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Can y'all help a noob fix his bogus brake pad light?

4K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  lhendrick 
#1 ·
I've got the occasional brake pad warning light issue and I've seen (and heard) several different opinions on removing and/or cutting the wires... Can you guys harp in and help a brotha figure out, once and for all, what the best remedy is?

Thanks in advance...

Cheers,
Vance
 
#2 ·
whats up big bite ,been awhile ..i may be wrong and probably am but i think i was told once that it cant be by-passed or something along the line's of "way more difficult" than worth and that the light "has a meaning"..good luck and hope it's no biggie..


on another note i did bar risers and no custom seat needed ,been doing 3-400 mile daily ride's with no issue's and stock seat :teeth
 
#3 ·
Hello, Mr. Mike...

Glad to hear the stock seat & bar-risers are working for you. I still love your old Mayer that Meese brokered for us (he's quite the capitalist :D ). I may have it covered in leather one of these days, the vinyl is weathering ever so slightly but, I think it's still got a couple of years in it...

As for the brake pad light issue, I'm pretty much certain that the removal of the sensor has no adverse effects and I'm told that BMW finally threw in the towel and no longer puts the pad-wear sensors on their bikes...

I'm just trying to lock-down the best procedure to ensure that I never, ever see that light again... Alas, I'm still a bit confused on the process. I'm hoping one of our brothers here will post a solution (with pics, like Playboy) so I can visualize. 'Cause I'm a seeing is believing kind of guy :teeth

Get your ass to Vegas & I'm buyin' you a big frosty cold beverage :2beers:
 
#5 ·
I don't have any pics, but what you want to do is find the sensor on the brake pads and follow the wires up until you find the plug. Unplug it, and then cut the sensor wires, leaving an inch or so beyond the plug that you removed. Strip the insulation and tie (or solder) those wires together. Then plug it back in.

The rest of the wires and the little plastic wear pad can be removed and tossed away.

Basically, the brake pad check looks for a continuous loop of wire. If the loop is closed, the pads are assumed to be fine. When the pads wear and the wire also wears through, then the pads are assumed to be thin and need replacing.

So what you're doing is removing the wear sensor from the pads, and just tying the wires together so that they always make a continuous loop. So the bike always thinks the pads are fine.

Of course, you have to monitor the brake pad wear manually, but that's how we've all been doing it for many years . . .
 
#6 ·
Thanks, Ken.

Just so I understand, there's one wire for the right-front pad and one for the rear brake and those wires both plug into this connecter you speak of? Also, I rode about 60 miles yesterday (many at triple-digit speeds) and never saw the light but, this morning, doing a little running around at speeds below 60mph, I got the light on the way home...

So, if I perform this little sensor-endectomy, will the light go off or will my friendly dealer have to clear the fault... Do you think it would it be wise to wait to perform the surgery until after the light is off again?

Thanks again,
Vance
 
#7 ·
BigBite said:
Thanks, Ken.

Just so I understand, there's one wire for the right-front pad and one for the rear brake and those wires both plug into this connecter you speak of? Also, I rode about 60 miles yesterday (many at triple-digit speeds) and never saw the light but, this morning, doing a little running around at speeds below 60mph, I got the light on the way home...

So, if I perform this little sensor-endectomy, will the light go off or will my friendly dealer have to clear the fault... Do you think it would it be wise to wait to perform the surgery until after the light is off again?

Thanks again,
Vance
There's one plug for the front and one for the rear. The front one is below the headlamp, just follow the wires up to it from the pads. If I recall, the rear connector is on the swing-arm, again, follow the wires.

Whether the lamp stays on or not and the fault is retained is dependent upon your software version. You can do this at any time.

Here is all you're doing: Brake Pad Wire Loop
 
#9 ·
Wynnded is correct. The rear is easy to get to. Drop the rear caliper by unscrewing the 2 torx bolts that connect the pad bracket to the FD. Slide the orange plastic sensor out of its slot and re-attach the caliper. I just zip-tied the few inches of sensor wire back toward the connector along the brakeline. The connector is right there on a small metal bracket if you are going to do the wire surgery.
 
#10 ·
moymurfs said:
Wynnded is correct. The rear is easy to get to. Drop the rear caliper by unscrewing the 2 torx bolts that connect the pad bracket to the FD. Slide the orange plastic sensor out of its slot and re-attach the caliper. I just zip-tied the few inches of sensor wire back toward the connector along the brakeline. The connector is right there on a small metal bracket if you are going to do the wire surgery.
I did this too, but would not recommend it if you are getting intermittent brake pad wear indicators, as BigBite (the OP) has. In his case, I would find the connectors, disconnect the sensors, cut and solder the wires together, and finally put shrink wrap over the solder joint. After that, I would attach a meter and wiggle the soldered wires gently, to verify that the short was not in the wires above the solder joint.

Hopefully his intermittent connection problem is not in one of the connectors or above it.
 
#11 ·
XMagnaRider said:
I did this too, but would not recommend it if you are getting intermittent brake pad wear indicators, as BigBite (the OP) has. In his case, I would find the connectors, disconnect the sensors, cut and solder the wires together, and finally put shrink wrap over the solder joint. After that, I would attach a meter and wiggle the soldered wires gently, to verify that the short was not in the wires above the solder joint.

Hopefully his intermittent connection problem is not in one of the connectors or above it.
Technically, it wouldn't be a short, it would be an open. :teeth ;)
 
#12 ·
Thanks everyone. Disconnected the sensor and it appeared that the rotor had worn into it a bit, perhaps closing the circuit? It didn't appear to be installed quite snug... Anyway, I soldered a loop just past the connector, as advised, and zipped tied the connector back up and went for a ride... 10 miles later, the light went out :teeth

Here's to it staying out :2beers:

Job done. Thanks again to everyone for all the help.
 
#13 ·
Wynnded said:
Technically, it wouldn't be a short, it would be an open. :teeth ;)
Doh! :facepalm:

You're right, of course. I guess BigBite knew what I meant, not what I wrote.

BigBite said:
Thanks everyone. Disconnected the sensor and it appeared that the rotor had worn into it a bit, perhaps closing the circuit? It didn't appear to be installed quite snug... Anyway, I soldered a loop just past the connector, as advised, and zipped tied the connector back up and went for a ride... 10 miles later, the light went out :teeth

Here's to it staying out :2beers:

Job done. Thanks again to everyone for all the help.
As Wynnded just pointed out, that would be, errr, opening the circuit. :facepalm:

Congrats on getting it fixed.
 
#14 ·
Right, right. Perhaps the rotor-chewing event opened the circuit...

Good news is, after about 1100 miles in all kinds of conditions, altitudes and speeds, I'm happy to report that there's no light. I didn't remove the rear sensor so at least I can still let the bike tell me when they're in need of replacement :)

Thanks again to all who posted help
 
#15 ·
Big Bite: good work on fixing the front sensor, but I wouldn't count on the rear sensor as a way of monitoring pad wear - I think you should stick your head in there and check by eyeball to prevent scoring a rotor and wasting money. YMMV
 
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