Martin Keene Posted July 22, 2007 Posted July 22, 2007 Put new discs and pads onto the back of my tin top, Octavia vRS, today. A quick shuffty through the Haynes manual revealed it to be a straight forward job, no different to any other rear brakes, i.e. wind the pistons back in with an angle grinder spanner, or to quote Haynes "a set of circlip pilers". So, old brakes off, new discs and pads on, we get to the point of winding the pistons back in. TWO HOURS later, and after much poncing around they have not moved at all. Conviced the calipers are shagged and went searching Briskoda forums for advice. After only moments work I found 3 threads confirming that the pistons will not retract using circlip pilers/angle grinder spanner/etc only the correct wind back tool will do the job. Nipped to Halfords, bought the correct tool, £20, and after 2 minutes, literally, the pistons are back into the calipers. W##kers... I'm so incensed by this latest of many short falls in their crap manuals, I'm going to write to them asking for; a) a refund of the £18.99 for the manual, and b) and refund of the £19.99 for the tool, which their manual catergorically states is not needed. How does this relate to people running Golf calipers? Well I'm sure most of you will know the Skoda Octavia is based on a Golf, so the same maybe true of the Golf calipers as well... Quote
Glen H Posted July 22, 2007 Posted July 22, 2007 I would be well naffed off if I had stripped it all down to then find another trip / tools required So what does the 'Correct Tool' look like / do different than the circlip pliers & Grinder spanner. Quote
Arm Posted July 22, 2007 Posted July 22, 2007 Strange, mine wound back in with the grinder spanner and a bit of inward pressure. Maybe there are different versions of the caliper. Quote
Chasmon Posted July 22, 2007 Posted July 22, 2007 My Golf Mk4 GTI calipers wound in fine too... Quote
pistonbroke Posted July 22, 2007 Posted July 22, 2007 You wern't using enough force , they do wind in but need a little help sometimes . I have used a G cramp to exert pressure before winding em in Its a lot easier with the proper tool though edit to ask "did you remove the cap from the resavoir ? Quote
samcooke Posted July 23, 2007 Posted July 23, 2007 The wife's Mk4 Golf ones worked with the grinder spanner too, as has been said, they needed a little persuasion... Quote
Martin Keene Posted July 23, 2007 Author Posted July 23, 2007 Strange, mine wound back in with the grinder spanner and a bit of inward pressure. Maybe there are different versions of the caliper. The vRS does have vented disc's, not the solids that the Gold has, so they could well be different. Thought it would be worth a mention... Quote
Yobbo Posted July 23, 2007 Posted July 23, 2007 Mine wound back eventually but I needed to push hard with the pliers and it was frustrating. I had similar problems with the Sierra calipers which are of a similar design Quote
Martin Keene Posted July 23, 2007 Author Posted July 23, 2007 Caliper wind back tool... Yep, That's exactly what I bought... Except it came in a Laser box.... Probably all comes from Norm's mates anyway! Quote
Chasmon Posted July 23, 2007 Posted July 23, 2007 Quite crazy having to pay that much when you consider I bought a new 2 tonne Sealey engine crane for £55 including delivery...! Quote
Martin Keene Posted July 23, 2007 Author Posted July 23, 2007 Quite crazy having to pay that much when you consider I bought a new 2 tonne Sealey engine crane for £55 including delivery...! Exactly... I sure it could be found cheaper than Halfords, and more than likely cheaper than that website. But at 3 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon, such searching is not permitted... Quote
Martin Keene Posted July 23, 2007 Author Posted July 23, 2007 Letter to be posted to Mr. J. Haynes OBE ( ) in the morning. QUOTE Dear Mr. J. Haynes OBE I find myself writing to you after another truly disappointing performance by one of your maintenance manuals. Yesterday I had to change the rear brake discs and pads on my 2001 Skoda Octavia vRS. Reading through the manual (your book number 4285) revealed it to be no more complicated than any other rear brake maintenance, i.e. remove callipers, remove old parts, fit new parts, wind pistons back, re-fit callipers. Your manual states that a special tool can be used for winding back the pistons into the callipers, but it is not essential, and to quote your manual “circlip pliers” can be used as an alternative, so I set about winding pistons back into the callipers, I was using an angle grinder disc spanner as it seemed better suited, after TWO HOURS of messing around I had made no progress at all. I would like to explain at this stage that I am a fully qualified mechanical engineer, who has built his own car, so I can assure you this was no failing on my part. At this point I consulted a popular Skoda internet forum looking for advice, assuming that my calipers must be damaged in some way. After only five minutes searching I found a number of different articles, by a number of different people, all saying the same thing, only the correct wind back tool will do the job. I set off to Halfords, in another car as mine was obviously in pieces, in rather a hurry as it was 3pm on a Sunday afternoon by this time, to purchase the aforementioned tool. Upon purchasing the correct tool (which your manual states is not required, may I remind you) I had the pistons back into the callipers within two minutes and managed to start and finish the other side of the car in 30 minutes. This is one of many extremely disappointing performances I have had from your manuals in recent years. A further example was an alternator change on a 1996 Vauxhall Astra 2.0 Sport, the manual (your book number 1832) told me to, quote, “Undo the alternator pivot bolt and remove it”. I put it to you that nobody in your organisation has ever tried to perform an alternator change to this vehicle, with the engine still in the car, using the method described in your manual. Because if they did they would find they are trying to pull out a bolt which is 6” long into a gap which is only 2” from the head of the bolt to the chassis leg! There are many other examples of where your manuals have failed me, but I cannot be bothered to list them all, indeed there have been so many I would have to have made a list to remember them all. I have some of the older manuals for the likes of mk2 Ford Escorts, mk3/4/5 Ford Cortinas, the manuals from this era are very good by the way, and I note that these proudly announce that every manual is based on a complete strip down and rebuild. I also note that this has disappeared from your modern manuals. Coincidence I wonder? I would like to hear your views on the above failings, and I would also like the explanation to be accompanied by a cheque to refund me the £18.99 for the manual and the £19.99 for the special purpose tool that your manual states it not required. As it stands I will have think very seriously in future as to whether I spend my money on one of your manuals, or pay the extra for a proper manufacturer’s manual that hopefully won’t let me down the very time I need it. Yours Sincerely M. Keene bl**** cheeky asking for a refund, but hey, don't ask, don't get... Quote
Mike H Posted July 24, 2007 Posted July 24, 2007 All that type of caliper are well known for sticking so I'm not swurprised you needed a tool. When writing the manual they probably used a brand/nearly new car. Mike Quote
Norman Verona Posted July 24, 2007 Posted July 24, 2007 Manufacturers use new cars to strip and rebuild for manuals and, more worrying for dealers, setting workshop times. The manuals state that extra time should be added for dirty, rusted or likewise difficulties. Quote
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