Rear brake pads replacement

I'm about to replace my rear brake pads. I have VCDS to wind back the electronic park brake. My question is: some instructions/guides recommend the use of a battery charger and others do not. I've even found two different Ross-Tech guides where one mentions a battery charger and the other does not. I've found many 'how to' videos on YouTube and not one of them used a battery charger.

However Ross-Tech Wiki says the following: "The EPB module is very sensitive to low voltage conditions! It is critical that a battery charger is properly connected and used for the duration of the rear brake job."

I've never connected a charger to the battery while the battery was still connected to the car as I don't want to run the risk of frying delicate electronics. Who has and who hasn't used a battery charger when changing rear pads?

have not changed the rear pads yet,but I don't see the issue connecting a charger to the battery in the car. I always use ctek charger to charge the battery when it is still connected to the car. Has not fried anything yet at least.

I don't use one, but then again, I don't leave the headlights on and the radio blaring either whilst changing the pads.

After reading the Ross-Tech warning about following their procedures EXACTLY when using VCDS for the EPB retract and reset, I decided to connect up a battery charger. Then if something went wrong, I could eliminate that as a cause. I possibly should have connected the charger to the positive terminal under the bonnet that's used for jump starting, but I connected straight onto the battery. All went well.

The only anxious moment I had was at the end after resetting the EPB and disconnecting VCDS, I couldn't release the parking brake. No amount of pushing the button worked. It took me a while to realise that I wasn't pushing hard enough on the brake pedal at the same time.

After changing the pads, I'd pumped up the brake pedal rather vigorously with a lot of pressure and the brake pedal now needed an equivalent hard pressure to release the EPB! I'll make a note for next time.

Thanks for sharing! Will re-visit your post when I need to change mine.

Also some battery charger has Supply Mode which I think will be useful when you change your battery.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 3C4M Guy

After reading the Ross-Tech warning about following their procedures EXACTLY when using VCDS for the EPB retract and reset, I decided to connect up a battery charger. Then if something went wrong, I could eliminate that as a cause. I possibly should have connected the charger to the positive terminal under the bonnet that's used for jump starting, but I connected straight onto the battery. All went well.

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You can connect directly to the battery, however not recommended. The battery will be fine but you might get error codes from the regeneration system if your car has one. I replaced the rear pads a while ago, connected the charger to the +tv terminal in the engine bay. My car's battery is in the boot. All went well.

The only thing that got me while replacing the rear pads; to get VCDS to operate the hand brakes, they needed to be released using the buttons inside the car first.

I would recommend this Ross-Tech video. It's worth saving as a favourite for when the time comes to do the rear brakes.

YouTube

The bolts are M14 spline, or triple-square ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 3C4M Guy

The only anxious moment I had was at the end after resetting the EPB and disconnecting VCDS, I couldn't release the parking brake. No amount of pushing the button worked. It took me a while to realise that I wasn't pushing hard enough on the brake pedal at the same time.

After changing the pads, I'd pumped up the brake pedal rather vigorously with a lot of pressure and the brake pedal now needed an equivalent hard pressure to release the EPB! I'll make a note for next time.

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Thanks for sharing!

I'm about to replace them and had no idea where to start and how to prepare!