Hi all,

Car: 97 Jetta, 135,000 miles, F/R disk brakes, no ABS.

Time for a full brake job (pads and rotors all the way around), and
being a bit handy, thought I would do it myself. Picked up a cheap
Chilton manual as I expected it to be fairly simple.....a friend had
done it before on his car and agreed it was straight forward.

Did the fronts, no issues.

Got to the back, and got everything disassembled per the manual -
caliper off, pads out, E-brake cable disengaged. Here's the snag.
How to compress the piston? The manual mentions screwing the piston
in, but it will neither turn or compress like the front did. Unclear
how to proceed.....is there something I am over-looking? Is there
something else to be done with the E-brake? Do I have to bleed the
fluid or something?

Also noticed all the wear on the inner pad, which I found others have
mentioned here. Thanks for that info!

Thanks for any help.

On Mar 3, 7:29 pm, mcori... (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:



..........OK, did more searching with better criteria, and found this:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.a...007fcfe6e498ac

That should be a big help! While I am here, one more thing....

While taking the rear pads out, two very small shim-like pieces of
metal fell out. Less than an inch long, kinda T shaped. No mention of
them in the manual. Where do they fit back in?

You can sometimes rent/borrow a tool like this
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=40732
This allows you to rotate the rear brake caliper pistons while pressing it
back into the caliper.

Now are those shims or guides for the rear pads? Look carefully on the
other side to see where they go.
--
later,
dave
(One out of many daves)

<mcorippo (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

On Mar 3, 11:02 pm, mcori... (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:
Anti-squeal shims.... after-market pad-makers sometimes include them
with the pads, VW purchased their pads from many makers, some with/
some without. Use the goop and ignore the shim.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

"dave AKA vwdoc1" <vwdoc1 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

Bingo! I got that same kit from a local Autozone. It's free...you just
leave a deposit (I forget but it was about $35 or $40), use the tool, bring
it back, 100% refundable deposit. Made the rear brake job on my Eurovan
pretty painless.

Great, thanks for the info and tips all. Appreciate it.

OK, I think they must be be anti-squeal shims. I would hope the manual
would mentioned required guides.... Formed, light gauge sheet metal.
I will check the other side and see if I can ID where they go.

Here is the confusing part: Bought replacement parts from local
German car performance specialist. They recommended PBR XGM Low semi-
metalic pads. On the side of the box it says:

· Integral shim delivers quiet, high performance operation

So, does that mean I can leave the old shims out? What about goop/
grease? Should I still use some? No mention of it on the box, no
instructions at all. Worst case is the squeak and I have to insert
the shims or grease later.......right?

I left the front shims in. That's OK, right......no issues with the
"Integrated" shims?

Thanks again!!

For those playing along at home......

Got the piston screwed back in, it was just very sticky and hard to
get started, turned OK after a few cranks.

Ran into a show stopper though; one of the studs/pins that lets the
caliper float was completely seized. Tried to turn it, tap it, put
some break free on it. Nothing. Won't budge. That explains all the
wear on the inner pad, which lead to running down to the rivet and
trashing the rotor when all the rest of the pads were still at least
50%.

I reassembled with the old gear, and will take it to the shop to do
the rears. Oh well, I still learned alot and will be ready for the
next pad change.

Thanks again to all for the assistance!