Front Brake Service Reset Unsuccessful

Front Brake Service Reset Unsuccessful

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Discussion

_Hoppers

Original Poster:

1,175 posts

64 months

Saturday 11th June 2022
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Last weekend I replaced the discs and pads all round on my 320D (under the supervision of someone who knows what they’re doing!). Yesterday I tried to perform a service reset for the brakes. I managed to reset the rears successfully but the fronts did not. I took the wheel off to check the (new) wear sensor but found the wire had somehow been pulled out from the connector which sits in the pad. I still had the old one (which appeared to be un-damaged) so swapped the new one out. I still can’t reset the front, I’m wondering if it’s because the new sensors got damaged and the ecu wants a brake service reset via a diagnostic tool? Any ideas?

Edited by _Hoppers on Sunday 12th June 19:11

Sim89

1,570 posts

206 months

Sunday 12th June 2022
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Are you saying you swapped the new one for the old damaged one? I'd suggest this is the reason why you can't reset it.

Best just getting a new sensor and installing it correctly, should reset without issue.

Apparently you also have to do the reset with the handbrake on.

_Hoppers

Original Poster:

1,175 posts

64 months

Sunday 12th June 2022
quotequote all
Sim89 said:
Are you saying you swapped the new one for the old damaged one? I'd suggest this is the reason why you can't reset it.

Best just getting a new sensor and installing it correctly, should reset without issue.

Apparently you also have to do the reset with the handbrake on.
No, the new one got damaged so I put the old one back on, the old one didn’t appeared to be damaged (just seen a typo in my original post which might have caused the confusion?). I’ve tried doing it with the handbrake off but no joy. I’ll try testing for continuity of the old sensor later in the week to see if there is actually an issue with it. Would it be possible to bypass the sensor with a piece of wire at the connector block end, then try the reset?

stevemcs

8,592 posts

92 months

Sunday 12th June 2022
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If the old one is worn and the new one is damaged just get the new one replaced and fit that

_Hoppers

Original Poster:

1,175 posts

64 months

Sunday 12th June 2022
quotequote all
stevemcs said:
If the old one is worn and the new one is damaged just get the new one replaced and fit that
I don’t think the old one is worn though, there’s no signs that it has been in touch with the disc? I don’t mind buying a new one but I wanted to be sure, for whatever reason, that the service schedule doesn’t (or does) need to be reset with a diagnostic tool.

stevemcs

8,592 posts

92 months

Sunday 12th June 2022
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Sometimes it does need to be reset with diagnostics, sometimes you can do it on the dash, other times just replacing the wire is needed.

_Hoppers

Original Poster:

1,175 posts

64 months

Sunday 12th June 2022
quotequote all
stevemcs said:
Sometimes it does need to be reset with diagnostics, sometimes you can do it on the dash, other times just replacing the wire is needed.
Cheers Steve

DT1975

460 posts

27 months

Monday 13th June 2022
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These brake sensors are a farce. Often they are mileage limited so will trip at a specific time irrespective of wear.

There's a simple workaround of cutting the wire, joining both ends and cable tying it out of the way without joining it to the pad. Try that before spending on another £15 sensor. There's no magic other than a complete circuit to satisfy the OBC.

_Hoppers

Original Poster:

1,175 posts

64 months

Monday 13th June 2022
quotequote all
DT1975 said:
These brake sensors are a farce. Often they are mileage limited so will trip at a specific time irrespective of wear.

There's a simple workaround of cutting the wire, joining both ends and cable tying it out of the way without joining it to the pad. Try that before spending on another £15 sensor. There's no magic other than a complete circuit to satisfy the OBC.
Cheers for that, will give it a go

_Hoppers

Original Poster:

1,175 posts

64 months

Friday 24th June 2022
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DT1975 said:
There's a simple workaround of cutting the wire, joining both ends and cable tying it out of the way without joining it to the pad.
Finally got time to trying this last night and it worked, ta. On closer inspection of the old sensor it appears to have been partly worn away.