Changing rear brake discs and pads, notes and tips

[nta16]

Note: this is not a fitting guide for changing rear brake discs and pads but notes and tips from when I done so.  Hopefully this will also give encouragement as if I can do the job just about anyone can.

 

For the rear ("230 mm") brakes of my wife's 2015 Mk3 1.2 TSI SE I needed 13 & 15 mm spanners, Torx T30 driver and borrowed a mate's rewind tool with suitable end plate that turned the piston back.  There was not a need to remove the caliper carrier cradle to get the old discs off and new ones on, a H7 hex would have been required if I had needed or wanted to remove the caliper carrier cradle.

 

The discs are held by one T30 headed short screw, one of these screws had already fell out on one discs but the other side was in so tight I wished I had loosened them before removing the caliper and pads so my tip would be to loosen these off whilst you can still apply the handbrake or other easy bracing.

 

I also personally recommend using (two) screw-in wheel hanger fitting/removal alignment guide pins when removing and refitting each road wheel.  Normally only one is used but two is better. One, or two, of these could help prevent getting a back pain from the silly VW wheel bolts instead of fixed wheel studs (guess how I know this).

 

I used the Pagid brand for both pads and discs as that's what I put on the front a few years ago and they seemed OK in use.  Rear Pagid pads included new (thread-lock applied) screws.

 

Replacing the discs & pads is a very dirty but uncomplicated job but being brakes needs to be done thoroughly and properly, don't worry about any macho boasting of how quick it can be done rather allow multiples of time to do the job thoroughly and well, plus Sod's Law you'll find other stuff that you should do whilst you're there.

 

Hope some of this helps and applies to your model.

 

 

I also wrote a notes and tips post/thread for the front discs and pads previously. - 

 

Edited 4 November, 2023 by nta16

[nta16]

Below is just one example of the wheel alignment tool I mention in my last post to save your back, plenty around to chose from.

 

I suggest buying two of them, or even four if swapping front wheels to rear.

 

I've no idea of the quality of finish of this example.

 

[roblings]

Thanks for this guide. I've just done the rear discs and pads on my 2016 Fabia TSI, and it was useful info to prepare for the job. 

 

In my case I did need to remove the caliper brackets to get the new discs on. They actually use H8 bolts, and were a bit of a pig to get off. Not enough access for a breaker bar, ended up using a longish 8mm allen key with a bit of persuasion from a hammer.

[rum4mo]

These rear calliper bracket bolts should get replaced as they are first  torqued to a set figure then an additional angle of extra tightening applied.

 

I'm guessing that @nta16 accidentally said "H7" for the rear calliper bracket as it is "H7" for the front guide pins, I agree with you that these rear calliper carrier bolts are in deed "H8" ie 8mm hex bit required, I have this job to do very soon on my wife's August 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110 as sadly I ignored my own advice about cleaning up the brakes every year after a car's 6th birthday (every 2 years is good enough up to and including the 6 year point where I live and use a car), so at the 18 month since the last brake clean up, the offside rear has started to stick/seize a bit and has reduced the friction material down to 4mm where the other side is still 6>8mm. So it is time to fit new pads and also the heavily ridged discs after 8.5 years 48,000 miles.

Strangely, maybe, there was absolutely no evidence of the ceramic brake grease that I use, left after 18 months, so maybe that brand of ceramic brake grease has poor adhesion or "water/wash resistance" - I didn't expect that! 

The offside rear brake that was slightly gripping took quite a bit of levering to remove, the still free running nearside was as easy as usual to remove.

One other thing that I had forgotten, again after advising my mate about this is, if you tend to buy your car service bits from ECP, before doing that, check up on the Halfords website as I could have saved roughly £10 when buying the exact same Pagid parts - the only issue for someone that has taken the brakes apart before sourcing parts can be with Halfords, needing to wait a couple of day until the discs and/or callipers arrived at your local branch - I've added the callipers into this, just in case I need to replace that one if I find that it is seized, ie corroded piston - the saving for "same brand" rear callipers from Halfords is even better when compared with ECP - but if the car is already in bits and is needed back on the road ASAP, then ECP at least for me would work out as being where to drive to that day and return with the new calliper.

 

This is just intended as maybe useful info for anyone that is about to do this job.

[nta16]

I forget where I got the H7 info from but I bought a full set of H 'pins' anyway then found (on the rear brakes of my wife's 2015 car) the discs were easily removable without touching the caliper or carrier, I did have to angle them in and arc them to position but it was easy, even for a ham-fisted non-mechanic like me.

 

I've no idea if other models, trim levels or later carrs had different rear brakes than on my wife's car but to be honest I can't remember checking if the caliper were H7 or H8 as the first disc went on so easy without touching the caliper or carrier - so H8 is a good correction to offer.

 

I also can't remember if the fronts or back were easiest to replace (on my wife's 2015 SE) but both were the easiest to do in my limited experience of the few different types I've done and both front and rear sem to continue working well.

 

 

[rum4mo]

I'm old enough to have started working on cars at home before these "fancy" brake callipers appeared requiring the user to have a 7mm allen key to remove them, typical "home use" allen key kits had 6mm and 8mm - 7mm did not regularly exist in basic allen key sets.

 

So, it was a case of "it's not a 6mm" grabbed the 8mm "its not an 8mm"!  Followed the next day to a lunchtime trip to a very local to my workplace, welding supplies shop, that solved that tool problem.

 

A 7mm allen key or hex bit would fit these bolts perfectly once the car is quite a few years old, but once you had applied a bit of effort the accumulated rust curd would break and the 7mm allen key or hex bit would rotate freely!

 

Edit:- I'll be happy enough if I can get the discs out>in without removing these bolts, I've never found that to be the case in the past on other cars, but many people do find it possible to do - even my mate had to take them out on his son's old 2011 Audi A3 1.6 - and he is not a person to freely remove bolts just to make life easier - so I live in hope for this 2015 Polo!

Edited 11 March by rum4mo

[nta16]

I can't remember needing any allen keys just imperial spanners and sockets back when I was young and stupid enough to fart about with the old-bangers I could afford.  Now I do it not out of choice but for other reasons, including but not restricted to costs reasons.

 

My sets of small DIY allens keys which I've bought from the late 1970s to 13 years ago only go up to 6mm.  Last year I lost my set of small DIY Draper imperial allen keys, I was so annoyed as I've had them since the late 1970s and even though they were a standard plain set along with some screwdrivers I've lost from that time they were better made than equivalent (of higher quality) modern made replacements.

 

Again I saw somewhere I read that the rear calipers could remain in situ but lack of confidence in this I bought the set of Hex bits and Sod's Law I didn't need them (and wonder if I'll ever use them).  As I put replacing the discs on this car was the easiest in my limited experience, perhaps if I ever done it again (gawdd, I hope not) I might find it more awkward but from my past experience know that it is possible for me to do it without touching the calipers as I've done it before.  If I can do it anyone can (if the same).