Electronic handbrake siezed on

[AndyN01]

Hi all,

Well, it's happened :mad:. Driver's side locked solid.

Fortunately I was not on a road blocking any traffic. Unfortunately I didn't have the necessary tools with me.

Fortunately the RAC guy turned up in a bit over 1/2 hour.

Fortunately he'd obviously popped the motor off & wound off the brake before ;).

My question is on an 11 year old car with 127K is it worth swapping out the passenger side motor as a precaution?

And if so, who is a reputable supplier/manufacturer? I don't want to spend time & money on some tat that packs up 5 minutes after fitting it.

Thanks in advance.

Andy.

[Crasher]

Fit only genuine TRW in the red TRW box.

[AndyN01]

Thanks.

Suggested supplier?

The ones I can find on eBay under TRW don't look remotely correct.

I can't see the motor unit on its own in the online TRW catalogue? Do I have to buy the whole caliper?

Thanks in advance.

Andy.

[philipharmes]

" Do I have to buy the whole caliper? "

No, you can buy the motors & caliper separately, ( eBay & other places ) but probably not from VW.

You need to look to see what has actually failed.

Could be the controller, wiring, motor or caliper.

On my wifes 2008, both handbrake sides have locked on at different times.

In both cases it was the spline on the caliper which had rusted, resulting in the spline rounding off.
So you could hear the motor run when the handbrake was operated, but the brake remained fully on.

You can buy just the caliper spline with threaded rod, but needs the caliper taken apart to replace.

[AndyN01]

Thanks,

That sounds similar to what happened.

I could hear the motor spinning but nothing was happening to the pads.

As the RAC guy managed to wind off the piston I'm guessing the (female) splines are OK (?) but the male spline on the motor unit was well corroded & rusty.

The work is being done free of charge under warranty. It's more of a thought to do preventative maintenance on the other side before it packs up.

Don't fancy the bill for a full TRW replacement caliper if the bits are available to repair/recondition.

Cheers.

Andy.

[philipharmes]

" The work is being done free of charge under warranty. "

Good result then.

On my wifes it was the female spline on the caliper that had rusted away.

So needed the caliper dismantling.

Very poor quality steel.

When I re-assembled them I put plenty of grease in there.

So would be a worthwhile bit of maintenance for anyone who want to preserve the calipers & avoid a breakdown.