I have a problem with my son’s 2007 VW Passat 2.0T. I am hoping someone had a similar issue and can provide me with advice. The left rear caliper seized and caused major damage to the rotor and also damaged the parking brake actuator. The car has over 130k miles on it. With that high mileage, I decided to do a complete rear brake job including replacing both rear calipers, rotors, pads, and the parking brake actuators. The car brakes are perfect now except for one thing. I get a message on the dashboard that the parking brakes are malfunctioning. Also, the parking brake push button switch is now always blinking and the weirdest thing ever is that whenever the vehicle is moving 5 mph or higher, the parking brake alarm is on (beeping sound). My son drives the car with the music too loud so he won’t hear the alarm constantly going. I took the car to the VW dealer and they had the car for 3 days and couldn’t figure out what the issue is. They said for them to know what the problem is and fix it, they will have to start replacing parts and take the dashboard apart to check for electrical problems. I have to admit, all the parts I used were purchased from Amazon. I couldn’t afford the ridiculous prices from the VW dealer. for example, the actuator cost me about $68 each to buy from Amazon. The dealer wants $380/ea. I replaced the parking brake switch and didn’t solve the problem. Any thoughts as to what is causing this?
Clearly the car’s computers are not reading the position of the parking brake actuator. Itnthinks the parking brske has failed or is on. The caliper, from what I can see, is a fairly normal mechanical part that has only transmits the parking brake motor’s torque into the caliper piston.
If then left rear brake seized up and now the system is in error, I would say the left rear parking brake actuator needs to be replaced. Inthink the actuator failed and burned up your left rear brake, you fixed the damage but not the cause of the damage.
If the only way to get that actuator is as a complete caliper assembly for $380, that is what you need to replace.