Jasoneo5

iTrader: (4)

Hey guys - purchased a set of the inexpensive brake wear sensors on rock auto, along with some new pads. My errors are actually worse and more persistent than with my OEM sensors which were becoming worn.

Have any of you guys had luck, without spending $60/sensor for OEM's?

RWDV8

No offense but how much could you possibly have saved on sensors to make this worth it?

Jasoneo5

iTrader: (4)

$100. Anything constructive to advise or just trolling?

lexusrus

What errors?

Did you have a brake error on the dash display prior to changing your pads and sensors?

Jasoneo5

iTrader: (4)

Correct, yes - a wear sensor on the dash. Replaced with centric sensors as I’ve always done on the previous 6 Lexus LS’s that I’ve had and on my current LS460. Wondering if there is a reset procedure that’s required for F’s

RWDV8

My point is buying cheap parts isn’t worth the trouble it causes.
If you have an LS and an RC you can probably afford the extra $100.

Jasoneo5

iTrader: (4)

You’re not getting it. I also have a 911 Turbo S PDK and M6 Gran Coupe. It’s not about the car, but rather a community set out to help one another. In this case I went with a brand and part I’ve used on all my cars rather than give away money to dealers when not needed. Please go waste time elsewhere.



Getting back to the situation clearly outlined in the OP, as I’m now in this situation, anybody have alternatives other than to waste money on overpriced OEM’s? If not, all good!

vbb

iTrader: (3)

To understand your question let me make sure I have it right:
-you got a brake wear indicator light on your dash
-you bought new pads and aftermarket sensors and installed both on your car
-your brake wear indicator light did not turn off despite the new sensors and pads being installed

Did you happen to check the indicator light after you removed the old pads and sensors to make sure it went off? It should have, because there would have been nothing "touching" that would have triggered the light. You could always pull your negative battery cable and then put it back on to do a hard reset... but if the light still persists, then one of two things is likely the issue. Either one, the sensors were not installed correctly, or two the sensor is somehow defective. It is my understanding that the sensor is a simple electrical function... if the pads are worn down enough for the sensor to touch, it will trigger the light on the dash, much like your Christmas lights come on the tree when you plug them in to the wall. If the plug isn't in, the lights are off.

Unfortunately I can't troubleshoot your situation much further than that without seeing what you've got going on, but I would definitely try pulling your negative battery cable to see if it resets the light.

And for the people that are commenting "why would you get aftermarket parts if you have the money to buy an RCF?" please stop. Yes, certain OEM parts will be superior to off-brand parts, but in the case of a wear sensor, it's basically just a wire and probably the exact same material.

Jasoneo5

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the time you spent to respond! Yes, to both of your statements above - I replaced the pads and sensors after the previous ones were worn - triggering a brake wear light.

I will unplug the battery and do a hard reset as you suggested. I do remember that one of the sensors was not in its original packaging, leading me to think that maybe it was defective and returned (even though it looked fine and brand new). Have 2 more on order and will report back.

As for the other guys comment, I find it crazy that people wouldn’t try to find the best deal and alternatives on consumables. Saving a few hundred each time you swap brakes, tires, etc adds up to multiple thousands over the ownership of a car.

lexusrus

Probably they are off the same factory somewhere in China. One end up at Lexus dealerships selling for much more. The other in a generic package selling online for much less???

tuscani66

iTrader: (2)

I also bought the sensors off rock auto, great website IMO, for my Audi and a sensor is a sensor for what it is worth - just 2 wires that when they touch they ground and trigger the light... My guess is something is loose somewhere or sensor wire broke off? I've had to rebuild the ones on my Porsche a few times because I just kept reusing them (I would change them before the pads actually got low, they're wired backwards, so if the pads get low the leads actually separate and causes the light to come on because a ground was disconnected).

Hope you find the issue, point of my post is agreeing with a couple that the sensor is just a sensor wire lead to create ground loop, the problem could be simple just time consuming.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

This isn't accurate. The sensor isn't a sensor at all. It's just a wire. When the wire burns through, it opens the circuit and the light comes on. If you replace the wire, the light goes out and all is good. Same if you cut the piece from the brake pad off and short the two wires, AMHIK.

The Rock Auto "sensors" are pretty much crap compared to the OEM stuff. Sure the wire is fine, but the connector and it's individual pieces are really sketchy even on a really good day. I took the wire from the Rock unit and rebuilt with the OEM connector, worked a charm and required no effort other than replacing the wire.

vbb

iTrader: (3)

What isn't accurate? It looks like we're saying the same thing: "It's basically just a wire" was the last line I typed and "it's just a wire" is exactly what you said. I'm not trying to confuse the OP, and apologize if I did. You're the engineer if I recall, so I'll defer to you. My suggestion for a hard reset was to rule out the possibility that it is an electrical problem with the light in the dash coming on despite the wire being grounded.

Jasoneo5

iTrader: (4)

Wonderful information, thank you. I actually just bought the car a week ago so I gave the selling dealer a call and they offered to pay for OEM wires and threw in some brakes as well. I'll try your method as mentioned and if I can't get that to work, I'll just install the new OEM's. Great to know theres an alternative in the future, thanks again

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

That's the inaccurate part. The wire isn't grounded to turn on the light. The wire is broken when the light comes on. Strangely enough, this is all about burning through the wire, not having it connect to anything at all. The other thing that supremely annoying about this is the light comes on with 2mm of pad left which translates to about 10% service life left. Since the pads last 20k miles on the front, you're losing about 2k miles of service life if you change the pads when the light comes on. I'd be a whole lot happier if the light came on when the pads were at the factory specified 1mm remaining, but apparently the attorneys decided it should happen much earlier assuming people will continue to drive with the warning light on for another 3 or 4 months. Pretty stupid, pretty annoying, and from my perspective makes the value proposition for the wear indicators practically nil. I seriously considered just removing the ends and shorting the wires so the light never comes on again. If it were not the wife's car, I would for sure.

There is no downside to running the pads down to metal unless there is service life left in the rotors. My experience with the rear rotors and pads on the GS F is, they wear out at the same time. So who cares if it goes metal on metal (except for the noise) because I'm going to put pads and rotors on at the same time. The fronts last two sets of pads, and again, IME with the GS F, the second set of front pads wore out when the rotors were at minimum thickness. The slots on the rotors are the perfect wear gauge - when the slot is almost gone the rotor is definitely done.

I bought pads from Rock Auto (again, wife's car, not my IS F with two piece RB rotors and Project Mu HC+800 pads) and they're working just fine for her, and for me when I drive the car. They're dusty, but they feel the same as OEM, and they're wearing the same as OEM. I just didn't like the new wear sensors when I looked at the connectors, so I just stole the wire, routed it through the old piece and attached it with two butt connectors and heat shrink. It will be fine for this car. Not likely I would do this to a track car. I would just short the wires and forget about the wear sensors on a track car. You're checking brakes often enough that you don't need an idiot light to tell you when the pads are gone.