4.2 A6 dual piston front break pad replacement

Eric Langheinrich eric at xmission.com
Fri Dec 22 19:19:05 EST 2006


So, it's time to replace the front pads on my A6. Dealer wanted over $300
which after having done breaks for years I scoffed at. Pulled one of the
wheels today and wow what a setup. Quite a difference with the dual pistons
and all the fun tubing makes the front caliper look like something off of
the space shuttle. 

Digging around to remove the caliper from the car I came across my first
question and figured I'd see if anyone has any advice. 

There are two possible ways the caliper can be handled. There is a set of
torx (top and bottom) that look like they will allow the caliper to be split
in two. Then, behind a couple of plastic covers where I expected a set of
torx there are round bolts. Not torx, not hex, just round with a hole that
is an inch or so deep. These look like the bolts that hold the calipers on. 

Am I missing something or is the way to handle these to just pull the torx
splitting the caliper in two? This of course will require a lot of break
bleeding since the bleeder valve will need to be removed to remove the top
torx. 

What is the deal with the other bolts? I haven't run across anything quite
like it in my days of working on cars. 

Any BTDT advice?

Thanks, 

Eric



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