BRAKE warning light on

Hi All, Well the yellow brake warning light has come on in the drivers information system box any ideas ?

I have plugged in VAGCOM and under engine and brakes no error codes.
Fluid level fine
Front brake pads have loads of material left.
Brake lights fine
Has rear drums and I am guessing these dont have wear limit sensors in

cheers Ben
 
Is this the yellow circle with the pads on the outside? If so then this is the pad low warning

If you pads are ok then it is either
- the cable from the pad to the connector on the back of the caliper hub carrier is damaged
- the connector from the pad to the car has cone undone or is damaged
- the wire from the carrier to the car is damaged

This warning won't fire up an eml as it is a maintenance fix not an issue with the car

I would give the connector a check as these do tend to get damaged sometimes

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Yes thats right yellow circle with pads on the outside.

I will pull the wheel off and take a look is there a sensor on both sides or just one ? if so which side

cheers Ben
 
Got some time to look at this this evening yes just one sender on passenger side. All buzzes out OK nice short circuit from sended and verified on the other side of the connector. Tried to break into the loom in the engine compartment as likely I have an open circuit in the loom were it flexes as you turn the steering, my car has 130K on the clock so a likely fault. However the plastic sheath on the cable which is combined with the ABS sender so has 4 wires in it is rock hard plastic and really difficult to get to the wires inside without risking damaging them. Light faded so gave up for now. Is there a handy connector further upstream ? where does this loom go it disapears into the bulkhead ? Does it come out in the passeneger footwell where the CCU and other electrical bits hang out ? If it is the loom then I plan on simply shorting it out upstream of the break so as to fool the DIS and simply rely on checking the brake pad thickness from time to time just like in the good old days before all these annoying safety devices that go wrong :-( cheers Ben
 
FYI you can buy the wiring harness you are descirbing and patch it onto the loom just after it comes through into the engine bay (on top of the wheel arch). Mine was replaced for the same reason. Pads were brand new, but light was on everytime you turned the wheel to full lock. The wire (includes ABS plug and wires) is ~£45.

Cheers,

David
 
Well stripped back that loom, if you remove the expansion bottle it is much easier, and then pushed a pin through the yellow and red wires in effect shorting them out then hey presto warning light went out. :) So basically I have an open circuit in the loom where it flexes every time you go round a corner. Rather than fork out for a new loom and hassle of fitting it I simply put a scotch connector across the red and yellow wires in place of the pin. I will rely on simple inspection of the brake pads going forward and if ever I come to sell the vehicle will let the new owner know that if they want the light to work correctly then they will need a new loom fitted and the scotch connector removing. thanks for your help. Ben.
 
My brake warning light came on too today (symbol which looks like (O) ).

ScanGauge didn't pick up any codes.

I think the front left brake pad should be OK in theory (at least it was OK a month or so back when I took it into a tyre place to sort out a squeaking noise), but I don't know about the right. How do we check the amount of brake pad wear, is there an indicator somewhere? (if it's in the manual, just point me to that, I'll be able to read it this evening).

Will the drum brakes trigger this same warning light? I have no idea how to check that either...

Presumably if it turns out the pads are OK, then I need to start looking at the wiring as per the earlier posts in this thread.
 
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Re Pads

Mine went in for new pads today, shock horror, offside disc only had about 1/2" of surface rubbing the inner pad and the nearside was not much better. All hidden behind the inner shield. Went through mot fine a month ago. It only has a pad sensor on the nearside, which was still was not down to the wires so not showing a dash warning. £148 (OE) & 2hrs later and I am back on the road, (thanks Hiq) Brakes dont feel any different (not yet bedded of course) but at least the horrid noise has gone. Hope yours are resolved as easily. Cheers Colin::
 
Strangely the (O) warning light went away on the next trip. I guess this would be very unlikely if it was genuinely due to worn pads...

I tried to find the elsawin entry for the warning lights, haven't found it though (although I now have a printout of how to find & read the brake pad thickness)
 
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Seems like a common problem the chord to brake wear sensor brakes and ignites the wear alarm. This happened to me last year after renewal of the pads. I couldn't find from what point the chord was faulty. By renewing the wiring to wear sensor from the point where the chord goes inside cabin I got it working again.
 
My brake warning light came on too today (symbol which looks like (O) ).

Is this contagious ;) Mine came on today as well. Had new Mintex pads and discs just 9,500 miles ago so I wouldn't suspect these. Therefore more likely the brake pad wear cable or the sensor. (the cable is £45+ hours labour =getting on for £100). What's the damage on the sensor? Is there a guide to fitting either of these? - couldn't see one.

PS: A2 has done 63k and is 7.5 years old
 
It was raining tonight but with the wheel on full lock I could see the brake pad sensor cable and plug / socket as in the first photo. The black female socket at the end of the cable could wobble. Is that right or should it be firmly fixed to the plug?

How do I remove the female socket - does it pull off or is there a clip? A later post in this link
http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?9257-Abs-sensor-or-brake-wear-sensor&p=70864#post70864
refers to a purple retainer but I cant see that in the photos and not knowing there was one I didn't look for it on the car. Does the purple retainer push in to release or is it pulled out to release?

Sorry for so many questions but I dont want to snap it. I'm hoping maybe the plug/socket come loose and needs a clean and reinserting - one can live in hope ;)

2nd photo shows pads - without taking the wheel off the photo suggests lots of pad left.
 

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Can someone take a photo of the wires on the loom and the cable run so I don't close the wrong circuit?

Also I can seem to reset the service counter whilst this warning exists - is that expected

Thanks
 
Old thread revived my warning light has come on am i right if i unplug the plug from the pad the light should go out as the circuit is no longer shorted.

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Old thread revived my warning light has come on am i right if i unplug the plug from the pad the light should go out as the circuit is no longer shorted.

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No,

It comes on when the circuit is broken (i.e. when the wire through the pad material wears away) so uinplugging turns the light ON (or has no effect if it is already on..

Steve B
 
Ok thanks because i unplugged it and it stayed on so the problem could still be the pad side of the wiring

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