Audi: 2000 A4 Known Problem W/ E-Brake/Cable?

On 12 Feb 2004 18:19:33 -0800, com (brad) wrote:
 

This is the first time I've seen this bug reported *here*, fwiw.

You could ask them to pull the rear wheels off so you can inspect the rotors.

The dealer wouldn't suggest this (for obvious reasons) but the last time I had
an e-brake cable seize (on my well-aged and thoroughly salted New England
Pathfinder) I disconnected it and continued to drive until the replacement
cable assembly arrived.

I doubt venting to Audi NA will get the parts there any quicker, but it might
make you feel better. The dealer might be notified, but from your description
it doesn't sound like a dealer problem wrt the parts availability.

As for whether they should have noticed the balky cable, the fact that the
symptoms were greatly reduced after the initial service makes it a bit of a
close call...

/daytripper
'00 s4 6spd

I had that problem on my passat a while back.
Water gets in the handbrake cable and then freezes locking the rear brakes
on.
There will be a perished rubber cover at the calliper end.
Rgds
Alec

com (brad) wrote in message news:<google.com>... 

However, with that kind of miles on it, *not driven* regularly. Also,
it's quite likely the parking brake wasn't used often, if at all.
This is the absolute fastest and best way to kill these parking brake
mechanisms. This idiotic Audi 'design feature' has been around for at
least 20 years now (my '84 4KQ has it) and it still works no better.
 

This could have been a frozen cable from a slight break in the jacket
or end bellows or it could have been frozen crud around the exposed
mechanism on the bottom of each rear caliper. Have the dealer show it
to you next time it's up on a lift and you'll understand. Either way,
it's hard to prevent without constant visual inspection. The best
prevention, as others will surely tell you here, is to lubricate the
living hell out of it and use it as often as possible to keep it
moving. Even then, expect it to crap out every few years,
necessitating an obscenely expensive caliper rebuild or (faster and
cheaper) replacement with ~@$200 rebuilt calipers.
 

Unfortunately, it's about as major as you can get for a system as
'simple' as disk brake calipers.
 

Most people don't use that brake, so the problem simply hasn't been
discovered yet. It's when these cars 'trickle down' to guys like you
and me that it arises. Oddly, as time goes on, the parts get easier
to find. If you're keeping this thing beyond the warranty period, you
might want to look for an independent who can work on it and get in
touch with Blaufergnügen (www.audiquattroparts.com) for parts.
 

The service guy is either lying or he's new to Audis. He wouldn't be
far wrong to say, "They *all* do that." I can understand his
reluctance to do so, but if you tell him you already heard it here, he
might open up. ;^)
 

Might well be, but you say there *was* less drag, so it's probably
fine.
 

No; *all* VW/Audi products with rear disk brakes use this moronic
system. You can read about it by doing a Google search here for
threads about it dating from years before yours was even built.
 

In the absence of any evidence otherwise (You can *see* the disks
through the wheels, can't you?), I would.
 

Not for a Ford or a Chevy. Yes, for an Alfa. Audi's in between.
However, as another poster suggested, you *can* drive the car this
way. First make sure the parking brake is fully disengaged. Then,
just don't use it and don't park on any hills ...
 

Nope. Not worth it. Audi's got two decades of 'experience' with this
crap. If they were responsive to logic and input, they would have
changed it long ago.
--
C.R. Krieger
(Not new here)

On 12 Feb 2004 18:19:33 -0800, com (brad) wrote:
 



The problem lies in the boots for for the e-brake cables. The
cables finish their run vertically and moisture runs down past the
boots inside the cable housing and collects in the lowest point and
freezes. Audi is exausting it's supply of cables and so they're not
readily available. There is some talk of applying a lubricant with
water displacing properties,insted of replacing cables, but nothing
definate yet. I will re-post if I hear anything else. A bottle of
Triflow from the local bike shop would probably do more good than
beating up on the dealer.

douglas

Oops, don't know how that brain fart happened, it's an 02 A4, not a
2000 (sorry)- o.p.

com (C.R. Krieger) wrote in message news:<google.com>... 


However, in light of this part of your answer, I guess my mistake
doesn't affect your answer....
 



 


I will do so, but just from reading some of the other responses to
this post, I'm getting a sense of it. Vertical termination of cable
housing (near rear wheels?) causes freezing of collected water in this
area. Makes sense, I guess I was just lucky that the 97 A4 I just
traded this new one in for after 6 new england winters never had the
problem, and I'd never heard of it.

 

Yep, I see what you mean (former 86 Alfetta GT owner...)

 

I certainly would have been willing to do this had I known it was an
option. But at certain times I couldn't get my brake "unstuck" (it
was in the "stuck" position when I drove it to the dealer, but with
just a slight pull). If I coulda "unstuck" it I would have driven it
that way, especially if I had known it was going to take what's now
going on 2 weeks....
 


Yep, you are of course clearly right about this. It's hard to be this
rational when you want your new car back, but I'll try to be....


thanks for your helpful response....

Douglas,

Thank you for this very helpful information. Sheesh, why can't the
dealer just tell you this stuff? How could there not be a service
bulletin on it if the parts are getting scarce and the fix (at least
temporary) may be so easy?...

Is the area where the water collects reasonably accessible, so that
you could spray some wd-40 in there?


net wrote in message news:<com>...