Brake Pads - How Long Left?

[Playpen]

Hi

 

Had two very different opinions, both from independent VW garages on the length of life left in brake pads once the sensor light has come on.

 

One says 200 miles, the other 1500 ! Brakes feel 'normal' at the moment.

 

Who's right ? Is the garage saying 200 just after my business more than the other one ?

 

At least they were both offering to fit for very similar prices, give or take a few quid.

 

Cheers

John

VW Sharan 2004 TDI SE

[Guest gooner52]

i got told about 500 miles if i was lucky

 

but had them changed right away

 

as i only one side on each wheel has the sensor,so the other pad could be in a even worse state

 

mine is auto so my pads will not last as long as yours anyway :lol:

[jkspoff]

Pad sensors should let you know when they are down to last few hundred miles. Thats when I tend to change mine anyway.

[tim-spam]

I also change mine ASAP after the warning light comes on. However, there is a considerable amount of pad left when the warning light first comes on - I would guess at least 5mm, which would probably equate to several thousand miles depending on how you drive. Having said that, I have never tried this out - warning light = change pads ASAP. Ignoring this could mean reduced braking efficiency and new discs being required as well.

 

As regards braking efficiency, so long as there is some pad material remaining, this will not be significantly affected.

[El Dingo]

Regarding pad thickness, you need to consider the disc thickness as well. The minimum thickness specifications (and allowing for seized pins), are designed to prevent over-extension of the caliper piston.

 

Brand new pads are about 13mm thick? In short, I'd change them now. :lol:

[littlenewt2067]

So when my pad light came on in September I should have changed them then?.....oops, more expense! :lol:

 

Is there a thread on here showing how to do them on a Mk2 Galaxy? I cant find it but I may be doing it wrong.....

[Playpen]

Thanks for all the replies.

 

Going to try and get them done this week, just to be on the safe side.

 

As a side note none of the garages could confirm if the sensors are only on the front pads, seems they may be on the rears for later model Sharans (not sure about the Galaxy). Hope its only the fronts, given the other costs at this time of year :lol:

[tim-spam]

As far as I am aware, there should be sensors front and rear. Easy to check - just look for the wires going to the calipers.

[mumof4]

I was told 7 thousand miles ago that my brakes would need doing in 2k miles.....no warning has yet come on... :) blimey...7k miles in as many months near enough..... :lol: ...Must be all that scenic driving i do.. :) :lol:

[Guest gooner52]

yes should have sensors front and rear

but only one sensor is fitted per pad set :lol:

 

ie osf 2 pads = one wear indicator

so if your disc are very worn on one side,the side without the wear indiactor,then the brake pad warning light wil not come on :)

[Playpen]

Booked in for next week, thanks for the help guys.

 

Happy Xmas

[Mr Poisson]

hi,

 

when my light came on the pads were fine, it was the disc that had worn, and the non worn outer edge cut through the sensor wire. the discs are crazy money from fraud but reasonable at local stockists and fairly simple to replace.

 

regards

[MrT]

My pads warning light came on yesterday as I had washed the car and put it in the garage around a month ago and left it. The pads had seized (or frozen) to the discs but after one good application of the discs the check pads warning went as soon as I turned the engine off and on again. The pads have only done 1000 miles, so I knew something was odd.

[galaxy_1.9TD_Zetec]

I had a rumble in the back of the car, but there were no kids there. It was the rear pads down to the metal. No warning light though ?? The pad with the sensor was the one down to bare metal, so I might be looking at new disks too.

 

I have the car in the garage just now and have tonight removed the OSR pads, just a wee visit to the auto shop tomorrow for the new pads.

 

How do I push the cylinder back in ?

[Guest wolfie]

Apply pressure to the piston while rotating it clock wise, clamp the flexy brake line and undo the bleed nipple and release the excess fluid via it and not back feeding the dirty fluid through the ABS valve block (if you have ABS that is?)

while your at the auto shop see if they do the piston retraction tool?

[Guest MATT jr]

...these brake pads dont sound all that difficult to replace.

 

does anyone fancy doing a "how to" guide when they change them?

 

MJR

[teresa]

my fella did both mine the other week didnt take him that long

[NikpV]

my fella did both mine the other week didnt take him that long

 

 

and the brake pads ???? <_>

[tim-spam]

Well, I've just replaced the front pads on mine as the light came on about 2 weeks ago.

 

The manual states that the discard thickness is 2mm and the minimum permissible pad thickness is 1mm. After changing them, I measured the old pads, and the minimum pad thickness was 4mm. In other words, you could probably drive several thousand miles after the warning light comes on and still have some pad material left.

 

By the way, I could tell that the pads had been changed before, because, as usual, the main agent had not done the job properly. Firstly, the backing paper on the outer pads had not been removed, and secondly, the electrical connector to the wear sensor had been damaged by the spanner monkey doing the job. So, this is yet another problem caused by the full dealer service history to be added to the list. Are there any competent people in the service departments of the main agents??