Working on cars used to be simple and brake jobs were one of the most universal tasks out there. Remove the caliper, compress it with a clamp, install the new pads and bolt everything back together. But that was before things like antilock brakes, electronic parking brakes and spiral caliper pistons. Now, you're going to have to look a bit further than ye olde woodshop to find the tools you'll need to perform a brake job on a modern -- particularly, modern GERMAN -- car, like your 2003 Volkswagen Passat.
Instructions
- 1
Open the brake bleeder valve on your brake caliper, using a wrench. Like almost every car produced since the first Reagan administration, the Passat uses electronic antilock brakes. The mechanical part of an antilock system is a series of valves that control fluid and pressure flow to the individual brake cylinders. If you compress the piston without giving the fluid some way to get out, you'll force huge back-pressure through the ABS modulator and damage it. So, before anything, turn the bleeder screw a full turn counter-clockwise to open it.
2Install the spiral brake caliper compressor on the caliper. While you can find the appropriate spiral brake compressor for about $50 or more at your local tool outlet, most auto parts stores will issue you a loaner set for free. At AutoZone, Discount and Advance Auto, for instance, the free loaner tool set number is 27-111 -- that's the number to ask for when you go to the counter. Inside the kit you'll find a set of discs with pins arranged around the perimeter, and a tool to drive them. Take the disc that fits the detents on your caliper pistons and install it face-down so that the pins lock into the detents.
3Tighten the compressor and watch as it both rotates and compresses the caliper piston. If the caliper won't budge -- as it may not -- turn the piston a half-turn counter-clockwise to break it loose. Fear not; it will eventually turn. As you compress the piston, you'll see it start to force fluid out of the bleeder valve. This is your signal that the piston is actually compressing, and not just spinning in place.
4Turn the bleeder valve clockwise until it is snug to close the valve. Remove the caliper compressor from the brake caliper.
5Start the Passat and press the brake pedal a couple times to close the brake pads against the brake rotor. The pedal should feel firm. Stop the engine and top off your brake fluid, as needed.
