Are my Calipers suppose to be loose?????

[A62TURBO]

Since day one that I've had my car the front brakes would make an annoying clanking noise when going over bumps. The dealer had told me that when I would change my brakes it would go away because of loose brake pads I never believed that so I did my own trouble shooting and today I noticed that if I grab the caliper and try to move it, it actually feels loose, is this normal? I also tapped the caliper with a rubber mallet and reproduced the sound that I get when going over bumps. This is retarded because I had it at the dealer last time for the whole day and the stupid techs couldn't even figure it out. Do you think it could just be as simple as tightening the calipers?? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanx

[sempaipaul]

my jaguar did that.. its when your pads wear down... the prake caliper becomes looser on your brake disk. When you do get your new pads, that will go away, because the "worn out" area of your old pads which is causing the caliper movement will be replaced with new brake pad surface.

-Paul

[A62TURBO]

Yeah but don't you think its a little bit weird that the caliper is loose?? I never experienced that before.

[marcus1701]

man my A6 caliper straight came off and was bouncing against the rotor....go to another dealership and have them change your pads or something. If it continues you blame the dealership.

[A62TURBO]

man my A6 caliper straight came off and was bouncing against the rotor....go to another dealership and have them change your pads or something. If it continues you blame the dealership.

Do you think its the pads, or do I just have to tighten the bolts on the caliper??

[rxphiler]

Your caliper shouldnt be loose at all. When your pads wear the moving part of the caliper slides in to keep all that tight and the piston stays out and keeps the back pad close to the rotor. You need to look at the the caliper bolts on the back and also look at the cariage bolts.

[A62TURBO]

Your caliper shouldnt be loose at all. When your pads wear the moving part of the caliper slides in to keep all that tight and the piston stays out and keeps the back pad close to the rotor. You need to look at the the caliper bolts on the back and also look at the cariage bolts.

Thats an answer I was looking for

[A62TURBO]

I just took my front d/s wheel off and poked around. What I noticed is that there are two pieces to the caliper inner and outer, the inner part of the caliper is bolted to the suspension and very solid, while the outer part of the caliper which I see carries the pads is loose which gives me the noise when I go over bumps. What I want to know is how the hell is the outer caliper bolted to the inner caliper, and has anyone else had this problem??

[rxphiler]

The bolts for the carriage are at the backside of the caliper where the rubber boots are. If I remember correctly the bolts are hex head or allen wrench bolts. If these are loose you wont feel it during braking but it will make a noise on rough road or bumps... I just ran outside and looked an they are hex head bolts 8.5mm I think. Try tighting those up if that doesnt work it might be a worn bushing for the carriage rod. Either way it shouldnt make that noise.

[rxphiler]

I just tried taking pics but I couldnt get a good shot with the wheel sorry man.

[A62TURBO]

Thanx for doing some research lol Maybe you can point it out on the diagram for me. Thanx.

[rxphiler]

the allen wrench fits in the back of #5 those are the guide pins(I think) the fronts are easy. If you wheel is off turn the hard in so you can see the rear of the caliper they are the allen bolts. They are female allen bolt the are the ends of the glide pins. I think #6 are the bushing. From the pic you can see the threads on the carriage pins #5 that go into the carriage. The rear calipers are all allen wrench the point of the cariage and the point on the axle where they connect. Sorry I am doing it from memory and I have had a few to drink already!!!!

[A62TURBO]

I think the last person that worked on this car was a retard because when I checked those guide pins yesterday they looked stripped, who knows what the last guy tried to use to get them loose. But thanx for all your valuable info and pass me a beer while you're at it lol

[A62TURBO]

Thanx for doing some research lol Maybe you can point it out on the diagram for me. Thanx.

Is guide pin #5 suppose to go through bushing #4? I don't think my brakes even have bushings, this really sux.

[rxphiler]

yup yup but those are rubber boots they are accordian type. I tell ya what I am off tommorrow I will take off one of my wheels and take pics of my brakes. I might even take off the front caliper and take a pic of it exposed.

[A62TURBO]

You don't have to go through all that trouble man thanx

[rxphiler]

No problem on five minutes took longer to upload the pics. Now looking at the diagram we do have different brakes. I have the four pad system you have the two pad system. But brakes are brakes on most cars and the form and fuction are basically the same. The pics below are of the front view then two of the back. The guide pins are the lower set with the rubber around the back of them. I need new pads so mine are almost all the way out. Hope the pics help.

[kr1572]

I drive a 2003 Allroad with the ATE 2 pad front brakes. Had the same trouble, metallic clanking noise when driving over small bumps.
After searching through many forums I went over my brakes and fixed the problem.
I replaced the small rubber bushings (part 4 in diagram by A62TURBO) and also replaced the springs (part 15 in diagram).
When installing the new springs, make sure they are correctly secured behind the two small pins on the caliper. Also, use copper paste or brake grease.
Cost for parts was total $120 at the local Audi dealer. It took me about 1h to complete. Noise gone.