[s-cars] Rear Calipers Seized My Day

[Rich Assarabowski]

I know the feeling, I've had my share of these in every Audi I've every owned.  I'd go for a rebuilt instead of rebuilding yourself, actually www.autohausaz.com had new ones for a very reasonable price which I bought the last time.  Before you do all that, make sure your brackets are correct ones for the car, as crazy as that sounds.  The last set I did had an incorrect bracket (from a 5000?), don't know if it explained two seizes in 2 years but I suspect it did.   I wouldn't mess with rebuilding (BTDT) as there's no guarantee of results in my experience.
   
  I also found that rebuilts have varying degrees of wear in the guide pin holes, not sure if it makes that big of a difference but I returned one rebuilt I bought because it had a LOT of looseness, even with brand new guide pins.  For that reason might be better to pick one up locally instead of mail order, at least you can return it if you don't like it, without paying shipping twice.
   
  I think a lot of the caliper problems are related to how square (perpendicular) the piston is relative to the pads.  I'd be concerned if your pads are not wearing uniformly, a new caliper with unevenly worn pads might bind up.  No real experience, just applying some common sense.
   
  Make sure that handbrake cable isn't sticking (duh!).  Problem with driving with sticking calipers (which sometimes isn't all that obvious) is you can quickly cook your wheel bearings -- not good!
   
  -- Rich 
     '92 & '93 S4

Brian Powell <powellb at gmail.com> wrote:
  So, I now suffer from the dreaded rear caliper seize. I removed the
spring, popped out the cam, cleaned it, lubed it, pushed it in, popped
it out numerous times. I can turn it with my hand; however, once I
engage/disengage the emergency brake, it still won't release.

I can reach up there, turn it slightly (about 1mm) with my finger and
then it is released; however, the spring can't seem to get it that
extra 1mm. The e-brake cable seems loose enough.

I have to fly out in the morning so I can't spend any more time on it;
however, whilst it sits for a while, I will use that time to figure
out my next move. Rebuilt calipers? Try to repair it myself? It just
seems like if the spring had another 1-2 pounds of force, it would get
the cam fully open and there wouldn't be a problem. Does this mean the
piston itself is "sticking?"