Crester

Should the brake pad wear warning be constantly on? My pads are getting low and I had the warning light come on. However it will go off and later come back on after driving the car a couple times... then next time I start the car it will go off.

My understanding of the brake pads wear sensor is that there's a wire that gets broken when the pad reaches certain depth and then the car illuminates a warning light. So I'm not sure why it's coming on intermittently?

Is it because the brake pads are just on the verge of getting low so sometimes it trips the sensor and sometimes it doesn't? I just want to understand what's happening. Thanks!

Linnm

Pull a wheel and take a look!

Bruce In Philly

Totally normal. At some point, it will stay on all the time. Even then you have a ton of pad left.

It never made any sense to me as the wire is cut or not, however I read that the now exposed wire (insulation is now worn) is shorted or grounded by the disc... I don't quite get that as it is a DC circuit and it goes to ground anyway...... And it sometimes touches and does not touch.... that is why the intermittent dash pop. It takes some time before the pad wears to where you have constant contact, and then later a clean cut of the wire.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Golden_era997

I would pop the wheel off and take a look at the sensor. Those sensor wires have been known to sometimes contact the inside of the wheel if not routed properly in the wheel well. This might cause the sensor wire to short to itself if its rubbing against the wheel its whole life. Check the brake pads, if its time to replace, then replace the whole set with the sensor. If not, I would replace that sensor, unless your tolerance to warning lights is higher than mine!
Cheers