Rear brake pads

The brake warning light in my Audi A8 has come on. I have checked it with my VCDS and it says the rear parking brake pads are worn. According to the service manual, I have to release the parking brake motor before removing the pads. It says to put ‘005’ in the basic setting when fitting the new pads, then put in 006 once completed. When putting the old pads back in, you need to put in ‘007’. I am confused now, because someone on Youtube did the same job on his Audi A8 and he put in ‘007’ to release the rear brake motor, then once the job was done he put ‘006’ to switch the motor back on. In the VCDS instructions, they did it the same way. So which number should I put in? Yantao Guo

As you are using your VCDS then you should follow the device’s instructions. On the Audi system, this should be ‘005’ to release and ‘006’ to reset the pistons. Providing the pistons wind back fully before fitting the pads, then once the new pads are in place the handbrake can be reset as follows: 1) Pump the brake pedal to set the pads

into position.

2) With the ignition on, ensure the electronic parking brake is released and the gear selector is in ‘P’. 3) Switch off the ignition, remove the key and lock the steering.

The recalibration will now be performed. The electronic parking brake will retract and close again, then set the required clearance automatically. Recalibration is now complete and the fault codes can be erased from the memory.

During the fitting of the brake pads it is recommended that the handbrake motors should be disconnected to prevent unwanted operation of the motors during the job.