freinando

Do I need a VAG COM in order to replace just the brake pad sensor in the rear? My brake light is on and dealer told me it's the sensor that it's bad (pads are still good) but they have to do the whole job (pads+sensor+fluid), they can't just do the sensor job. Wondering if I can just swap out the old sensor for a new one myself.

Mesquite77

AFAIK VAG-COM is only needed to move the e parking brake into service position, so the pads can be removed. The sensor fits in the pad from the outer edge, but a new one will likely need to be filed down a bit if put in an older (worn, thinner) pad, and it may not fit if the old pad has deformed a little around the slot. If you are willing to keep an eye on the pad wear yourself (like most of the world does), you can simply join the 2 wires together on the old sensor wire and tie it up out of the way. I.e., the "sensor" is just a wire that wears through, causing an open circuit.

Or unplug the old one, plug in the new one, and don't insert it into the pad, tie it out of the way, it will never wear out again, but your pads will start to squeal eventually, possibly damaging the rotors if you let them get down to metal.

tenspeed

Did the dealer mention how thick the inner rear pad is? The sensor is in a slot and when the pad wears down to around 3mm, the wire wears away and the warning light comes on. If you're going through the trouble of replacing the sensor, replace the pads.

Here's a shot of a sensor that's just about worn through.

freinando

Vodka G

Unplug the old one, plug in a new sensor but dont install it into the pads....Drive and monitor pad wear every 3-4 mos

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J. Patterson