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I replace the pads and brake sensors on my 2015 Cayman GTS yesterday. Everything seems fine with the hardware, but now I have a warning light on for the brake wear sensors.
I re-used the sensors for the rear of the car (they had plenty of life left), yet replaced the ones on the front of the car since they were heavily worn. I zip tied all of the sensors up out of the way of the brakes and did not re-install them on the new pads.
I am trying to diagnose and fix the warning light and I figure it might be one two things.
1. I damaged one of the rear sensors when removing them from the pads.
2. The front sensor I ordered from Pelican Parts is the wrong sensor for my car.
#2 - let me explain. The OEM sensor that came off the front pads had a connector for both the inside and outside pad. The sensor listed on the Pelican Parts website for the front of my car only had one connector. The sensor snapped into place perfectly and did not seem to be the incorrect fit. However I am wondering whether only having a connector for one of the two pads might be what is tripping my brake wear sensor light.
The 'sensors' are quite literally just a looped length of wire. When the pad wears down, it severs or exposes the wire breaking the circuit and the warning light on your dash trips. If your light is still on, the circuit at one or more corners is not complete. So, check all your plugs and make sure they are connected properly at the junction and then make sure your sensors are not severed or have exposed wire in any way. Some guys take the old sensors, clip the length of wire and just solder them together at the connection point effectively removing them from the brake system (this is done if running pads that don't have the holes for the sensors).
My point is they are not some fancy device. They are literally just a closed loop circuit.. a length of wire. So troubleshooting yourself should be easy. and buying the wrong sensor only matters if the connection point is a different size.
Yes, I am 100% sure. The error message reads "Brake wear limit reached. Possible to drive on"
The light on the dash reads "Brake Wear".
These are the symptoms of a sensor malfunction - either a worn or damaged sensor. At this point unless I have an "ah ha!" moment, I'm just going to let the car be for now. It's not really worth my time to trouble shoot any further unless there is something obvious I'm missing.
The first time that I worked on my brakes, i simply pulled the sensors out of the pads and zip tied them to the brake line. It makes swapping pads for track days much easier.
The brake pads on our cars are so easy to check visually that these sensors are only there for people who don't know how or don't want to do a visual inspection. I take a peek in there once a month and have no need for the sensors.