VW Golf MK4 Rear Caliper Brake Bleeding Problems

The rear caliper on my 2002 VW Golf TDI was sticking and having previously cleaned it to resolve the problem I decided it was best to replace as it was nearly 20 years old. New caliper purchased and fitment was very easy and straightforward.

• Jack & secure car, remove rear wheel
• Undo the 13mm bolts that secure the caliper to the carrier
• Remove clip that fixes handbrake cable below the caliper
• Loosen the 13mm banjo bolt that attaches the brake hose but don't remove yet
• Remove caliper from carrier and push handbrake cable out of the caliper slot
• Prepare new caliper and add some fresh brake fluid to the brake hose hole
• Undo 13mm banjo bolt to release brake hose and remove old caliper trying to avoid fluid loss
• Fit brake hose to new caliper and attach 13mm banjo bolt
• Reattach handbrake cable & fit clip
• Reattach caliper to the carrier and tighten 13mm bolts. You may need 16mm spanner to tighten
• Bleed system

VW Golf MK4 Rear Caliper Brake Bleeding Problems

While this all is straightforward the brake bleeding can be a real pain. I found that despite fully bleeding the system on my MK4 Golf that even when the pedal is hard with engine off, once started and the servo kicks in then brakes can go soft and spongy again. This is almost certainly due to trapped air in the caliper.

On my car the rear caliper was isolated with a clamp and the system tested again, the brake pedal was fine which indicated that the problem was at the rear caliper so needed further bleeding. At this point I was running out of time and daylight so ended up booking the car into the local garage to bleed the brakes again - they did the same as me but couldn't get the pedal any better which reassured me I was doing the right thing!