Help - Brake Warning

[rdufton]

Evening all,

I have just had our A2 serviced with a timing belt, water pump and new brakes. Had this done at what was my local independent (when I was in Newcastle) and have now driven 300 miles to where I am now based outside Aberdeen. Went to the Newcastle place as I trusted them to do a good job as they have worked on the car before and been good. I have just driven back from work and have a warning on for the brakes (exclamation symbol in a circle).

Firstly does anyone have any ideas as to what I should check (have had a look at the brake fluid but cannot see where it is sitting). I know this should just go straight back to the garage that did the work but unfortunately the 600 mile round trip is not an option (especially with dodgy brakes).

Secondly if anyone happens to know of a good Aberdeen based garage that I could take it to please let me know.... this is our only car and I have a 20 mile drive to work in the morning... not a happy camper at the moment!!

Thanks!

 

[davidmac]

Brakes

First of all calm dowm.What colour is your brake symbol.Yellow is advisory meaning probably worn front pads .Red is serious probably brake fluid level .Sorry missed the part about having your brakes done

 

[rdufton]

Thanks for the response. The warning light is red.....guess that makes sense would explain why I was struggling to see what level the fluid was at.

 

[spike]

Thanks for the response. The warning light is red.....guess that makes sense would explain why I was struggling to see what level the fluid was at.

If its not the fluid level then another possibility is the brake pad wear indicator wiring. The plug-in connector is easily damaged when changing brake pads so its possible this could have happened during the service. Not sure if this would give a yellow or red warning lamp though.

Cheers Spike

 

[davidmac]

fluid level

First thing I would do is top up the fluid level as soon as poss.If it gets too low you run the danger of letting air into the system and thats a nightmareAn I aint kiddinA wee bottle of dot 4 brake fluid will do the trick.Just fill to the level on the side of the reservoir and watch the paintwork brake fluid used to be very good at stripping paint

Hi Spike I am fairly certain that the wear indicator lamp is a yellow caution whether genuine or false alarm

Thanks for the response. The warning light is red.....guess that makes sense would explain why I was struggling to see what level the fluid was at.

 

[rdufton]

First thing I would do is top up the fluid level as soon as poss.If it gets too low you run the danger of letting air into the system and thats a nightmareAn I aint kiddinA wee bottle of dot 4 brake fluid will do the trick.Just fill to the level on the side of the reservoir and watch the paintwork brake fluid used to be very good at stripping paint

Thanks again... I am looking to get the car uplifted to a local garage... if I can find a local garage to uplift it to...

 

[murdo]

Theres a couple of members in Aberdeen. GrahamR is a friendly bloke from the granite city, drop him a PM and see who looks after his A2. Could save you further trips to Newcastle!

 

[rdufton]

Thanks all... have found a local garage who will look at the brake issue for me... not an audi specialist but they come recommended.... will let everyone know!

As for the place that looks after Graham's car... will definitely send him a PM... the trip to newcastle was not just for the car but pobably will be the last time!!

 

[Mike1410]

Bet you it's the wiring for the brake wear indicator - not the brakes themselves. It will have been trapped when the pads were replaced and the plastic coating on the wire has now worn through causing a short and making the light come on (which will be red).

Don't blame an otherwise good garage and start refusing to use them ever again - it's an easy mistake to make. Get the wheels off & have a look, then fix it with some insulation tape!

Just had exactly this happen on my T5 camper after the n/s/f tyre was replaced and the tyre fitter caught the pad wiring when refitting the wheel.

 

[rdufton]

Don't blame an otherwise good garage and start refusing to use them ever again - it's an easy mistake to make.

That's not what I meant... I am in the process of moving away from Newcastle which is why I want somewhere else to take the car. When I phoned the garage to explain what had happened they couldnt have been more helpful.

As you say its possibly just a warning light without an issue... I will wait and see what the actual issue is.

 

[birdsd01]

From my recent experience of brake pad wear indicator problems. Even with the sensor disconnected the warning light (symbol) is orange. This is due to the fact that the car is still safe to drive with worn brake pads, but needs attention in the next few hundred miles. Any red warnings mean stop the car immediately, and get it into a garage for a check-up.

There will be other sensors on the brake system that will generate a red warning, but not the pad wear indicator.

David

 

[john-wingnut]

I had constant problems with brake warning lights coming up, back in feburary.
They would randomly come up sometime red and sometimes orange. Stopped the car turned ignition off and they went away.

Had this for around a month, until I then changed the front discs and pads, and cleaned the wear sensor wiring connector up and have now had no problems since, so as people have mentioned previously it may be the wear indicator connector or wiring as I was getting both red and orange warnings.

John

 

[bluepassion]

brake's

have you checked the brake light's because this happened to me on M.O.T day the car failed on no brake lights the switch went that day

 

[rdufton]

Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions and ideas. It turns out according to the local garage that the passenger side brake sensor was damaged and that there was insufficient brake fluid in there as well...

...at least its sorted!!