dcaron9999

Im might give up now and bring the car to a certified mechanic. I spoke to an VW/Audi mechanic today, he suggested troubleshooting the problem this way: with the egine running, pinch each caliper flexible rubber tube one at a time, and see if the brake pedal becomes firm. If it does, I may have a damaged caliper.

GTA_Driver

I had the same experience, and got rid of akebonos. Went with oem pads (TRW i believe), and it grabs sooner. The pedal is slightly firmer too. Akebonos didnt feel safe for the Allroad. Even with OEM pads still not the same as my A6, but the A6 has Hp2 calipers, whereas the Allroad has standard single-piston.

jcman

Müll! If you pinch the hoses too hard plan on replacing them from the getgo,
if you have a damaged caliper its either stuck, moving slow or leaking and you would know this by uneven braking/wear or loss of fluid in the area.

Really sounds to me like you have a master cylinder that might be leaking pressure internaly "going bad"

dcaron9999

Pardon my stupid question, but how can changing pads firm up the pedal? Its not like the pads are made out of compressible material. I would agree that stopping power/bite could vary from pad to pad, but how could pedal travel be affected?

dcaron9999

My allroad does not pull in various direction when braking. All 4 rotors are nice and shiny on both sides. Did I mention that I cleaned everything with a wire brush, and brake cleaner, including guide pins, and lubed the pins & every contact points? Im definetely not losing liquid, but perhaps "ingesting" air.

Any hints on how I could troubleshoot the MC?

jcman

Here is my problem with pressure bleeding, your not pumping from the heart of the source and you don't feel the results.

Put a board under the pedal so you don't bottom it and bleed from the far to close calipers three times, pump 1-2-3 hold and bleed and at this point with a clean container you could reuse the fluid if it looks clear after a good amount of time incase of air bubbles.

Testing a MC can be done with a gauge to look for total pressure and a drop when in a hold postion, this might be where any brake shop could could help for a diagnosis

dcaron9999

Will give this a try tomorrow. For now, Ive pulled my hand brake to its uppermost position, and jammed a piece of wood between my pedal and my seat overnight. I removed the brake light fuse to avoid draining the battery. Will test tomorrow am, and bleed "the old-fashined way" later if I need to.

I thought I would mention that the pedal gets rock hard after two presses when the engine is off, but softens and sinks down as soon as I start the engine. Dont know if this may be a hint to finding the root cause ...

jcman

I've never had an issue with the good old bleed method over 33 yrs and all the rides I've owned including a few VW's and Audi's, give it a shot and let us know. Good luck!

GTA_Driver

Sort of misspoke, but

you press the pedal further for the same stopping power with akebonos than oem pads. They don't grip as well. The feeling is that the pedal is very soft and not very effective.

dcaron9999

Thanks - I get it now - that is what might be happening, and why I get sense that I must press the pedal further than with the OEM brake pads.

Noticed today while sitting at a stop light, I must press the brake pedal until it is aligned with the gas pedal at idle, just to stop the car from moving. Is this normal behavior?