OT: Brake Pads

[Angela]

Sorry this is off topic, although I am an avid reader I don't post much as I tend to adsorb advice rather than have any skill to give it, but it is clear you guys have a lot of common sense.

I had my car serviced today (30,000 miles) and they called me to say that the break pads were 70% worn so would I like them replaced. I have no idea how much wear is safe but I thought still having 30% still sounded pretty ok so I said "no thanks" especially as the breaks are darn good. Based on 70% having gone in 30,000 miles I figured there was at least another 7-8,000 miles before they were 90% worn.

Do you think they were they just trying it on or should I really be considering changing the brake pads now?

Angela

[Unbeliever]

Angela,

Unless you are able to keep an eye on your brake wear, or you will do less than 8000 miles before the next service, I would advise that you accept the garages advice and get them changed.

If you let the pads wear down so they score the discs, then the costs will be that much more - and it is possible (if you ignore the squealing and grating) for one or both the discs to wear so thin that they snap when the brakes are pressed (rare, but it happens and I know that from experience).

It is a safety critical item, listen to the garage!

Unbeliever

[Clot]

On the face of it, yes you made the right decision. However, there is a lack of sufficient information. Do you mean that the car has only done 30,000 miles or 30,000 since the last replacement of brake pads or since the last service?

Most motors these days burn through discs rather than disc pads. In my experience with recent motors doing 20k+ p.a. and my wife and kids doing significantly less, it is the discs that wear rather than the pads.

[Phil L]

They were trying to raise cash using the old 'better safe than sorry' routine - if the brakes had been genuinely dangerous, or approaching being dangerous, they wouldn't have asked - they would have fitted new ones and charged you for them, probably presenting the old ones as proof.

If your car is less than twelve years old, it has warning lights on the dash to tell you when the pads are getting low, when these illuminate, you should change the pads, because there is only a few thousand more miles of wear and tear in them.

[Dave Liquorice]

What is the service interval, 10,000 miles? In which case they will be most likely be worn out by the time the next service is due. This is what the garage are concerned about.

Provided you remember to start checking from about 6,000 miles on you should be fine. Checking might not be that easy depending on the design of the wheel and caliper. You might have to take the wheels off to see the pads properly.

[Clot]

I'm not sure that this is universally the case. I have a Ford Focus '51 plate, 2002 registered. Last year, I lost pads on the front with the resultant metal on metal with no warning. Replaced the pads and discs. Later in the year, the pads dropped out with the familiar result. New pads, discs, calipers and hoses. No signals. I've not checked whether there should be a warning facility.

I've had several other vehicles that have had warning facilities on the dash previously. Are you suggesting that there is legislation that requires manufacturers to put this feature in? You could well be right and I've missed the information.

[Colin Wilson]

I recently got my front discs and pads replaced - but i'd done about

85,000 on the originals. I was getting some brake judder so the discs *may* have been warped.

It probably wasn't "necessary", but I have no intention of swapping it yet, so while it was already "in dock" I thought it was easier to just get them done too.

The rear shoes still had plenty of life left on them.

[ransley]

What car has warning lights for brake pads.

[ransley]

Serviced where, if it is a dealer his price is usualy alot more than a small shop maybe 1/3- 2/3rds more, shop around have someone else look at them and give a price. You dont say how long it took to drive

30000. With maybe 7000 to go, 3000 might be more like it you have time to learn. But dont push it unitil they make noise

[Dave Liquorice]

My 4 year old car doesn't have a pad wear warning light. It has the parking/fluid level warning light and ABS failure light but nothing for pad wear.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

First one I had was a 1969 Rover. Both my current cars have too.

[Tim S]

ransley coughed up some electrons that declared:

That was a question?

My old Daewoo Lanos did.

But the other thing about pads, unlike drum brakes, is that you can generally see them without removing the wheel which makes keeping an eye on them simpler.

Cheers

Tim

[Phil L]

The ABS light lights up when your pads wear down.

[Phil L]

I've never known a car in the UK that hasn't got a brake warning light, mine is a '96 VW

[Phil L]

I don't know if it's legislation as such, but my 96 VW failed it's MOT last year on a few minor points, and one of them was the brake warning light staying lit up all the time, even though the pads and disks were all renewed and the station found nothing wrong with any part of the braking system.

All my previous cars have had brake warning lights on the dash

[Alan]

In message , Phil L wrote

Often the warning mechanism is rather crude with an electrical short circuit between an electrode and the disk lighting the lamp. I would guess that often the reporting mechanism fails long before the pads do!

[Alan]

If had a car with 2 sets of disks for every set of pads (or more correctly a new set of disks and pads when the pads were only approximately 40% worn). I've also had a car with 3 changes of pad with little wear to the disks.

A lot could depend on the make of car and the style of driving. 30K miles for a set of pads could be normal now that dangerous (but effective) materials are banned in the manufacture of the pads.

If I had 30% of the pads left I would replace them BUT because pads are so easy to check it would be my judgement call based on my own observation. With tyres and brakes I prefer not to take them too close to the limit.

With a pad 90% worn I would expect other brake failure mechanisms to kick in if they were used in an 'emergency'.

To the OP, do you trust the 70% figure and who is giving the advice or is it a garage or (spit) a main dealer that you seldom use? Pads, disks and shocks seem to be a popular way provide easy money for a business that is short of cash! However, is the car going to be routinely serviced in the next 8K miles and if not who is going to determine the point at which the pads need replacing? This may not be a problem if there is a MOT due within the next, say, 4K miles.

[Stephen Howard]

The trick, I've found, is to find a garage whose judgement you trust. If my garage rings up and says the doofrangle needs changing I know they mean it!

In your case I guess it depends on what other work you're having done and how much extra it will cost to have the pads replaced - and what it will cost at a later date to have the job done. I suspect if they were 'out to get you' they'd have said the pads were rather more worn, or simply replaced them without asking ( and done that "Oooh Missus, you shoulda seen the state of your brake pads ). With wear at 70% it sounds like they were just trying to save you time and money a little later down the line. It wouldn't hurt to ask them how much it will cost and then ring around a few garages to compare.

I would have had them replaced on the basis that sod's law dictates the brake disc warning light will come on at the most inconvenient time possible.

Regards,

[The Natural Philosopher]

That's pretty good mileage from the brakes.

And they probably will be gone before the next service, which will these days mean they wallop you for new discs as well.

However places like the fast fits will generally be cheaper for brake relining.

[The Natural Philosopher]

No it doesn't.

Very few cars are fitted with that facility.

Even my XKR (2000 model) didn't.