Rear brakes with EPB

BUDFORCE

BUDFORCE

BUDFORCE

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I've done brakes plenty of times on various cars and motorcycles, but not one with an EPB (Electronic parking brake).

The car is question is a 2013 Volvo S60.

I have an icarsoft vol 2 which in theory....can release the EPB, but not being funny the ******* thing wouldn't even reset the service light so time will tell....

I guess if this works though it's the best way.

Otherwise I've seen some YouTube videos which involve manually winding the EPB back but this involves dissembling the motor for mnthe back of the caliper, and you are supposed to replace the bolts and seals every time you do that, which will be £££££ if you can't easily get those and have to go to Volvo.


I'm also half wondering if I chock up the front wheels properly and try and do it with the EPB released, and disconnect the battery so there is no chance of it automatically engaging half way through, I fear it'll bugger up some sensor doing that though.

Any of you have some general advice or tips?
 
They are a pain, in my 2010 Avensis you can do it without any special tools but it's a bit of a faff.

2 garages told me only Toyota could do it as only their diagnostics can wind the calipers back in but that wasn't true.

For mine i had to disconnect the cable going from the actuator to the caliper itself then i could just take it all apart and winder the calipers back in normally then re-attach the cable. When starting the car for the first time i needed to hold the parking brake button in for 10 seconds to calibrate it and then it seemed to be fine.

I was very nervous doing it the first time as i was affraid it would either break the actuator or just engage the brakes so hard it wouldn't release them and i'd have no way of moving the car, luckily neither of those things happened.
 
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If you just release the parking brake then disconnect the battery the caliper piston will only have retracted enough for no pad contact, not far enough to get new pads in. Either hope your scanner will do decent bi directional and release the damned thing or risk the YouTube method. EPB's are an abortion, a needless complication and far more unreliable than hand brake cables ever were.​
 
I think on the volvo you can remove the motor from the caliper and wind the piston back with a T40 torx bit. My EPB has just gone on my Range Rover and I was able to reset it with an Autel AP200 with the Land Rover specific software. I find the icarsoft stuff is pretty good IF it is the dedicated "Brand" model, the generic is not that great for a lot of things. I have the mercedes specific Icarsoft tool and it has been able to do everything I have required of it so far, airbags, EML reset after fixes etc.
 
I'm guessing the answer is yes if you've already found tutorials about winding the motor back, but does the EPB actually affect the calipers on your car?

Our Kia has an EPB, but it still only actuates brake shoes inside the hat of the brake disc. So as long as you are only changing the pads and don't have to remove the discs, then you could do it without fiddling with the EPB at all.
I tried to help a friend change the rear pads on his Audi A3 but unfortunately, the EPB in his car actuated the caliper so we had no luck.
 
I did my dad's 2009 V70 rear brakes with an EPB.

I removed the cover to the motor and wound it back manually - it was really very simple. There's no need to replace the seals if they are in good condition (which they likely will be as they aren't subjected to much heat, no light and no oil). Replacing the bolts would be completely unnecessary as I'm almost certain they won't be torque to yield bolts?! I did it about 5 years ago and it is still working perfectly having been through rain, floods, snow etc

In essence, just pop the cover off and use a torch bit to wind it back. From start to finish it'll take you 5 minutes to wind the EPB back.

I shouldn't think winding it back and disconnecting the battery will work as it needs to be retracted to the service position (ie. All the way back in so that there is enough space for the new thicker pads and discs) not just the standard position.
 
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Thanks all.

Parts ordered today, I went out and tested the diagnostics (iCarsoft vol2) and typical didnt work, thought to myself thing is a piece of **** and waste of money.

But my 16 year old suggested trying to software update it so did that, and bingo, worked. You are able to put it into service mode, which I assume winds it back in, and then back out again. You could quite clearly hear it working as well so definately doing something, so fingers crossed.

In theory with that working, it should be as straight forward as fronts, possibly even simpler if you dont need to push the piston back in.

Anyway, wait for the parts to show up and then I'll give it a go.

Off topic slightly but man the price of car parts has gone up, I know everything has gone up, but feels like a lot.
 
My car was recently in for a service and the tech said rear pads will need replacing soon so i asked the cost ....£250 :eek:
I said to him is that for disks and pads but no just the pads.I told him to leave them i will have to youtube it first :cry:
Have seen some vids using a 12 volt battery to wind the piston back.Guess once you release the handbrake you could disconnect your battery then run leads to the EPB to wind it back.
 
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andy_mk3 said:
Service mode does not retract the pistons, they still need to be pushed or wound back.
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Ahhhh ok, I'll have another look there must be an option to retract them.

EDIT: Sorry with you I think, the diagnostic will retract the handbrake but the pistol will still need to be pushed back in due to natural brake fluid pressure just like fronts.
 
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silverblack said:
My car was recently in for a service and the tech said rear pads will need replacing soon so i asked the cost ....£250 :eek:
I said to him is that for disks and pads but no just the pads.I told him to leave them i will have to youtube it first :cry:
Have seen some vids using a 12 volt battery to wind the piston back.Guess once you release the handbrake you could disconnect your battery then run leads to the EPB to wind it back.
Click to expand...

Yup I know they take the cake, I have had a garage do these before and it was nowhere near as much as that though, to be honest my local garage is pretty good but try to do stuff myself where possible to save money.

I have looked at the 12v battery method but there is a risk that is you wire it up the wrong way around it'll wind the piston the wrong way and can cause big problems.
 
BUDFORCE said:
Ahhhh ok, I'll have another look there must be an option to retract them.

EDIT: Sorry with you I think, the diagnostic will retract the handbrake but the pistol will still need to be pushed back in due to natural brake fluid pressure just like fronts.
Click to expand...

Yeah the service mode will retract the motors but the piston will not move.

Some rear callipers with EPB will still need to be wound back, I can’t remember specifically for you me car if they need wound back or pushed back though.
 
BUDFORCE said:
Yup I know they take the cake, I have had a garage do these before and it was nowhere near as much as that though, to be honest my local garage is pretty good but try to do stuff myself where possible to save money.

I have looked at the 12v battery method but there is a risk that is you wire it up the wrong way around it'll wind the piston the wrong way and can cause big problems.
Click to expand...
I think the vids i have seen if the piston winds out just swap the positive/neg cable to wind it back in.
Found a local garage who do the pads for £130 almost half the cost of BMW garage.
 
All sorted.

Took a while as I gave the caliper and surrounding areas and good clean as I went.

Went ok, with one small hiccup.

The discs have these retaining screws in, which you cannot easily undo whilst the brake is off as it just spins the wheel hub, so there is a fair bit of swapping the modes around on the diagnostics to lock the wheel.

There are basically 4 states, EPB on/off and service mode on/off and you have to set them in logical order. If you don't the diagnostic doesn't tell you as such just states "communication error" or similar.

Well basically half way through I forgot what state it was, and trying I guess the 3 I didn't want, I started thinking the diagnostic had **** itself, but eventually figured it out.

Managed to figure out how to reset the service light with it as well, I was selecting the right year of car, well apparently it didn't like that and picking the year before worked.

To be fair, the diagnostic did everything I needed but it's far from intuitive to use.
 
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