Technical Service Bulletin
46 Brakes squeal
46 13 35 2017130/11 April 2, 2013. Supersedes Technical Service Bulletin Group 46 number 11-16 dated
December 9, 2011 for reasons listed below.

Model(s)

Year

TT (without TT RS)

2008 – 2013

A3

2006 – 2013

A4 (B6/B7)

2005 – 2008

A4 Cabrio (B6/B7)

2005 -2009

A6 (C6)

2005 – 2011

A8 (D3)

2004 – 2010

Audi Q7

2007 – 2013

VIN Range

Vehicle-Specific Equipment

All

Not applicable

Condition
REVISION HISTORY
Revision

Date

Purpose

11

-

Revised header data (Removed models)
Revised Warranty (Modified Diagnostic Time)

10

12/9/2011

Revised header data (Removed and added models)

9

3/10/2011

Revised header data (Added models)
Revised Service

8

5/5/2010

Revised header data (Removed models)
Revised Warranty (Modified Diagnostic Time)

7

2/26/2010

Revised Warranty (Modified Diagnostic Time)
Revised header data (Added model years)

6

11/20/2009

Revised Warranty

5

8/17/2009

Revised Service (Brake disc, cleaning, Brake caliper, cleaning )

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© 2013 Audi of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. Information contained in this document is based on the latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Audi of
America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written
permission of the publisher.

Technical Service Bulletin
4

2/17/2009

Revised header data (Added model years)
Revised Warranty (Claim Type)

3

12/16/2008

Revised Title to add Repair Group

Customer complains of brake squeal.

Technical Background
Not applicable.

Production Solution
Not applicable.

Service
Note:
Before proceeding with any of the following steps, check the overall condition of the brakes. If the following
conditions exist, this TSB does not apply:
1. Brake discs or brake pads are close to or below their wear limit.
2. Rotors are covered with excessive rust due to long periods of the vehicle not being driven.
3. Foreign bodies between brake disc and brake pad, such as small stones, grit, or sand.
4. Rotors are severely grooved.
5. Aftermarket pads or rotors.
For vehicles within the New Vehicle Limited Warranty, Audi of America is requesting your cooperation in
supplying us with technical information regarding this condition.
1. Verify the brake noise with a test drive.
2. Complete the attached Brake Noise Questionnaire.
3. Obtain a sound recording of the brake noise (a cell phone recording is OK as long as the noise can be clearly
identified).
4. Email the questionnaire and sound recording to: alignment@audi.com.

Warning:
Never use compressed air to clean brake dust from a brake system.

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© 2013 Audi of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. Information contained in this document is based on the latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Audi of
America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written
permission of the publisher.

Technical Service Bulletin
Perform the braking sequence as follows:
Brake disc, cleaning
1. With careful consideration of the traffic situation, perform 2-3 ABS stops (e.g. from speeds above 50 MPH).
Between each stop, please allow the brake components to cool. (Drive vehicle for more than 1 minute at
speeds greater than 50 MPH.)
2. If necessary, perform additional ABS stops allowing the brakes to cool between each stop (max. 5). Only
proceed to the next step (Brake pad, cleaning) if the brake noise was not eliminated.
Brake pad, cleaning
1. With the wheels removed, mark the position of each brake pad to ensure reinstallation in the same position.
Work on one brake at a time to avoid mixing up parts.
2. On some models, the front brake pads are glued to the brake caliper. Do not remove the pads for this
procedure. Treat the pad as described in this TSB with it attached to the brake caliper. If these pads are
unglued they must be replaced.
3. Some front/rear brake pads have an anti-vibration backing plate (non-sticky). Do not remove this type of
backing plate.
4. Use Guided Functions to release the rear brake calipers for vehicles with Electronic Parking Brake (EPB). It
is not necessary to re-adapt the parking brake for this procedure.
5. Clean face of the brake pad with sandpaper (Figure 2).

Figure 2.Cleaning face of the brake pad
with sandpaper.

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© 2013 Audi of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. Information contained in this document is based on the latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Audi of
America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written
permission of the publisher.

Technical Service Bulletin
5. Clean all grooves with a suitable workshop hand tool (Figure
3).

Figure 3. Clean brake pad groove.
6. Slightly chamfer edges of brake pads with a file (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Chamfering brake pad edge.

Brake caliper, cleaning
Note:
The following steps require a thin coat of Plastilube Moly3® high temperature grease to be applied to various
parts of the brakes. This grease must never come in contact with:
 The braking surface of the brake pads or brake discs.
 The caliper piston.
These areas must always be free of grease.

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© 2013 Audi of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. Information contained in this document is based on the latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Audi of
America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written
permission of the publisher.

Technical Service Bulletin
1. Thoroughly clean all contact points (Figure 5) where the brake
pad backing plate makes contact with the brake caliper and/or
the brake carrier.

Figure 5. Contact points to be lubricated.

Reassembly
1. Prior to reinstalling the brake pads, apply a thin coat of Plastilube Moly3® high temperature grease to contact
points (Figure 5) where the brake pad backing plate makes contact with the brake caliper and/or the brake
carrier.
2. For brake pads that have springs (common on rear brake pads), apply a thin coat of Plastilube Moly3® high
temperature grease to the springs where they make contact with the brake caliper.

Page 5 of 6 plus attachment
© 2013 Audi of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. Information contained in this document is based on the latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Audi of
America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written
permission of the publisher.

Technical Service Bulletin
Warranty
Claim Type:

Use applicable claim type. If vehicle is outside any warranty, this Technical
Service Bulletin is informational only.

Service Number:

Front - 4636
Rear - 4638

Damage Code:

0020

Labor Operations:

Brake pads, front - convert

4636 9999

90 TU

Brake pads, rear - convert

4638 9999

100 TU

Diagnostic Time:

GFF – release rear brake calipers
0150 0000
Only applicable to vehicles with EPB:
A8(D3) & A6(C6)

Time stated on
diagnostic protocol
(Max 50 TU)

Front road test

4636 8099

25 TU

Rear road test

4638 8099

25 TU

Technical diagnosis at dealer’s discretion
(Refer to Section 2.2.1.2 and Audi Warranty Online for DADP allowance details)
Claim Comment:

As per TSB #2017130/11

All warranty claims submitted for payment must be in accordance with the Audi Warranty Policies and Procedures
Manual. Claims are subject to review or audit by Audi Warranty.

Required Parts and Tools
Part Number

Part Description

ZVP264103

Plastilube Moly3®

Additional Information
All parts and service references provided in this TSB are subject to change and/or removal. Always check with
your Parts Department and service manuals for the latest information.

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© 2013 Audi of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. Information contained in this document is based on the latest information available at the time of printing and is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Audi of
America, Inc., its affiliated companies and its licensors. All rights are reserved to make changes at any time without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, nor may these materials be modified or reposted to other sites, without the prior expressed written
permission of the publisher.

Questionnaire - Brake Complaint: Acoustics, Noise
Vehicle Data:
Auburn Hills
Type:

Registration Date:

Dealer:

VIN:

Milage:

Name

Auburn Hills

Engine No.:

special equipment
(tow bar, Tuning etc)

Tel.-No.:

248 754

BA ID:

Rep-Date:

Test drive:
yes

done:
Type of noise (if possible):

Customer complaint confirmed:
when does the noise occur?
forward drive:

"Moo"-noise

yes

no
where does the noise occur?

reverse:

Motorway

grinding / scraping
Squeaking
creaking
Rattling

always

light braking

stop

often

hard braking

(e.g. traffic light)

rarely

without braking

Driving bends

very rarely

emergency braking

country / A-roads
Town

Notes

Where does the noise possibly come from?
exact location, if possible:
back

don`t know

Notes

front

Noise-Level:

Does the complaint occur after standing?
no

if yes, after what time of stand still?

was the handbrake, pedal
for parking brake activated?

hours

Is the noise still present after several brakings:
no

Residual thickness of the brake pads:
%

Notes

yes

yes

no

%

Notes

Residual thickness of the brake discs:

State of the brake discs:
scores outside
o.k..

rusty

scores inside

completely scored

Hotspots

Speed (range):
from / at

mph

to

mph

Outside Temperatures (range):
F°

from / at

F°

to

Weather:
wet

weather:

dry

Snow

Type / state of roads:
rough surface

Please create a noise file!

since when does the noise occur?
from the beginning

just recently

Conditions of use?
Taxi

Driving school

Rental car

Others:

Notes:

which measures / repairs have been carried out?
repeated repairs:

yes
no

Notes:

which

cobbles

since milage

Notes

smooth surface