VW Audi Group Electric Park Brake Repair & Upgrade

The electric park brake is a feature that has been rolled out by many vehicle manufacturers in the last few years and VAG (VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat vehicles) are no exception to that.

Although there are several advantages to the electric park brake, these come at a cost – a system made up of ECU’s (fig. 1), buttons (fig. 2) and motors (fig. 3) networked together via a complex electrical architecture which replaces a conventional cable operated handbrake.  The higher end VW and Audi models (Passat & A8) were the first to adopt the new technology, but these earlier systems were however prone to a number of failure modes.

electronic park brake controller

Figure 1 Electric Park Brake Control Unit

With age, the callipers and motors are generally the first parts to fail, resulting in a park brake that either won’t release or engage, with various warning lights on the dashboard!  Severity and inconvenience of the different failure modes vary, but, for example, a common occurrence is that a vehicle can be made immobile, away from home, requiring specialist knowledge to even get the car onto a trailer for recovery and subsequent repair.  Because of this, it is very important to take action if there are any early signs of EPB malfunction at all – since ultimate failure is almost certain to be at least very inconvenient, expensive and maybe catastrophic.  Servicing these parts without the relevant diagnostic equipment is not a job for a novice – since even changing the brake pads requires the motors to be backed off electronically through the diagnostics port!

electric park brake switch

Figure 2 Electric Park Brake Switch

Beyond this, our experience has shown that simply replacing the calliper/motor combination is not enough to make a system fully reliable again.  As well as updating the software in the dedicated park brake control unit, various other physical parts of the system should also be changed for newer generation components in order to avoid catastrophic damage to those new callipers and motors that have just cost you hundreds of pounds!  For example, bugs in the earlier software levels can result in scenarios where the park brake motor is backed off too far, leading to motor burn-outs and faulty operation.

 

Electric Park Brake Caliper

Figure 3 Electric Park Brake Caliper/Motor Assembly.

As well as being able to supply a factory refurbished, boxed and sealed OEM (TRW)  Calliper and Motor with a 2 year warranty at a fraction of the dealer price, we can offer a fitting and consultancy service for upgrading your whole system, including the important software update of the EPB control unit, at an unbeatable package price.   You will be left with the peace of mind that your whole system is much improved and more robust, and that the dated control unit software is not going to destroy your new callipers and motors!

We offer electric park brake calipers and system upgrades on all VW Audi Group Vehicles.

Please send us E-Mail us or telephone 01538 807 708– we are happy to answer any of your questions.