# Brake pad wear sensor light on



## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

A few days ago we had to drive our Transit motorhome through deep and dirty floodwater to get into the campsite. 

Since then, the brake pad wear warning light has been on. We've been parked up most of this time, in warm and windy weather so it all should have dried out.

We had the van serviced shortly before we left UK and there was plenty wear in the pads then. Our service guy thinks the floodwater may have caused an electrical short.

We're going to go to the local Ford man on Monday, but is there any way I can check this myself? Reading on the net it would seem that sometimes dirt gets caught in the sensor and can be winkled out, but I don't know what it looks like, or even where it is!!


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

Brakes are not a thing to tamper with if your not a mechanic (I am but will not try to explain how to do it)
If you are near a hose pipe i would suggest you give them a good spray between the inner wheel and around the caliper area.
1 it may dislodge any detritus that may be causing a short.
2 you cant do any damage.


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## davesport (Nov 12, 2006)

Talking in general terms, the brake pad wear warning lamp is activated by the disc wearing through a small loop of wire embeded in the pad. Once the loop is broken the lamp will stay lit. You'll get the same effect if any of the wires to the pad have become damaged/broken/dislodged during your dunking in the floodwater.

Take off each of the road wheels in turn & check the connections to each pad. It's a "fail safe" system. Have a look, it may be something obvious.

D.


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## TickTok (Aug 27, 2010)

JWW said:


> A few days ago we had to drive our Transit motorhome through deep and dirty floodwater to get into the campsite.
> 
> Hi,
> 
> ...


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Thanks davesport and Ticktok. Sorry to be so long getting back: I was out wearing my legs away in Gibraltar all day!

I should have said that the warning lamp goes off along with all the usual ones just after the ignition has been fired, but then comes on again a second or two later.



TickTok said:


> Almost certainly a cable has been disconnected from one of the pads and can be reconnected if it has not broken at the pad itself.


Would I need to take the wheels off to check this too? I'm not sure I'm physically up to that, and the Transit has the double rear wheel. Maybe just leave it to the experts!

Thanks a lot.


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## IanA (Oct 30, 2010)

Most systems have the brake wear warning fitted to the front pads only, because they usually wear quicker than the rear - still a job to jack up if you're not confident about it.


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

hogan said:


> Brakes are not a thing to tamper with if your not a mechanic (I am but will not try to explain how to do it)
> If you are near a hose pipe i would suggest you give them a good spray between the inner wheel and around the caliper area.
> 1 it may dislodge any detritus that may be causing a short.
> 2 you cant do any damage.


Sorry Hogan - missed your post earlier; I could certainly have managed the hosing, but unfortunatley there are absolutely no facilities here.

IanA - yes, I'm convincing myself that it's a long, long time since I played around with my old Morris Minor, changing wheels etc. I was a lot younger and fitter, and the wheels were a lot smaller and lighter!! (still a ton weight as I remember!)


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## poleman (Aug 31, 2008)

I have done several transits recently and most have the problem you describe. They leave the factory with four sets of wear indicators (one for each brake) but the replacement pad kits only come with one per axle. 

The FORD approved method is to reconnect one set of old sensors to the wiring and only replace one side each time. Usually this is the nearside as they tend to wear out first. 

I have however discovered that the looms to the sensor plugs fail leaving the light on as you describe and the quickest and cheapest option is to cut the loom after the chassis plug and join the wires together to put out the light.

As long as your pad thickness is checked when the van is serviced there is no reason to worry.

Identifying which sensor is faulty is possible but is time consuming and you will need a continuity tester or new sensor, and it could be more than one fault. :roll:


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Thanks Poleman - just hope the guy in Ford has some English cos my Spanish wouldn;t stretch that far!


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## TickTok (Aug 27, 2010)

JWW said:


> Thanks Poleman - just hope the guy in Ford has some English cos my Spanish wouldn;t stretch that far!


Hi Again,

Just get him to check the pad thickness and stop worrying 8) 8)

 (the thanks was a twitchy finger)


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Advice from London man in Ford service in La Linea was that this often happens when the Transit is driven through dirty water (and there's been a lotof it about down here!) and can right itself just through a day or so’s driving when any deposit should shake itself loose.

Worth a try anyway. The brakes feel fine, they were checked in the service late December, and I’m not going to lose them suddenly – if it is wear then that should become apparent through noise, if I remember rightly.


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## davesport (Nov 12, 2006)

> Advice from London man in Ford service in La Linea was that this often happens when the Transit is driven through dirty water (and there's been a lotof it about down here!) and can right itself just through a day or so's driving when any deposit should shake itself loose.


I can't understand that. If you don't mind me saying, it sounds like a brush off 



> if it is wear then that should become apparent through noise, if I remember rightly.


Yes that's correct. This is when the steel backing material on the pad contacts the disc. This will most likely happen in a far flung & remote area with no hope of sourcing the new pads quickly. May also result in you having to change the discs if they become badly enough scored.

D.


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

I appreciate what you're saying davesport. Regarding the brush-off - he was actually doing himself out of 60-70eu worth of work.

And when our van was serviced in December the guy knew we were heading on a 6-mth trip, and he says the pads were fine. I can't imagine that we'd have worn them away in that time. I use my gears to help with braking when on steep descents.

Since the problem became apparent immediately after driving through the deep and dirty water I think it must be more than just a coincidence.

I hope I'm not proved wrong!!


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## Stuart Gill (Feb 4, 2021)

poleman said:


> I have done several transits recently and most have the problem you describe. They leave the factory with four sets of wear indicators (one for each brake) but the replacement pad kits only come with one per axle.
> 
> The FORD approved method is to reconnect one set of old sensors to the wiring and only replace one side each time. Usually this is the nearside as they tend to wear out first.
> 
> ...


Hi Poleman, can you describe how we bypass the circuit as in your post. eg Where the connector is and the pins/ wire colours to patch. If so that would be really great.

Many thanks


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## Stuart Gill (Feb 4, 2021)

*How do you do that?*



poleman said:


> I have done several transits recently and most have the problem you describe. They leave the factory with four sets of wear indicators (one for each brake) but the replacement pad kits only come with one per axle.
> 
> The FORD approved method is to reconnect one set of old sensors to the wiring and only replace one side each time. Usually this is the nearside as they tend to wear out first.
> 
> ...


HI great idea to shorten the circuit. Where would I find the cahsssis plug and what pins or colour wires do I connect together. Transit Mk8 chassis. Thanks for any help.:nerd:


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Hi Stuart, I'm just giving your post a nudge.

If I remember rightly my problem was eventually a complete disconnect with the wire and connector hanging down. Can't help you with the how to fix tho, sorry.


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## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

Have you any hills near you? Brakes can get very hot descending hills and it might just dry out the water seepage if that's the cause.


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