couple of times with your hand. If the lever is good, it should return on it’s own without help. The return springs tend to mask the cables slowly seizing in their sheath.

I was able to do some level of testing with prybar, although wasn't able to do it with the cable disconnected.
- I moved the PB handle up/down a few times, left it down, lever didn't come back to the stop, gently hammered it back to the stop to release all tension from the cable.
- With the handle down, used a prybar to move the lever down, ball end was free, wasn't able to remove it from the bracket though, the moment I remove the prybar, the lever snapped up to the stop, did that a few times and same result, so that tells me that the lever is good.
- Also did a visual inspection of the cables on both sides, drivers side was still OK/uniform, but on the passenger's side, I found the spot that's causing this issue, there's noticeable swelling with cracks:

So will be getting both cables replaced this coming week...Thanks Everyone