Hi all, I’ve got a 2013 Passat B7 and tried to drive the car this morning but out of the blue the parking brake wouldn’t release on one side. I could hear the rear-right motor whirring, but not the rear left.


After plugging in the code reader it confirmed a left side motor problem. Took the EPB motor off the calliper whilst in situ to manually wind the parking brake off... it was blocking the drive so couldn’t even get the other car out! Managed to move the car and plugged the EPB motor into a direct 12v connection from the battery but no signs of life... guess the motors shot??


Before I buy a new EPB motor there was one thing I thought strange... when I disconnected the EPB motor from the caliper, some brake fluid dribbled out. Not tons, probably 5 to 10mls.... but I wondered if a seal failure was what knackd the motor?


I refurbed the caliper with new seals etc last year (its done 180k miles) and all seems good, but maybe I did something wrong with the new seals... or is a small brake fluid crossover between caliper and motor normal??


Cheers guys