Epic2112

I just changed my pads. I had been ignoring the brake pad idiot light for about a month, because I had looked at the pads about a week before the light went on and I knew there was a bit of pad left. Anyway, after removing the old pads I compared them to the new ones, and it seemd like there was only slightly less than half the material still left on the old ones. Should there normally be so much material left on the pad when they are changed?

I have a little bit of a lip on the rotors, and I suspect thta this might be what triggered the sensors.

Steve PH

Thats weird, last time my brake pad ware sensor light came on, was when the disc chewed through the sensor itself. The pad was virtually non existent and yes I know, not big or clever to leave them that long.

GlenL

A few questions:

Are the new pads the correct pads? Some pad shapes come in varying thicknesses.

Were the sensors installed correctly?

Were the sensors themselves actually the source of the signal? If the sensor is intact, then it's probably an open in the wiring harness. This is most often at the first connector by the strut or shock. The sensors work by having a bit of wire in the plastic tip. When the rotor eats through that, the light goes on.

Danno

"Should there normally be so much material left on the pad when they are changed? "

Usually there's only 1-2mm of material left when the light goes on. Most likely one of the sensors shook loose and rubbed prematurely and triggered the light.

Personally, I think they should've put the sensors on the brake-caliper itself rather than the pad. When the piston extends over a certain amount, you've got a worn pad; time to replace.

Epic2112

Yeah, the first thing I suspected was that the sensors had wiggled loose or something, but no, they were actually in the right place. The pads were the correct ones, even had the absurdly priced turbo S anti squeal shims in place. The sensors were triggered, it wasn't the wire. It was dark when I swapped the pads (I woke up at 2 am and got bored pretty quickly). Betwen the dark and everything being covered in brake dust I couldn't really see that well, but I'm pretty sure there was a bit of a ridge in at least one of the sensors right where the lip of the rotor would be. That would explain getting triggered prematurely.

The bottom line: I need to get new rotors, or at least get these resurfaced. At least I can hang on to these pads and use them if I'm ever in a jam.