1999 Passat - Front Rt Caliper Locks Up

[ngonce]

The front right caliper locked up over 2 weeks ago. The front right wheel would not budge. It took a week to fix (special order, of course) and I paid big bucks to have it repaired ONLY to have the problem reoccur yesterday! Is this a problem with Passats or am I getting poor service or a bit of both? Any one else have this problem?

[veedubmechanic]

might be a faulty abs control module.

did they replace the caliper?

[ngonce]

Originally Posted by veedubmechanic

might be a faulty abs control module.

did they replace the caliper?

They replaced the caliper on the first service. Now they are recommending a new ABS Pump. Perhaps they meant ABS Control Module?

The repair quote is $2300. Quite exorbitant considering the blue book trade-in value is $4900. They've recommended I get one from salvage and they will install.

Any recommendations?

[ngonce]

Other things to consider:

1) ABS light did not come on to indicate failure. And would the control module only affect one of the brakes and not all four? Seems strange...

2) Could this be a fault in the rubber brake line leading from the chassis to the brake caliper? My understanding is the line carries brake fluid to the caliper. When you apply the brake, pressure in the line builds. When you back off the brake, pressure is released. If there is a restriction/blockage in the line, pressure is not released (almost like a check valve effect) and the brake in effect freezes. If there a bleeder valve in the line - simply press on the brake, release the brake, and open the bleeder valve to see if pressure has been released. (I left a message with the service rep and no call back yet to confirm).

[veedubmechanic]

the module itself is about 700.00 but the pump portion is 1800-2200. if u get a used one you'll prob be in the same position.

i would say take the line off the caliper and the fender well and blow compressed air through the line, then bleed the brake system.
I faulty abs module could be causing the brakes to lock up but i havent seen that before. the dealer can do a basic setting of the abs system and bleed the brakes, that should get any debris out if there is any in it. or pressure flush the system with the brake flush machine.

[ngonce]

According to the service rep, they did a thorough testing of the lines. They stated that the pump was bad in the ABS module. At their suggestion, I ordered a salvaged ABS module so they could install that -saving me some $$. ($250 from Shaw + $40 2-day shipping). In the meantime, they indicated that they had another 'bad' ABS module that they could take the pump out of and put in my ABS module. And now they claim it works.

To return the salvaged ABS module will cost 50% restock fee + no reimbursement on shipping + shipping to get it back to Pochatello (?). VW is deducting 2 hrs labor to cover these costs. The total bill went from a potential of $2300 down to $287. Of course, this doesn't count my costs to return the salvaged ABS module (~$180) or the cost of the first fix (replacing the caliper at $502).

They are not replacing the caliper or the rotor. After limping to the nearest gas station with the caliper locked onto the rotor, shouldn't that have caused some significant wear and potential damage? There were plumes of smoke and it smelled terrible!

I've had fun with the Passat over these past 6.75 years, but its days may be numbered. It has 125,000 and over $13K of repair bills (incl reg. maintenance and tires).

[ngonce]

More fun with the local Atlanta VW Dealer mechanics...

After all the fun of replacing the front right brake caliper and getting a follow-up fix to the ABS system when the front right caliper froze 2 weeks later after the 'repair', it turns out that the dust boot cover for the piston on the front right caliper was MISSING. This was discovered by VW dealer mechanics in Baton Rouge, LA.

I went in for a routine oil change only to have them notify me that the front brakes were at 10% and the dust boot cover was missing from the infamous front right caliper. They had NO knowledge of the past couple of months history on the car. Fortunately the part was still under warranty.

The mechanic in BR questioned if the front caliper had even been replaced. Yeesh. At best this reeks of incompetence and at worst it borders on fraud.