Removing and installing brake pads - four-wheel drive vehicles — AUDI
Removing and installing brake pads - four-wheel drive vehicles on Audi: factory workshop procedure. Full factory text, tools and checks.
Workshop procedure for AUDI — the factory write-up, straight from real workshop data.
📋 Procedure
Special tools and workshop equipment required
Resetting and extracting tool 3272
Removing
Remove wheels.
Prise off locking element -1- for handbrake cable.
Press brake lever -2- in direction of arrow and disengage handbrake cable -3-.
Provide support at guide pin and detach brake caliper housing.
Tie up brake caliper housing with a piece of wire.
Note:
Brake hose/pipe is never to be twisted or kinked.
Remove brake pads and pad retaining springs -arrows-.
Note:
Mark brake pads on removal if they are to be re-used. Re-install in same position to prevent uneven braking.
Installing
Install in reverse order, paying attention to the following:
Clean brake caliper housing and in particular bonding surface for brake pad, which must be free from residual adhesive and grease.
Only use white spirit to clean brake caliper housing.
Note:
Before resetting pistons, extract small quantity of brake fluid from reservoir. To do so, make use of bleeder bottle or plastic bottle kept specially for this purpose.
Attention:
Brake fluid is poisonous and is never to be sucked off by mouth with a hose.
Apply special tool 3272 with 3272/1 to piston of brake caliper housing.
Screw in piston by turning knurled wheel of special tool 3272 clockwise (take care not to damage protective cap).
Note:
If piston is stiff, 13 mm open-ended wrench can be applied at appropriate flats -arrow-.
Insert pad retaining springs -arrows- and brake pads in brake carrier.
Pull protective sheeting off backplate of brake pad.
Use new self-locking bolts to secure brake caliper housing.
Note:
The repair set contains four self-locking hexagon bolts, which are always to be fitted.
Press brake lever -2- in direction of arrow and engage handbrake cable -3-.
Press on locking element -1- for handbrake cable.
Attention:
After fitting brake pads, press brake pedal firmly several times with vehicle stationary to ensure that pads become properly seated.
Check brake fluid level and top up if necessary.
Tightening torque
Component · Nm
Brake caliper housing to brake carrier · 35 1)
1)
Replace bolts
TorqFix answers live for your specific car — tell it the engine code and it serves the matching sequence, torque figures and wiring for that exact variant.
Ask about my car →🎬 Video walkthrough
Independent video tutorial by AUTODOC (YouTube) — a helpful visual companion to the steps above.
How to change rear brake pads / rear brake pad set on AUDI A3 1 (8L1)
Other AUDI procedures
- Removing and installing toothed belt – Audi · 56 torque figures
- Removing engine – Audi A8 D3 · 41 torque figures
- Removing camshaft timing chain from camshafts – Audi A6/A7 C7 · 38 torque figures
- Installing engine – Audi A8 D4 · 36 torque figures
- Removing and installing camshaft timing chain · 29 torque figures
Who makes these pages, and how
TorqFix was built by a mechanic — after a 2,700 km drive with five roadside repairs that no diagnostic tool could explain.
The figures on this page come from manufacturer workshop documentation and are shown as they are. The page is assembled automatically from that data — it is not written by an AI. The AI works in the chat, where it answers for your specific car. It writes nothing here.
Variants of the same model differ. Cross-check torque against the factory manual for your engine before final tightening.
Seen a figure that does not match your manual? Write to us — we correct it and note when. support@torqfix.com
The story behind TorqFix →Workshop data on this page last updated 20 Sep 2026.