Question About Brake Pad Wear Light (o)

[jcrome04]

Hello again everyone! I've got another quick question for the Club.

What are all the reasons that the brake pad indicator light would light up? Is it solely to warn of worn pads?? Or would it light up for any other reason??

After my last quick stop at the local Les Schwab to get my tires rotated, it came on and won't turn off. I had them check it out, and it looks like that sometime in the past (whenever the sensors were removed for aftermarket pads) The wires were just spliced together. They said the connection to the wires might just be getting old, but there was nothing they could do about it "legally" Not the end of the world to me so I didn't push for them to do anything about it.

So the other day I got my car up in the air and stripped and re-connected the crusty old wire ends for a fresh connection, and covered with electrical tape..

Q: To my knowledge the sensors are only on the two passenger side wheels... IS THAT CORRECT?? or are they on all 4?

Is there any other reason the light would come on?? Like maybe the Parking break shoes are getting worn down???

Thanks for any help... The little red light is starting to annoy me! B)

[curiousB]

There's a few other threads on this. The pad wear sensor is simply a loop of wire encased in plastic to sit on the pad. If the pads wear too far then the plastic then the wire wears eventually breaking. An open loop is what triggers the indicator in the dash. Often just looking at the sensor it's obvious it has been worn and needs replacement. If its not obvious you could try unplugging the sensor at the harness in the wheel and with a wire and maybe clips just short the two leads (going to the car ECU of course) together to see if that makes light go away.

There was a chap in the UK who was able to rethread a small wire through a broken sensor and solder it to the harness and then encapsulate with some silicon RTV and effectively repair a sensor. If you have good dexterity this may be an option.

If you don't care about the warning feature you could just cut the sensor wires back near the connector, strip and solder together then weatherproof with some tape or shrink tubing. You’d lose the warning feature but if you’re on top of maintenance you’re probably looking at pads more thoroughly each oil change anyway.

ps looks like sensor is only on RH side for your model front and rear.

[billydpowell]

my old 94 ls had the light on when I bought it, I wired them together but the light stayed on, I redone my work and found I had overlooked a faulty connection, when twisting the wires together. corrected my work and the light went out. peace at last.

and they were on all 4 wheels.

good luck on yours.

[jcrome04]

I guess I'll have to try and track the wires back further.. They are twisted together good, so that's not the issue...

[curiousB]

Maybe the connector for the sensor pigtail is corroded. Might be enough to pull it apart and mate it several times. The wiping action of the contacts might be enough to get a better connection. I think PB Blaster makes a variant of their aerosol sprays for electrical contacts. Might be worth trying that as well.

[jcrome04]

There is no sensor.... the sensor was removed a long time ago... it's just the two wires spliced together.

[curiousB]

Yes I was refering to the cable connector ahead of the sensor. The sensor had a cable that runs up into the wheelwell where it hits a connector and then went the rest of the way to the ecu. Did you splice wires near sensor or did you cut off connector pair and splice above (upstream of connector). If the connector pair is still there then that is the connector I am refering to .

The front sensor pigtail is 47770-50030. Did you splice this wire or the cable/harness it plugs into.

[jcrome04]

Ahh I see..

The wires are still down by the caliper. I'll have to do some more checking out upstream.. for the connection.

[curiousB]

Another test would be to use a DVM but set it for DC current (and plug wires in ground and 200mA ports (usually current is different that positive voltage port on most meters. Use the meter to short the wires (you'd have to cut them apart again. If the circuit upstream and wires connectors are fine you should measure a DC current in the 1-10 mA range. If you get zero then something is wrong in ecu or the wiring from it.

[jcrome04]

Do I have to pull back the wheel well to get to this connection???

[PureDrifter]

Do I have to pull back the wheel well to get to this connection???

most likely.

[jcrome04]

I didn't search around too far up the wire when I was down there the first time.. :P I'll get to her again haha.

On a side note.... The post-cat gasket seem to have done the trick on the check engine light!!! :) thank God.

**still knocking on wood**

Now I just need to return the O2 sensors I got! I knew I should have held off on the order! lol

[jcrome04]

Well the Pad light went off! thank God!! :D

Both lights still off :) cruising without a stress in my mind again B)

very nice.

[curiousB]

good stuff. Isn't it amazingg how frustrating a little red light can be. Its like the drooling dog watching you eat something (that it wants) and never blinks....