[Gannu_1]

I did a complete maintenance on the front brakes of my 2013 Polo GT at home. The work involved removing the brake pads, removing the rotors, resurfacing/machining the rotors at a lathe workshop, cleaning the entire assembly, replacing the caliper bolts, rubber caps and guide pins, greasing the relevant parts and reassembling everything back.





Putting up a dedicated, detailed DIY thread to our repository for reference. The front brakes on my Polo are based on the FN 3 brake system. This is also applicable for the Vento and Rapid. If you wish to service the front brakes at home and have some spare time at disposal, look no further! I’ll keep it short and simple.

Tools required:

1. Floor jack
   
   
2. Jack stands - 2 nos.
   
   
3. 1/4" ratchet set
   
   
4. 18 mm socket or 18-19 ring spanner
   
   
5. S-type hook/hanger (or make one with a metal shirt hanger)
   
   
6. C-clamp 150 mm/6”
   
   
7. Wire brush (or a drill with a cup brush attachment)
   
   
8. Straw cleaning brush
   
   
9. Waste cotton clothes
   
   
10. Magnetic screw tray (link on how to make one at home)
    
    
11. Vernier caliper or screw gauge

Good to know:

My ETKA workshop manual does not specify the torque ratings for the FN 3 256 mm disc brakes. It mentions 256 mm discs for the 14” FS III system and 288 mm discs for the 15” FN3 system:



I have therefore hand-tightened all the bolts. I have mentioned the torque values for reference wherever available for those who prefer to use the torque wrench.


Parts required:

1. Brake discs - 6RF 615 301A
   
   
2. Brake pad set - 6RU 698 151B
   
   
3. Brake pad service kit - 6RU 698 647A

Consumables required:

1. Brake grease (also supplied with the service kit in a sachet)
   
   
2. Brake cleaner spray
   
   
3. WD40
   
   
4. 220 grit dry sandpaper x 1

Procedure:

• Slacken the lug bolts of the front wheels, jack up the front, place jack stands below the strong points and remove the wheels. Keep the wheels below the running boards for additional safety.


• Wear a face mask. Clean the caliper assembly with the wire brush and brake cleaner spray.





With a wire brush, this may take a while and can be a bit exhausting. If you have a drill, get a cup brush attachment and use it (in breaks/intervals to avoid the drill getting overheated).




• Use the 12 mm socket to remove the two caliper holding down bolts.



These bolts are to be discarded since we will be using new bolts from the service kit. For now, place the bolts in the magnetic screw tray. (I don’t throw away the old bolts unless the head is rounded or the threads are worn out).




• Remove the caliper and hang it using the S-hook/hanger taking support from the spring of the strut assembly.



Never leave the caliper hanging under its own weight as it exerts undue pressure on the hydraulic brake hose.


• Slide the brake pads out of the metal shims.



If they are old and worn out, they have to be replaced. If they have the sintered frictional material left (at least 4-6 mm; wear limit as per VW’s workshop manual is 2 mm), the pads can be reused (as I did during this service).


• Pull the guide pins out of the caliper bracket assembly along with the rubber cap.



This can be a bit hard depending on the condition of the grease inside. If the grease has dried up or has become mucky, the pin would have become tight. In such cases, use a plier to pull the pin out. Older guide pins have to be discarded and renewed.


• Use an 18 mm socket or 18-19 ring spanner to unscrew the two caliper bracket bolts.



Remove the caliper bracket from the assembly.



Keep these bolts safe as they will be reused.


• Use a T30 torx bit from the 1/4” ratchet kit to unscrew the rotor/disc from the hub:



Keep the Torx screw safe.


• Remove the two metal shims from the caliper bracket and clean the caliper bracket thoroughly using the wire brush (or the drill + cup brush attachment) and brake cleaner spray.



Clean the guide pin holes on the caliper bracket.



A straw cleaning brush works best. These brushes have smaller bristles and can access the smallest holes like the ones in lab pipettes.



Clean the two metal shims thoroughly for any grease/muck.


• If the rotors have sufficient thickness of the cast iron material left, they can be reused. When the brake pads are renewed, it is advisable to have them resurfaced or machined to remove the scoring marks before reusing them. This prevents juddering and excessive vibrations while braking especially at high speeds.

Measure the thickness of the rotors using a vernier caliper or screw gauge.



If the thickness is at least 20-21 mm, you can reuse the rotors after resurfacing or machining them on a lathe at a lathe workshop. There are special brake lathes meant for this purpose installed in some workshops which moves the tool post automatically from the inside to outside.

Here's one such brake lathe at an engineering workshop:





Some workshops may not however and the operator manually moves the tool post outwards after mounting the rotor on the chuck and centering it. Like the one below:



If the thickness of the rotors fall short of the limit (19 mm), it is advised not to renew them and must be replaced with new rotors.

The thickness of the rotors on my car measured 21.xx mm and I had them resurfaced at a lathe workshop.

Before:





After:






• Clean the wheel hub for any surface rust.



I have seen anti-seize copper grease being applied on the hubs after they are cleaned. I prefer not to grease the hubs and keep it clean just like they were from the factory.



Clean the brake dust shield with brake cleaner spray and cloth.


• Mount the resurfaced (or replacement) rotor to the hub and secure it with the Torx T30 screw.



The ETKA manual gives a tightening torque of 4.5 Nm. I have hand tightened it.


• Mount the caliper bracket to the hub using the two hex bolts.



Use the 18 mm socket or 18-19 ring spanner to tighten the hex bolts.



124 Nm is the torque value indicated for the 288 mm discs meant for the 15” FN3 system. Since I couldn’t get the values for the 256 mm discs installed, I preferred to hand tighten them.


• Open the cap of the brake fluid reservoir cap to permit the fluid to rise when the caliper piston is compressed. Spread some cloth around the mouth of the reservoir, just in case fluid overflows.




• Next up, compress the caliper piston to its stock position to permit the brake pads to be set in place in the caliper. The easiest way to do this is to use a 150 mm/6” C-clamp along with the old brake pad to compress the caliper piston to its stock position.



During the last time, we had to resort to a screwdriver and use all our might to push the piston - this was clearly time consuming and exhausting!

Close the cap of the brake fluid reservoir after both the pistons are compressed. Clean any brake fluid which may have overflown and check the level of the brake fluid in the reservoir. It should be above the minimum mark - top up if necessary with the correct grade of fluid (DOT 3/4 etc).


• Clean the mating surface of the piston with a cloth and brake cleaner spray.


[*]Grease the guide ways in the metal shims.



Clean any grease from the rotors later with the brake cleaner spray and a cloth.


• Insert the brake pads into the caliper bracket. Very important - pay attention to the INSIDE and OUTSIDE markings on the brake pads if the rivets on the backplate are located at different positions.



Some pads may not have it this way however (as shown below) and will have the rivets located at the extreme outer ends. In such cases, the pads can be used in any side.


(Image courtesy - Boodmo)

Apply some grease on the mating surface of the backplate of the pads.




• Grease the new caliper pins and insert them into the guide pin holes of the caliper bracket.



Important - Pay attention to the pins as they are not interchangeable. One of them has a rubber sleeve and can be inserted only on the top guide pin hole of the bracket.



The pin should be able to slide in and out effortlessly - check this aspect. Remove any excess grease.


• Insert the caliper in place and secure it using the new holding down bolts.





The job is complete.



• Replace the wheel back, secure the lug nuts, lower the car to the ground from the jack stands and tighten the lug nuts by hand.


• Take a test drive to assess the braking performance. Important - Before driving off, depress the brake pedal several times to ensure that the piston presses against the brake pads. The pedal play decreases as you depress it 3-4 times.

For those who find videos convenient, here’s the link:

https://youtu.be/lkkqQ4-saAk

I’ll take up the 2-man brake bleeding job shortly and share the process and findings here.

Trust this was useful. Let me know if you have any queries or feedback.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[VW2010]

Another great DIY. You do realize you can start your own garage and most Team BHPians will get their car to you for service. Create one more thread with links to all the DIY to date so it's easy for people to find the plethora of work and learn.

[vishy76]

Another very useful thread Gannu. Thanks for sharing this!

All steps have been listed down well and with just the right amount of detail. Will be very helpful when I change the brake pads on my Spark in the coming days

Also good to see you are on stock rotors after all these years and 1.7L km. I believe these are ATE rotors as opposed to the TVS ones the current Polo/Vento's come with.

[Thilak29]

Excellent post - I am a big fan of your work, documentation and details.

Just curious - why not use gloves while carrying out such work ?

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by vishy76

Also good to see you are on stock rotors after all these years and 1.7L km. I believe these are ATE rotors as opposed to the TVS ones the current Polo/Vento's come with.

They must be, because I need to change my rotors every 22-24k kms. Last time I changed them at 23k kms and now I'm at 46k and they have again started shuddering. I asked the mechanic and he advised not to go for lathe option as these "new" rotors are not that "heavy" as it used to be. Can we source these ATE rotors?

And Gannu sir, it's always a pleasure to read through your ownership, polo is one of those cars where I always give a second look whenever I spot one.

[skarface]

Slightly off topic, Gannu, I notice that the fog lamps are yellow, is there a film installed on top of the stock lamps or are the lamps after market ?
Asking this as I intend to do the same job on my Octavia.

[fluidicjoy]

Great thread with lots of good tips for performing a brake service on the Polo and Vento with a TVS brake system.

While referring to service manuals, it is very important to refer to the exact brake system on which work is being performed on. To the best of my knowledge, the last few years of the Polo Vento sold here do not have an FN3 calliper system which carries a 1ZC/1ZD PR number. PR numbers 1ZC and 1ZD both have 288mm Brake Discs and naturally a different calliper system made by ATE, differing only in the colour of the calliper where 1ZD refers to a factory red setup. The illustration on FN3 is clearly different and has a Brake Caliper retaining spring too. The parts I've used for my Big Brake Kit (Installing an OEM 288mm Big Brake Kit | VW Polo) belong to 1ZC.

The Polo I have came with a Front Brake System with PR No. 1LE (verified through a VIN specific build sheet and otherwise too). Here's a snippet from my VIN specific build sheet and a fair depiction of the 1LE brake system. I believe yours is the exact same.







I have a good hunch the Polo Vento sold come with the C54 calliper system, though I could not find an exact updated Polo service manual which confirms to use the 1LE PR No. for the front brakes on file.



As for the calliper carrier bolts, I torqued them to about 120 N-m and I've seen quite a few instances of the Calliper Carrier bolts getting loose when they were reused, and so I preferred to replace them for peace of mind.

I noticed the VW group isn't using an anti-seize on the Polo Vento Rapid hubs, but they do seem to be using silvery Anti-Seize pastes on their more expensive vehicles like the Passat, Tiguan, Audi A4s etc. These were just a few. of my observations from when I was working closely with a reputed garage. Using Copper paste or nickel based anti-seizes does make it easier to take Brake Discs out a few years later, especially in driving patterns where hubs are prone to higher corrosion.

[torque18]

Another excellent DIY Gannu!

I doubt if the ASS is being so meticulous as you have been here.

Wanted to check on two things. First, how important is it too change the guide pins and bolts which come as a service package? I had got the rotors and pads changed in my Polo as well as Rapid to Brembo but these additional parts were not changed (I didn't know they existed as a package!).

Secondly, would you have any idea if the rotors and pads have undergone any part number change? Because I faced warping issue in 2012 car also and 2016 Polo as well. Yours is in between and the rotors have lasted like lifetime! Your excellent driving skills may have a role to play here but for me the OEM hardly lasted 15k kms before they started shuddering which I think only points to inferior quality parts.

[RGK]

No doubt this is one more feather in your (DIY) hat.

Can you share the details of the lathe workshop?. Is it near GP road?

[Strider24]

Interesting DIY, thanks for sharing it. I had got the rear disk brakes of my ALTIS overhauled few months back at a FNG where following work was done:
1. Both rotors were resurfaced on a lathe machine
2. Brake pads replaced with TVS branded pads.
3. Brake oil replaced
4. Brake bleeding was botched up as there was some air while braking, however it was promptly rectified by replacing the brake oil completely.

After this I have to pump brake pedal longer than usual (compared to a new car) to get a good braking, one possible reason SA buddy told for this was the decreased thickness of rotors which was on a lower side but still good enough for braking. I don't have the exact number now but I am not satisfied with braking and thinking to get the rotors replaced too.

In your case how is the braking performance after this DIY activity? Any increase in brake pedal play? How is the bite?

[sudeepg]

Brilliant DIY Ganesh! I found the video to be very helpful, thanks for creating it. I've subscribed to your channel

Is the grease not part of the bushing kit?

[Gannu_1]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Originally Posted by VW2010

You do realize you can start your own garage and most Team BHPians will get their car to you for service.

Haha, retirement goal for sure! With my son if he develops this interest and takes it forward.

Originally Posted by VW2010

Create one more thread with links to all the DIY to date so it's easy for people to find the plethora of work and learn.

The first page of my ownership thread has a post with the link to all the DIYs. It is old though. I'll have it updated shortly.

Originally Posted by vishy76

I believe these are ATE rotors as opposed to the TVS ones the current Polo/Vento's come with.

I've no clue what make this is dude. Couldn't find any manufacturer's markings anywhere on the discs.

Originally Posted by Thilak29

Excellent post - I am a big fan of your work, documentation and details.

Thank you Thilak! Appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Thilak29

Just curious - why not use gloves while carrying out such work ?

Just a personal thing dude. Bare hands give a better hold of the thing. But if I were working with brake fluid, I would definitely wear a pair of nitrile gloves. Have a box of these gloves which I had sourced recently.

Originally Posted by skarface

Slightly off topic, Gannu, I notice that the fog lamps are yellow, is there a film installed on top of the stock lamps or are the lamps after market ?
Asking this as I intend to do the same job on my Octavia.

Yeah dude. A transparent yellow film is stuck over the diffuser lens of the fog lamp. I got this done at a shop that deals with tints and films. Removed the fog lamps and handed it to them. They stuck these nicely.

Originally Posted by torque18

First, how important is it too change the guide pins and bolts which come as a service package?

The workshop manual specifies fasteners for some jobs which are to be renewed when the part is disassembled. In mechanical engineering terms, if the bolts are tensioned beyond its yield strength, permanent deformation occurs. In simple terms, the bolt is not safe to be reused and it can shear off. External factors such as heat also affects the yield strength. A higher temperature lowers the yield strength of the material which these brake calipers are highly subjected to. Corrosion/surface rust also affects the strength.

But workshops usually reuse them as there's always a higher factor of safety for these bolts (9 out of 10 times, they won't fail). Plus, they have a lot of experience with cars driven over different terrains by different folks. The bolts used in the brake caliper brackets are grade 10.9 bolts which have superior tensile strength compared to 8.8 or lower grades.

Originally Posted by torque18

Secondly, would you have any idea if the rotors and pads have undergone any part number change?

It does look like the rotors were supplied by different OEs over time. The initial batches were imported, then TVS Girling were supplying them at some point and now a local vendor based out of Baroda (if my memory serves me right) is supplying the discs.

Look for the part number - 6R0 615 301C. These discs were retailing for Rs 2200 odd per unit and were imported.

Originally Posted by RGK

Can you share the details of the lathe workshop?. Is it near GP road?

This was done at my home in Palakkad dude. The lathe workshop is based there. Chemmanur Industrials - Google Maps.

Originally Posted by Strider24

I am not satisfied with braking and thinking to get the rotors replaced too.

Trust the brake bleeding was done properly and there is absolutely no air in the lines. Air in the lines will lead to a spongy brake pedal feel.

Originally Posted by Strider24

In your case how is the braking performance after this DIY activity? Any increase in brake pedal play? How is the bite?

The only discernible improvement is the shuddering and vibrations which were evident while braking from 80-100 kmph are completely gone.

While resurfacing rotors on the lathe, it is important to check the thickness and ensure it does not exceed the minimum thickness as indicated in the workshop manual.

A casual Google search gave this link for a service manual of the Corolla; not sure which model year this applies to though.

From front brakes (the rear shows drums):



Please do check this aspect with the Toyota service center.

Originally Posted by sudeepg

Brilliant DIY Ganesh! I found the video to be very helpful, thanks for creating it. I've subscribed to your channel

Thanks a lot Sudeep!

Originally Posted by sudeepg

Is the grease not part of the bushing kit?

Yep, a small sachet from TVS Girling is. I have mentioned it in the writeup and the video too. Here's the pic of the kit:

[mrdexter]

Dear all,

Can you please tell me why am I getting this issue. I got it long back once , but it did not appear after sometime.

Is it something to be taken seriously. I drove to office with that in display.

Thanks in advance