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Old 02-05-2016, 12:13 AM   #1
salguod
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Default Brake Pad Warning Light

So, my brake pad warning light came on this morning. I never heard of a warning light for brake wear, nice!

My question is, how much pad is left when the light comes on? In other words, how urgently do I need to get this done?
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Old 02-05-2016, 01:04 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by salguod View Post
So, my brake pad warning light came on this morning. I never heard of a warning light for brake wear, nice!

My question is, how much pad is left when the light comes on? In other words, how urgently do I need to get this done?
#soon
I'd suggest replacing your rotors as well.
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Old 02-05-2016, 03:45 AM   #3
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Also a note, you'll need to replace the brake pad sensors as well. Once they go off they can't be reused.
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Old 02-05-2016, 04:40 AM   #4
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Anyone have anything more definite than "soon"? :-D There wasn't anything better in either the owner's manual or the Bentley, but I was hoping someone might have an idea from having changed theirs.

I also assume there's no way to tell if it's the front or rear without pulling the wheels either.
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Old 02-05-2016, 03:12 PM   #5
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I had to change my front brakes when I bought the car. I was changing struts and noticed the pads were down to 2-3mm. My light was not on, though. I would assume yours are thinner than 2mm. That's quite thin.
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Old 02-05-2016, 04:00 PM   #6
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2mm is very thin, but a good use of all my pad material.

I tried to check through the wheel spokes when I got to work and both looked about 1/4", but it was still not quite light out and hard to see. I'll have to go out at lunch and check.

The light seems to flicker when driving on the highway and goes out with the brakes applied at a stop. Given that the sensor, I think, it just a wire that gets broken by wearing on the rotor, breaking the circuit, that makes sense because the rotor would complete the circuit when stopped.
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Old 02-05-2016, 05:30 PM   #7
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I believe it's a single wire sensor that gets a ground when it touches the rotor.
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Old 02-05-2016, 06:42 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bluoval6 View Post
I believe it's a single wire sensor that gets a ground when it touches the rotor.
No, it is a two wire sensor that breaks.

With the light coming and going, you may actually just have a bad wire and the sensor hasn't actually gone of yet. When the sensor is to the point that it sets the light, it doesn't come and go.

If it is actually gone, I'd recommend to replace the pads and rotors as soon as possible and not chance beyond 500 or so miles. I cannot say 500 miles is a definite as I do not know your driving and braking habits, so you are better off with "SOON".
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Old 02-05-2016, 10:44 PM   #9
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No, it is a two wire sensor that breaks.
I stand corrected. Thank you.
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Old 02-06-2016, 05:10 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by salguod View Post
2mm is very thin, but a good use of all my pad material.
The problem with this logic is that the thinner the pad gets, the less effective it becomes (dangerous), the less able it is to dissipate heat (dangerous) and therefore, the more likely you are to warp your rotors (^ $$$). If your ti still has the solid front rotors, you're going to want to replace them anyway (as Steven previously mentioned).


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The light seems to flicker when driving on the highway and goes out with the brakes applied at a stop.
This is normal for when the sensor is just beginning to activate. As you continue to wear the pad down, the light will eventually stay on continuously. IIRC, a new pad is approximately 10mm and the wear indicator usually begins to activate at about 4-5mm. While that sounds like you still have close to 50% pad when the indicator activates, see my first response as to why it's not the best idea to keep wearing the pads down.
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Old 02-06-2016, 01:35 PM   #11
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Looking through the wheels yesterday, I'd guess the rears have 5mm + left and the fronts 3-4mm, so it's the fronts that need replacement. I haven't pulled a wheel to check the inners.

That's the first I've heard about not letting the pads wear thin to prevent rotor warp, I'll have to look into that. I always wait until about 1.5-2mm to change my pads and haven't had issues with warped rotors. As I recall, that's been the service limit on a couple of cars I've had, I haven't seen a service limit spec on these. The only warped rotors I can remember is my Mazda3 and those were the factory rotors with probably 150K on them.

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Old 02-06-2016, 05:31 PM   #12
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Brake pads wear out exponentially.
That is to say, using made up numbers...
If you normally get 10K miles on 10mm of pad, that doesn't mean you have 5K miles left on 5mm.
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Old 02-08-2016, 03:21 PM   #13
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I bet the inner pads are thinner than the outers. The sensor is on the left inner pad, at least on my ti. It's typical with most cars for the inner pads to wear a bit faster.
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Old 02-23-2016, 03:04 AM   #14
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So this weekend I pulled the wheels and took a look. The passenger side has good pad left inside and out, plenty of life left there, easily 4mm. The driver's side outer looks good as well, 3-4mm.

Driver's inner, where the sensor is, has worn quite a bit and unevenly. The lower is probably only 1-2mm, the top is 3-4mm. I'm thinking that I have a sticking guide pin causing it to wear unevenly.

Are the guide pins or bushings easy to change or do I need to buy a full caliper or the carrier bracket?
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Old 02-23-2016, 04:21 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by salguod View Post
So this weekend I pulled the wheels and took a look. The passenger side has good pad left inside and out, plenty of life left there, easily 4mm. The driver's side outer looks good as well, 3-4mm.

Driver's inner, where the sensor is, has worn quite a bit and unevenly. The lower is probably only 1-2mm, the top is 3-4mm. I'm thinking that I have a sticking guide pin causing it to wear unevenly.

Are the guide pins or bushings easy to change or do I need to buy a full caliper or the carrier bracket?
No need to replace the guide pins or bushings.
I'd be surprised of there was something wrong. Could just be dirty.

The bolts holding the caliper bracket can be a bare to remove. I use PB Blaster and walk away for 20 minutes. Guide pins should come right out.

Probably a good idea to replace the bushings every once in a while but only if the guide pin isn't moving freely.
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