Hey guys,

I don't see a related item, so I thought I'd post this question.

I've got a 2004 MCS and last night I replaced the pads and rotors on the rear because the brake wear indicator lit up. I've put 64K miles on the rears (dealer replaced fronts 6 months ago). By the way, the stock pads looked like they had at least half the of pad remaining.

Anyway, after replacing the pads, and the sensor, I got in the car for a quick test drive and I noticed that the dash brake wear indicator was still lit. How do you reset this indicator ? I would have thought that it would have gone out as soon as a new sensor was connected.

Any help would be appreciated.

E-

 

"The MINI uses a Brake Wear Sensor on the front left and rear right brake pads. When the brake pad wears down, the brake pad wear sensor is also worn down and will eventually trigger the warning light to alert you. Once the warning light is triggered, the wear sensor needs to be replaced.
After replacing the sensor, turn the ignition key to the #2 position for around 30 seconds without turning over the engine...the light goes out! "

as I recall I pulled this from MiniMania's listing for the sensor....

 

Thanks for the help. I figured (and hoped ) it would be something relatively simple. I'll give this a try at lunch and will let you know how it worked.

Thanks again,
Erick

 

Hey Capt,

Your suggestion worked perfectly.

Thank you,
Erick

 

Speaking of the sensors, does anyone know if other suppliers carry them or if this is something that can only be bought at the Dealer parts dept.?

I'll be replacing my front pads this weekend for the first time and really don't know what the sensor looks like. I've heard some describe it as a looped wire that wears open, thus setting off the warning. I wonder if a similar wire can be used for doing a simple DIY replacement.

 

Other companies carry the sensors. I bought my from Helix.

E-

 

Thanks.

I just got off the phone with the dealer and he wants 33 bucks a pop for front sensors. I plan to replace the pads this weekend. Guess I can replace the sensor at a later date after I find a better price.

So you replaced your rear pads. I wonder if the fronts are pretty straight forward. I was searching for a DIY with pics but couldn't find one so far. Hopefully it's pretty straight forward.

 

Hey RedHot,

I'm a complete newbie to brake work. I've never done a brake job on any car, and it took me just under 2.5 hours to replace the rear pads AND rotors. Helix charges $17 for the sensor wire, and it has a special connector, so if I were you, I'd just spring for the wire. I went with EBC Greenstuff pads and ATE PremiumOne slotted routers.

There is a How to here at NAM done by OctaneGuy. That's what I followed. It's pretty straight forward. My recommendation/advice

1. You will need a tool to compress the piston. Autozone has a "Tool Loan Program" and they charge $0 for 90 days, after that you own it. Can't get much better than that. This is only required on the rears. For the front, you can compress the piston with a large C-Clamp.

2. Be careful when you compress the piston. Make sure you either take some fluid out of the master cylinder, or as I did in my case, I put a brake bleed tube right on the wheel and pushed the fluid out there. Either way, you have to account for the reduced fluid required when you compress the caliper piston.

Good Luck !

Erick

 

Wow. Right on. I was just about to pull my wheels and check why my sensor light was still on after doing my brakes. I am surprised it was so hard to find that little bit of information.

Also: I did not have to mess with my brake fluid reservoir at all. I just slowly compressed the pistons and the fluid stayed the same level.

 

Thanks Erick.

I didn't need to worry about the brake fluid level as I had not topped it off at all prior to replacing the pads. After pushing the piston back with the tool I bought at Harbor Freight: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...56#post2427956 my brake fluid level came right back up to the full condition.

As for the sensor wire, I decided to wait and replace it at the next pad replacement interval, in about 42k miles or so (the mileage on the car when I replaced them yesterday.) I clipped off the sensor and stripped the wires back and twisted them together and then wrapped electrical tape around the bare wires. I then secured the loose end with a tie-wrap to keep it from flopping around. I'll just need to keep an eye on the pad thickness each time I rotate the wheels. I reset the dashboard sensor light and now I'm back to normal. That is until it comes back on when the rears need replacing. Hopefully not any time soon.

 

Hi everyone,

New to the forum, glad I found this place.

I have a 2007 Cooper S with Nav (not sure this matters). I replaced the breaks this weekend, but I can't figure out how to reset the break replacement indicator - the trick in this thread didn't work. FWIW the break replacement indicator is both a light on the odometer console as well as a notification on the Nav screen, which is why I mention it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

things break and brakes stop cars.

GEN2 resets is a 'sticky' in the GEN2 forum Stock Problems/Issues

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...procedure.html

 

Awesome Capt, thank you! I will try it this afternoon, thanks a million for the link.