Costasz

Changed my wife's 2006 A6 3.2 Quattro Front brakes yesterday because she got a brake pad sensor warning. This is the 2nd set of pads. Car has about 40K miles now. The set that I took off was a set of Akebono put on about 10-15K ago at a repair facility.

This time I did it myself and I also replaced the rotors. The weird thing is that both side, the inner pad, the one that is pushed by the piston was way more worn out than the outer pad. In fact, the passenger side inner pad was almost non existent while the outer pad was almost new.

Upon replacing everything and reassemblying, I noticed that the caliper has some 'play' when the piston was depressed. I could basically move the caliper by a few millimeters If I grabbed it by both hands. How is that possible when both gigantic bolts holding the caliper to the caliper bracket were firmly tightened?

Could this play account for the unevern wear?

hrc4u

The caliper is a floating kind...
the 2 "pin" kind of bolts that holds the caliper shoul be greased with
suitable grease so that caliper can move freely...otherwise only piston side pads are going to be used up before outer..
cheers/H

tenspeed

RockAuto.com has a bunch listed for your car. You'll need a set (2)for each caliper. Look under 2006 AUDI A6 3.2L V6 : Brake/Wheel Hub : Caliper Guide Pin. You'll need boot seals too.

Costasz

I will now proceed to find out what kind of grease it needs. The Brembo pads I bought came with some grease but that was for the pads themselves. I wonder if I can use it for the bolts.

hrc4u

I bought this last time i changed pads
http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Site...atex/ES517962/

will see how god it is until next time i change pads or have calipers removed...
cheers/H

uberwgn

It's strange, but I found the exact same thing on our A6 two weeks ago. The inner pad on one side was completely worn out and the outer pad on the oppositve was completely worn out. Both these pads wore a serious angle, not uniform. These were Akebono and I was getting some really strange noises from the front end under braking when the car was hot.

Costasz

My wife's car did the same thing. Clicking. I have now greased the caliper slide bolts. Theoretically these brakes should now outlast the car (06 with 40K miles).

uberwgn

Mine were greased, maybe not enough. I use the Silglyde product. I wonder if there could be another cause.

KnappAttack

Got the same problem with my Akebonos. Piston side is almost gone. outside is brand new condition.

At least there is no brake dust with these pads. I suspect the Akebonos have better friction and take less force to "pull" the caliper into the disc from the outside? I know my calipers are not "stuck". I bet if we went back to stock pads that we'd see even wear. But I can't stand all that brake dust!

tenspeed

Worn piston side pads indicates the caliper is not sliding on the pins. It slides enough to stop the car but when pressure is released, the piston side pad rides on the rotor instead of backing off.

Angled pad wear indicates that one side is sliding more than the other.

Touch the front wheels after a long drive. If one side is hotter, the brake is dragging. Even well lubricated pins wear out. I just ordered a third set for a 130K mile car.