Need 355 brake pad wear sensor?

Hi mjsdas,
Are you sure that the ABS light would be turned on by a wear sensor? It seems that the brake light should turn on instead of the ABS light.
--tony

 

I am no expert, but when I changed my pads, the sensor was no more than a wire with a stripped end which inserted into the pad sensor location. What triggers the brake light is when the sensor does not make contact. I know this because the light did turn on, until I reinserted the wire, then it went off.

My very much, do at your own risk fix is, strip the end of the sensor wire, tin (solder) the wire and insert it back in to the pad. If the light goes out, then you are done.

MB

 

Those plastic sensors get so brittle it's almost impossible not to break them. I did my pads about two weeks ago, broke small chips off both, a little crazy glue and they worked fine. The soldering idea is your best bet short of getting new sensors from Ferrari.

 

Can anyone explain how these pad wear sensors work ?
My pads are worn, brake warning light flashing occasionally, and I plan to replace the pads by Porterfield R4S.
Are the pad wear sensors part of the pads, or part of the calipers ?
How do they measure pad wear ? Inductive system ?
Would be great to have an assy drawing.
Tks.

 

The sensor is inserted into the pad. In the case of the 355, it is held in place by tiny U shaped copper clips. Color picture of 355 brake pads/caliper shows the empty U slot into which the sensor slides into the brake pad. Line drawing picture shows the 360 setup, and does not show a separate part # so I assume it's not available as a separate part from the pads.

Sensor is either open or short circuit to trigger the brake light as the sensor wears down to the embeddede wire in the plastic capsule at the pads, but I don't remember if the normal condition is open or short circut.
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In the picture, the sensor slot on the pad looks looks pretty much like the one for a 1997 BMW 328 (Ate brakes)? The BMW sensors can be purchased from BMA auto parts for about $15. You may want to check with a BMW shop to see what they think.

Mark

 

Brembo brake calipers were fitted to the cars from the 348 on, there pretty mcuh identical to the ones fitted to 911 -964 - 993 Porsche's.
You can get the sensors from www.pelicanparts.com, they just click straight in

 

hi,on the hub somewhere near their there should be a sensor for the abs which counts the rotation of the wheel,if a wire is broken or the sensor is dirty this may cause a problem ,maybe worth a look again just to check its ok.

 

Attached is a picture of the front pad from a 1997 BMW 328. The notch for the sensor is shaped a little different.

 

Sorry picture didn't stick.
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My 95 F355 original factory brake pads did not have the little plastic wear sensor. The wear sensor wire was directly embedded in the brake pad material itself, on the inner front pads.
(see photo)

Also, the manual says that if the sensor is "activated", ie the pad material wears down to the sensor wire, then the "PARKING BRAKE" light will come on, NOT the "BRAKE WARNING LIGHT".

Anyway, when replacing my pads, I drilled a hole in the same place on the new pads, and embedded the wire with epoxy. I assume when the pad material wears down to the point that the rotor is making contact with it, this is when the sensor gets activated and turns on the "PARKING BRAKE" light.
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The brake pad sensors turn on the BRAKE WARNING light, not the PARKING BRAKE warning light as stated in the owners manual! I shorted one of the sensor wires to the rotor and the BRAKE WARNING light comes on. Also, someone before I owned my car must have drilled the pad material and stuck the sensor wire in there........which, I guess, is Okay, but I would like to find a warning sensor that would fit a Porterfield RS-4 pad. Anyone?

 

The manual could well be wrong, that would not be a first, but on my '98, worn off front pads makes the handbrake warning light flicker. Looking at the car and the manual, there's no other brake-related warning light except for the ABS light under the tacho.
Are you saying that the sensors are not compatible with Porterfield RS-4's ? What year is your car ?

 

My car is a '95 F355. Brake-related warning light on my dash are, from left to right, Parking (hand) brake warning light, Brake warning light, then over a little farther, the ABS warning light. The manual says that the Parking (hand) brake warning light should light up or flicker (as you say) when the wear sensor wire gets worn down to the rotor, but in my case, the Brake Warning light is the one that lights up. I just installed new Porterfield RS -4 pads and I'd like to find some brake sensors that fit the U channel in them.