Weird brake sounds seem to be a pretty common complaint here, and the common advice is, the sound may be coming from brake pad wear indicators. Asking the car owner to interpret brake sounds seems a little unsafe. Just curious, do some make/models configure their brake systems with an electronic brake pad wear sensor? So when the pads wear out, there’s a warning light on the dash panel?
I’ve never heard of that. But there’s a lot that I don’t know!
The wear indicator, IMO is one of the easiest sounds to diagnose (very often). There’s a high pitched squealing that disappears as soon as you hit the brakes and reappears as soon as you let off.
That said, I don’t think too many people here are hesitant to say things like “you really need to take the thing to a shop”
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Yes, BMW and MB as well as others have been doing this for many years…
EDIT: BMW has been doing it since the mid to late 70’s from what I can tell…
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My 1985 Merkur XRTi had electronic wear indicators on the front. I think my Audi does as well.
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Absolutely. That’s been around for decades.
Why bother with trying to interpret a sound. BMW uses adaptive brake wear sensors. You start at 100%, and as the pad wears the sensor then reports the remaining brake pad thickness. Why remove wheels to check pad life when I can do it while sitting in the driver’s seat? I can look at my scan tool screen and tell you there is 30% remaining on your brake pads.
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my 2020 Ford Transit has these. When it wears down, it creates a ground that actives a dash warning.
Interesting. It seems there are two types, one tells you the % of the pad that is left anytime you want to know, and the second type only chimes in when the pad is completely worn and needs replacement.
I guess I have to start buying fancier cars. Or maybe not.
I still have to learn how to use this damned editor…
Why remove the wheels instead of just reading the scantool screen? B/c I’m a skeptic. How do I know the sensor and its related system components aren’t malfunctioning? And then there’s the issue of there being more to proper brake function than how much pad is left.
If there’s not any problem report, then great. Good, quick info for a customer. So I’m not doubting its usefulness - just that human eyes and hands are still good if there are issue reports / noise reports, and so on.
Look for a pencil looking icon just to the right of the thumbs up icon, well 2 over
So you will see at the bottom right of your own replay/post a
Thumbs up icon… … … a 2 link Chain icon… … …Pencil icon… … … 3 dots icon then a Reply to that post icon…
Just click on the pencil and edit away…
Ok the thumbs up is not there unless someone gives you a thumbs up… lol
If you’re a skeptic, why believe any of the sensors on your car? How much fuel is really in the tank? Manufacturers have a lot to lose by having brakes malfunction because the sensors misdiagnosed brake pad thickness. The companies may well be out of business if they harmed hundreds or thousands of people becasue of faulty brake monitoring systems.
In that respect it’s a lot like Oil Life Monitors (OLMs). OLMs have also been around for decades. Monitors like the GM system are even more complicated yet have proven effective in estimated when to change the oil. I always changed oil in my 1998 Regal and 2003 Silhouette based in the OLM readings and the engines were in excellent shape at nearly 200,000 miles when we sold the cars.
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A) “trust but verify.” (And more than once I’ve had to sit around waiting for the computer to “catch on” that something was wrong so it would give me a code that would give me a place to start. And the opposite - codes that were basically…flukes? As in much ado about nothing.)
B) I’ve had a couple of GMs with OLMs (including a current '02 Envoy. The other was a '00 Silhouette). I don’t follow the OLM. GM’s interests are to make it out of the warranty period unscathed. I can’t speak to how well following it would work - b/c I don’t follow it. On my Envoy I do the oil every 5K-ish and the OLM tells me I’m at about 50%. Sorry - not doing 10K on conventional oil no matter what the OLM says.
I don’t somehow ignore the computer info as if its useless I just don’t take it as gospel. You know. Trust but verify.
Thanks much. I do know where the edit (pencil) is. The part I haven’t figured out yet is if I reply to a post how to edit the bits out of what I’m replying to. On all other boards I’ve ever been on (cars or otherwise), if I reply to someone, the whole text of their post is in my WYSIWYG box and I can edit out to focus in on what aspect I’m addressing.
Haven’t figured it out here yet. But I will…once I have the patience…I think. Not my favorite platform.
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You mean like that above??
If so, then before applying, right click and highlight what you want to show up, once you highlight the word(s) Quote and Share will pop up above the word(s), click on quote and go from there…
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I’ll confirm @jtsanders experience with GM’s OLM. 152K on my 20 year old 5.3 truck engine. Changed whenever the service message came up… until I stopped driving it so much. That vehicle’s OLM doesn’t seem to have a calendar so I change it yearly now.
OLMs like GMs have been verified over more than 30 years in use and vetted by professional organizations like SAE. The sophisticated ones monitor several sensor inputs and use a conservative algorithm to determine when to suggest changing the oil. Even the old style that were mileage counters worked for me. My 1998 Regal and 2005 Accord used those and didn’t burn oil, even at nearly 200,000 miles.
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I just use my trip meters, trip A for oil changes and trip B for gas fill ups, except for the older hot rod, no trip meter… lol
Push on trip A for an instant view of how many miles it has been since last LOF
Push trip B to see how many miles since last fill up, I know if the vehicle normally gets around X miles per fill up, and I am not worried if I loose or gain 0.3 tenths of a gallon only if I see a downward pattern…
Another vote for just following the Oil Life Monitor, especially if you drive a GM. Their OLM uses several parameters to determine when an oil change is needed, it’s not just mileage based. Let’s also remember that any GM car these days uses Dexos oil. OLMs of any brand are dependent upon using the proper spec motor oil. Too many people just grab a quart of 10W30 off the grocery store shelf and then wonder why their car is broken.
Last summer I had to sell my 2006 Trailblazer with 190,000. When I would do extensive highway driving, the OLM would go to about 9000 miles. When I’m doing 2000 miles a month of constant city/stop and go, it would go to about 4000. Sounds like it knows what it’s doing. I also follow the OLM on my wife’s 2018 GM car, and I have no issues believing it will last well beyond the warranty period. (Of course the thermostat that needs to be replaced for $1000 is not related to engine oil!).
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Is that with your buddy discount? 
Nah, that’s what the retail price would be.
$700–4 hours labor
$200–thermostat
$50–intake gaskets and Dexcool
No way I’m paying someone to fix my own car. I’m a mechanic, remember? It’s on my list of things to do over Xmas break. 
Big fun!