v6 tdi brakes

[thevwbug]

hi everybody ,just a question re; brakes on the touareg.i am a little confused or am missing something here, brakes seem to be the most talked about maintanance issue with these vehicles. why are there so many rotors getting replaced when all you should be doing is replaceing pads? obviously if the maintanance is not being carried out an you damage the rotors and you cant reface them ok. are they somehow matched with the new pads? it seems a very silly high expenditure on a item that should never,ever need replacing.
thanks in advance.

Most VW have a soft rotor and hard pads, Touareg have sensors in the pads.
you will get around 50K out of fronts

[T Rex]

Most VW have a soft rotor and hard pads, Touareg have sensors in the pads.
you will get around 50K out of fronts

I have just had a 30,000 service on the V6 TDI and the service centre reported I still have 80% wear left on the pads and rotors. Having just completed a trip to Adelaide and back towing a car on trailer I was very happy with this. The big advantage of the TDI is the superb engine braking and this helps reduce the wear on brakes but all Touaregs have big brakes so they don't work too hard.

And yes, rotors are a consumable item on cars these days but they are usually quite reasonably priced. For example a Mk 3 Golf costs about $500 for pads/rotors for all four wheels. Geoff

Update. Just had 45,000km service and have been told we have about 5,000 km left in front brakes so maybe the 30,000 report mentioned above was rather optimistic. Have been quoted approx $1300 S&F - maybe someone can let me know if this is about right. Thanks . Geoff.

[T Rex]

Just thought I would add to my previous post.

Astounded that at 30,000km I was told that I had 80% wear left and then at 45,000km told I only had 5000km left I decided to do some checking. Using a set of digital vernier calipers (the end bit which measures depth) I checked how much the front rotors had worn down from the outer rim - only a bit over 0.50mm (half the 1.00mm limit each side). That means that at 48,000km they are only just over half worn. A visual inspection of the pads showed plenty of pad material left (the limit is 2mm).

Now all this is possible to measure with the car parked, wheels on. I would recommend checking your wear yourself before taking the word of the service department. If you don't already have a digital caliper they are available for around the $100 mark.

BTW I do plan to change the rotors/pads/sensor myself - the parts for the front 17" Brembo brakes are less than $600 from Tooley Imports in Hornsby, NSW. Geoff.

[Transporter]

At 46500km and 4mm friction material remaining "Check Brake Pads" message appeared, will go for slotted discs and aftermarket pads to get rid of that nasty squeal every time the brakes cool down and car starts moving, it wakes up whole neighborhood in the morning.

[Transporter]

At just bit over 50,000km now our front pads will need replacing.

This is what they look like on V6 TDI with 17" wheels and 330mm Brembo discs.



Pads ordered from our forum sponsor GSL Rally Sport.

[Transporter]

Front brakes replaced now, the rear ones still have 3mm+ remaining indicators aren't on yet.

Here is the picture of the front brake disc. Despite it looks not that bad they have to be replaced, since there is only 1mm on each side of the disc allowed for wear, so the discs would be 2mm undersized (the scrap limit or min thickness is 32mm). I used RDA slotted discs with Remsa front pads, the back brakes will get also slotted discs but with the Bendix 4WD brake pads.

And the new discs fitted.

[biggus]

Hi Transporter,

Where would you recommend I get the rotors and all the gear from in Adelaide? I am just up the hill from you.....

thanks, Gus. 2009 V6TDI, also marvellous......

Front brakes replaced now, the rear ones still have 3mm+ remaining indicators aren't on yet.

Here is the picture of the front brake disc. Despite it looks not that bad they have to be replaced, since there is only 1mm on each side of the disc allowed for wear, so the discs would be 2mm undersized (the scrap limit or min thickness is 32mm). I used RDA slotted discs with Remsa front pads, the back brakes will get also slotted discs but with the Bendix 4WD brake pads.

And the new discs fitted.