18 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHBrake warning light/sensor?
Reported or suspected cause
broken wire at the connector
Reported cause
No successful repair reported for this finding.
1
Identified cause
0
Suspected cause
0
Reported fixes
Read evidence and context
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that report identifying a cause
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Reported cause
It turned out to be a broken wire at the connector on the front right wheel.
Leading evidence: 'broken wire at the connector' (1 discussions report identifying this cause; no attributable repair resolution). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'broken wire at the connector' (1 discussions; 1 report identifying it and 0 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Check inner pads as well as your outer pads' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
Source reports, not a diagnosis or a success probability. Counts refer to discussions and can overlap.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
A few months after I replaced my brake pads, the brake-wear light turned on intermittently.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
The reservoir is full, fluid was changed when I got the car 5K miles ago.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
It may have broken because the plastic support that held the wire to the shock mount broke when I replaced the shocks and springs a few years ago.
Replace whole sensor and have now zip-tied the wire
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
I replaced the whole sensor and have now zip-tied the wire to the shock mount to replace the broken support.
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
If you don't plan to use the sensors in the future, you can just repair the break yourself instead of spending money on new sensors you're going to zip tie out of the way anyway.
Changing the brake lines on a 15 year old car is never a bad idea, they don't cost a lot, and if your already doing brakes and flushing the fluid it makes it bit easier in the long run.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
18 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261026T135432Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
Track day at Laguna Seca Monday and the brakes got a pretty good work out. Last session of the day they were fading a fair amount and the brake wear warning light came on. There is still a reasonable amount (in my mind) of pad left upon checking them so I was curious if the warning light is strictly wear related?
I've ordered some new pads & rotors, got PFC08 pads which one can supposedly use worn down just about to the backing plates. I thought I read around here that a lot of guys don't use the sensors. Should I ditch the sensors when I put the new parts on? If the warning light comes on with this much pad left I'm thinking I don't want to be looking at that light for a long period of time while I try to get the most out of the new pads. I check my pads pretty regularly so I'm not worried about the wear level getting by me.
rich
You may want to take a closer look at all your sensors to see how and why the warning light was tripped (just unplug each one and measure continuity between the two pins on the sensor side). Continuity means a good sensor and no continuity means the sensor is broken, normally by the rotor once the pads are worn down.
There is a metal wire inside the sensor (plastic outside) that is normally closed. When the pad wears down, the rotor wears off the plastic and eventually break the wire to make it an open circuit, which trips the warning light.
I imagine the heat from your brake pads can probably melt the plastic on the sensor but still can't explain how the metal wire is broken.
thanks guys!
Ahsai: I'll check into that. I got them pretty hot so who knows. Didn't take the time to understand how they worked so now I know. I guess the light will go off as soon as I replace the defective sensor/broken wire.
If you don't plan to use the sensors in the future, you can just repair the break yourself instead of spending money on new sensors you're going to zip tie out of the way anyway. IIRC, the sensors are all wired serially in one big, closed loop.
See last comment here:
http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...-installation/
Typically, the sensors are intended to break with approximately 3mm of pad left. Be sure to check your inner pads as well as your outer pads. Often the inner will wear faster. Also, if there is a lip on your rotor, it will prematurely cut into the pad sensor, triggering your warning light, regardless of how much pad you have left.
unrelated. There are two brake lights. One for wear and one for hydraulics. I got a wear light with a low battery after working on the car all day with trunk lids open and lights on. Charged battery and light went off...huh.
2002 Turbo - Basalt Black Metallic / 2003 Carrera 4S - Speed Yellow / 1955 356 Continental 1500 - Rust Red
The reservoir is full, fluid was changed when I got the car 5K miles ago. Probably OEM fluid. I'm going to replace it with Motul when I change out the rotors/pads. I've got a pretty good ridge on the front rotors, perhaps this affected the sensors as someone mentioned earlier. What about changing the brake lines? They look fine but this is a 15 year old car? Don't want any surprises at the track.
Changing the brake lines on a 15 year old car is never a bad idea, they don't cost a lot, and if your already doing brakes and flushing the fluid it makes it bit easier in the long run. We offer a kit for just the front/rear or for all four corners. For more information
Click Here
.
I have all but one of my sensors removed.
I cut the sensors off of at their plugs, leaving about an inch or two of wire from the plug itself. Then I crimp the wires together and reinsert the plug into the socket.
I leave a live sensor on one of my front brakes in just in case I get lazy and forget to check the thickness now and again. The pads wear more or less at the same rate, and the fronts wear faster than the rears so this is more than enough protection for me.
I zip tied mine when I bought the car (new) and all was well for years but recently I get the low pad light on the dash.
Any ideas why or what I can do about it?
Does the Durametric allow this signal to be disabled? I have the Pro version but don't see how to do it.
A few months after I replaced my brake pads, the brake-wear light turned on intermittently. It turned out to be a broken wire at the connector on the front right wheel. It may have broken because the plastic support that held the wire to the shock mount broke when I replaced the shocks and springs a few years ago. I replaced the whole sensor and have now zip-tied the wire to the shock mount to replace the broken support.
This is a source reference. Confirm exact model applicability in the original material.
