Tried to get my caliper off for the first time since owning the car but the 2 allen key bolts were rounded to hell.

They've got trhose stupid rubber covers over them too and are a bastard to get to..

Anyone had this problem?

I've got pads and disks sitting on the garage which i paid like £60 for, was gonna return them and try to blag KwikFit to do them with that ''Buy off us and we'll fit for free'' thing.... they wanted £160!

try hammering a slightly larger torx or spline bit into the allen head. Failing that cut the rubber boot off and then get some mole grips around the bolt heads, just means you'll need to replace the boots but they aren't expensive.

first thing to do is soak the bolts in WD40, keep spraying on them for a couple of hours.

heat as well, then molegrips should get them off

Cheers guys.. there's nout more annoying than rounded or seizned bolts!

I've soaked them in WD but with the rubber on, so dont think it did much..

I'll try and bash a torx into it, if i can get enough room to get a hammer in.. failing that looks like in gonna have to get the rubber off, my dad got me some proper mole grips for removing screws so i'll tackle them again when its dry.

if you cant get them off and willing to drive into bham centre il give you a hand done a few before

wd wont do a thing as its a water repellant better of with plus gas

WD has it's uses as a penetrating oil as well as a water dispersant but yeah it's not as good as plus gas

Had this problem with my car. Ended up using mole grips to remove them. A new set is about £1.70 direct from a VW dealer.

You'll need to cut the rubber boot off to get the molegrips on though.

Edited 27 July, 200917 yr by TheBassJunky

Right, done and dusted :)

Cut the rubber off, dad got me some replacement screws with rachet heads..

The other side was sound, just a bit stiff..

So the brakes are sorted now, apart from those screws it was so much easier than i thought it'd be.

Ta guys.

Not being funny, but it might be best to put the proper bolts in there. I think they're stretch bolts and have a very high tolerance, you can't just use normal mild steel bolts on brake callipers.

As I said, a new set is only £1.70 from VW (I've replaced mine recently) and they won't round off again so long as you use the properly sized allen key on them.

When it gets to that point, I just cut the boot off and remove the bolt with molegrips.

Catch is, the boots are £7 a pair in a rebuild kit from vw.

As for swapping parts, use the right stuff. NEver, ever cut corners on brakes.

Must admit, I didn't bother with replacing the boots on mine. Are they meant to stop grit getting into the sliders, or just to protect the bolts from seizing up?

Replaced the bolts on one side, that were rounded..

The passenger sides weren't rounded so used the old ones.

Bolts are the same, only difference is the head. There is only about 3mm of thread in the caliper that the bolt goes through, and the majority of the bolt sits inside a metal tube thing.

The boot is there to keep contaminents out and the grease in.

replaced my alen key head bolts with new ones from my local bolt place for 50p

Correct tensile strength?

I think they're stretch bolts and have a very high tolerance, you can't just use normal mild steel bolts on brake callipers.

As I said, a new set is only £1.70 from VW (I've replaced mine recently) and they won't round off again so long as you use the properly sized allen key on them.

not stretch bolts matey

The boot is there to keep contaminents out and the grease in.

The rubbers? I'll be replacing them..

Have to give those metal tubes a good clean though as they were pretty rusted..

If Mk2-3 is anything to go by, you'll get a new set with the boots

Best get on the blower to the local dealer then..

Correct tensile strength?

yup nut and bolt place said they were better spec than what i had taken out

Before everyone forgets about this thread, can i ask which size Allan-bolts it is? I'm currently trying to get mine off, the upper left one is clearly a 6mm, the bottom one isn't. Neither are any of the ones on the right wheel, so i'm kind of wondering what size i should buy next. Are they usually metric or imperial? The three seems to be somewhere between 6 and 7mm

Sorry for derailing the thread but i didn't think i needed a whole new thread for this silly question..

They are 6mm metric on 6n calipers mate.

The top bolt is longer than the bottom bolt, if i remember..

But both should be same diameter.

did these today,pain in the a** but with the tip of using the mowlgrips managed to get the rounded ones out and put the complete new set ,for £3,20 from our local VW parts,in without a problem :)

^^ the top one is the shorter one as I found out today :) this is on my 6n 98 diesel CL 1.9

Edited 23 January, 201214 yr by Schnooky