After a bit of spirited driving the brake warning light came on in the dash. I know this will mean the pads are wearing down cos they advised me of it in the last service. My question is - why does the light go out again after a while and then come back on later? I thought that the light would come on when you braked (if you were low on friction material on the pads) and went off when you didn’t brake. Just curious.
Brake light on dash
- Thread starter Any1else
- Start date
The level sensor is effectively a loop that is inset into the brake pad, as the pad wears away it eventually cuts the loop which then brings the light on. No subsequent braking on or off will change the lamps state. Sometimes the loop is not totally broken and the odd strand remains and can make and break until worn that little bit further. You replace the sensor (loop) when you fit new pads.
Once the brake pad sensor is worn through it stays that way, there is no on off thing or ‘strands remaining ‘. Your light will almost certainly be brake fluid related....the level does drop as the pads wear. Either way, new pads will bring the level back up and just top it up to the max with dot 4 or 5.1 fluid if need be.
