Front brake pads without the sensor clip - help?

[GTI Osprey]

Hi all,

Another simple question for someone who is just embarking on doing his own stuff ... what happens if you don't reconnect the brake sensor on the front pads? Does it cause a light to come on or can it be clipped out of the way with no issues?

Cheers again,

Alex

[RedRobin]

.
Clips away with no issues. If you've got aftermarket brakes you have to sacrifice having the sensor inform you of pad wear. But visual inspection is probably more reliable anyway.

[rich83]

You will get a brake pad warning light which you can disable with VCDS.

[Geoffcarragh]

I did this recently.

You can install pads with out a sensor. The old pads will have a wire and a plug that connects to the car. Cut the plug off the old pad and leave it connected to the car. This will stop the connector filling with dirt. When you buy new pads in the future the connector will be in good condition.

Every time you start the car a warning light will ask you to check the brake pads. This doesnt matter, as Robin said visual inspection is better anyway.

[skard]

As above, it can be disabled with coding in 17-instruments.

It's been known for people to stuff conductive material in the car side of the plug to maintain the circuit!

[ub7rm]

Its a waste of time IMO.  If your car is regularly serviced / if you have a working pair of eyes you should know what state your pads are in anyway.

[GTI Osprey]

As always quick and quality responses - thank you.
 

[RedRobin]

You will get a brake pad warning light which you can disable with VCDS.

....I don't recall ever seeing such a warning light, nor needing to disable with VCDS.

[rich83]

Maybe it was done for you by who ever fitted your bbk

[RedRobin]

Maybe it was done for you by who ever fitted your bbk

....The Senior Race Engineer at AP Racing fitted my BBK in their Coventry workshop and he didn't use VCDS - I was with him the whole time. I recall him telling me about the sensors and I'm pretty sure he just did something physically with them as they are still all well taped up.

Either way, it's no big deal for anyone fitting a BBK re the sensors.

[rich83]

Maybe he just shorted the wires together then? That is the other way around it.  TBH it's a bodge and if you have VCDS you should use it :-)

[the bruce]

Two ways to prevent lights:

1. disabale with VCDS as above

2. cut the wirers from the old pads and solder both to short cut them

[RedRobin]

Maybe he just shorted the wires together then? That is the other way around it.  TBH it's a bodge and if you have VCDS you should use it :-)

....Nothing wrong with a physical solution - It's often less likely to lead to problems.

[rich83]

Not really robin, not often I disagree with you but a coding change is the correct way to deal with this.

[Phil Miller]

Not really robin, not often I disagree with you but a coding change is the correct way to deal with this.

^^^is the correct answer^^^