OT: Brake Pads

[The Natural Philosopher]

Now you know why its not universally fitted to all cars.

I have never had that except to warn of ABS faults. Not worn pads.

[The Natural Philosopher]

My jaguars did not. My landrovers have not/had not.

Not for pads anyway. All got ABS warning lights tho.

[The Natural Philosopher]

No it doesn't.

certainly not on the Freelander, which needed new discs as a (partial) result.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I used to get about 12k miles out of a set of pads and 25k out of disks on a big Jag.

It's a lot of car to stop...

[Dave Liquorice]

No it doesn't at least not on any cars I have owned. That purely indicates the status of the ABS system, the electronics/hub sensors etc.

consistent with the definitions of the symbols, the base sysmbol is a circle with and elipse either side the center may have:

An exclamation mark - Problem with the hydraulics, low fluid or a failed circuit on dual circuit brakes.

The letters ABS - problem with the ABS system which has been disabled by the BAS ECU.

Empty center but the elipses are not solid lines - brake lining wear.

The letter P - parking brake applied.

[Bob Martin]

My W-reg Renault 30TX had them.

[Angela]

The car is only 20 months old (citroen C1) and has done 30,000 miles total and just had its third routine service. I appreciate they will need replacing before the next service but as they quoted me £155 to do it, I thought I would shop around. I am presuming though that I would need to have Citroen parts fitted to mainatin the warranty? I have a friend who has a garage who I absolutey trust so I would rather give the work to him, and £155 did seem a bit pricey but of course I could be way off the mark!

[Adrian]

"Phil L" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

I've got several.

[Adrian]

"Angela" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Which is why they suggested replacing them at this service.

You would have to have OEM-quality parts fitted, but there's no requirement for a franchised dealer to do the work for the warranty to be kept up - same for a service. As long as it's done "to dealer standards".

Dealer labour rates... You're probably paying close to £100/hr.

[dennis]

They are so unreliable that you can't count on them anyway. Mine has them but I would always go for a visual inspection rather than rely on a lamp that may not work for many reasons.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

On some at least the wear sensor is a separate part which can need replacing along with the pads - and since this costs 5 quid upwards some don't bother. The sensing circuit usually requires a working sensor to be in place otherwise shows the warning light.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Are you absolutely certain? It's been standard on most 'expensive' cars for many a year - and on many ordinary ones too.

Have you ever changed the pads yourself?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

On most cars - even maybe Citroen - changing the pads is a pretty simple job. Any decent make should be ok - you don't need to use genuine parts.

I was quoted almost 700 quid to replace all the discs and pads on my BMW by a main dealer and did it myself for about 200 - and in a morning including collecting the parts.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Never had any problem with them.

How often do you do this 'visual inspection'? On both my cars it would mean removing all the wheels.

The snag with sensors is they aren't in every pad so it's conceivable one without could wear faster than the one with.

[Dave Liquorice]

My prefix A reg Ford Escort did but no car that I have had newer than that one has. The indication wasn't particulary reliable, false worn indication was the common fault. I had one set that said they were worn out after about 1000 miles, hardly bedded in let alone worn out!

[Steve Walker]

Brake pad warning lights are not a requirement. Some cars have them, some have nothing and some have a pellet of another material in the pad, so that when the pads wear enough, the pellet squeals against the disk as an audible warning.

SteveW

[Reentrant]

Ask them to keep the old pads for you. A trustworthy place won't hesitate to do so.

[ransley]

Brake warning lights yes all cars have them, and that is pressure related, but brake pad warning lights, ok I have to google this and disagree that it has been long time offered.

[Andy Dingley]

Depends on how long it took you to do that mileage. If you did that in a year, then get them replaced. If you're only doing 5,000 a year, then leave them be and check again later. Certainly check them before setting off on any long expeditions (holiday etc).

Much of the rest depends on the car, and on how they assessed this 70% figure.

Changing brake pads is also one of the easiest DIY servicing tasks. Often it's only slightly harder than gaining access to inspect them properly. Buy them from a decent motor factor rather than a garage or retail accessory shop and they'll be be cheap too. It often needs one magic tool (a single Allen key if it's a Ford), but they're cheap too.

[ransley]

I saw a mercedes with them but my 02 Volvo and old Camry do not.