Brake Service Light
 

Hi,

Just replaced my front brakes with new pads on my 2000 A8L. Now the Low Pad Indicator comes on every time I drive the car. Connections look good. Any ideas? Thanks!

Scott

RE: Brake Service Light
 

Hi Scott,

That same problem occured to my '01 A8 last year. It was still under warranty so the dealer told me I needed new brakes which I didn't. He then cleaned the brake sensors and said they'd take a week or so for the warning light to go out. It didn't. I brought it back to the dealer for sensor replacement and that solved the problem. They were too badly corroded to clean I suppose.

RE: Brake Service Light
 

might be your back brakes, do the rears have sensors on the A8?

RE: Brake Service Light
 

Brake sensors can go bad after a few years, everyone I know who's had any braking system components replaced, including myself, then had to deal with sensors doing whatever the hell they wanted.

RE: Brake Service Light
 

No sensors on the rears. +1 for what HansBlix said. Try cleaaning them with sone brake-cleaner. Spray both sides, and dab the excess with a CLEAN (i.e. NEVER before used) cloth. See if that works, it did for me.

RE: Brake Service Light
 

Yeah what AWD said. Cleaning them is gonna be the only cure besides replacing the front pads again, the rear pads won't throw a light until 04 or newer which the electronic parking brakes calculate.

RE: Brake Service Light
 

For your onw personal edification, your brake sensor is fundamentally a simple circuit. As long as it's "open" you don't get an indicator lite. When the pads wear down enough to get to a metal "wear-bar" buried in the pad, the circuit closes and your dash light comes on. Foreign material in the "cup" of the sensor connector can give a false positive. Or, a short in the wiring, usually out by the wheel, somewhere, can also throw a false +. If cleaning the connectors doesn't solve your prob you may hafta resort to tracing wires, to find where they're crossing...

Good luck. Let us know how it goes, OK?

RE: Brake Service Light
 

Thanks for all the help! I will try cleaning them as soon as I get a break in the weather here in NY. You guys are the best!