vancouverl

lexus is not the first to put sensors on pads most sensors can be reused .Why the high cost and compulsory replacement ? I dont know just a money maker if you ask me

cmasten

cant argue with the reasoning.. your right its a rip!

edarte

If, once the sensor is triggered, the pads are replaced right away, must the sensor be replaced as well?

I am wondering if the sensor gets triggered when the two wires in it are shorted when they touch the rotor. If the pads are replaced and the sensor is now no longer touching the rotor, would it not be okay to leave it "as is" and not replace it? Would it not again trigger a warning should the pads get low enough again for the sensor wires to short on the rotor?

Of course, if the pads are not replace right away and the sensor is allowed to grind against the rotor for some time, then it probably will need to be replaced.

Or maybe the sensor is so delicate, once it makes contact with the rotor, it is doomed?

Opinions?

randomwalk

Probably nobody here is a mechanic and most don't even do their own maintenance so I doubt you will get an answer..but I'm guessing that once the light comes on, it's toasted. I'm sure it's some kind of circuit and once it grinds against the rotor, it breaks the wire (circuit) and throws a light. I think you may be able to resolder the wires back to complete the circuit and reuse the sensor. But again, most driving an LS are upper-middle class and make enough money to not have their fingers dirty. I used to do all my maintenance when I was in college though

I'm curious if you can just remove that sensor and hang it elsewhere instead of placing it there in the caliber...of course you will never get a warning light (if this is possible) and the burden will fall on you to check your brake pads periodically.

edarte

Random
It looks you are right about the sensor being triggered when the circuit is broken, judging by this post on the LS 430's sensor.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...or-repair.html

I would think you should be able to tie the sensor out of the way but I don't see the value in doing that. Given that the sensor is the last warning before the pads gets so low that they start to cut into the rotors. I think it would be preferable to burn out one sensor to doing in the two rotors.

And, perhaps as Lexus intended, the best thing to do is keep an eye on the pad wear and replace pads before they even get low enough to wear the sensor.

I too used to do all my maintenance, minor and mjor, as my dad was a mechanic. I cut back on this with my LS 430 when I bought the shop manual and saw that three quarters of it was devoted to the electronics and one quarter to the mechanical. But I still do things like brake pads and rotors as that is relatively easy and rewarding.

randomwalk

Edarte
If you read a previous post (post #10 in this thread), a member mentioned that pad is 1/2 way worn when the sensor/light is triggered (inner pad worn out faster). I would hate to replace the pads when it's 1/2 way through (and the sensor).

vancouverl

using pad to 50% is not just a waist of money but also bad for the environment .I guess all great people make mistakes and I think Lexus failed to think this one through as there is no reasonable reason to justify getting a new sensor and throwing a set of pads out at 50% of life remaining !!!

chris07ls

I changed my brake pads and saved my sensors!

I’m the original owner of a 2007 LS with 58K miles and yesterday, for the first time on this vehicle, I Changed all the pads.

The front and back passenger inner pad sensors were almost touching the rotors. At this point there is about 20% pad left on the inner pads; and on my vehicle the outer pads had 40-50% of life remaining.

The driver front inner pad was almost totally gone, while the outer pad had about 40% left _- so much for having sensors.

The pads on this vehicle do not wear evenly. The inner pads wear much faster than the outer. Having sensors on two pads means that 6 pads are not monitored. Going forward I’m going to be watching those inner pads closely.

Like I said in an earlier post, I’m not a big fan of this sensor system.

PRSUIT460

iTrader: (3)

I'd rather have a sensor than a piece of metal touching my rotor and making noise. You have to remember 90% of the people that own these cars have never taken a tire off themselves. People that have cars without sensors ignore the high pitched noise from their brake pad wear indicator until their pad backing is going against the rotor. You should periodically inspect your brakes or have them inspected anyway to know how much they are worn.

chris07ls

I would rather have all my pads monitored the old fashion way. Just monitoring 2 out of 8 pads does not give you a complete picture. I almost had a rotor destroyed by a pad that was not monitored.

I would guess the engineers at Toyota adjusted the piston pressure dynamics to apply more pressure to the inner pads to support the use of electronic sensors on the inner pads. I have owned 5 Toyotas and never seen such uneven wear of the pads as this vehicle.
You are right, many Lexus owners could care less about the mechanical aspects of their vehicle, but I enjoy understanding and tinkering with the technology – it is fun and it saves me a lot of money

sgmorton

Has anyone tried shorting the sensor to see if it works. I had the notice come on, drove it to the next weekend and changed the pads. Now the message remains so here i am looking for answers. Seems to me a little solder and some way to protect the weld and I could be back on my way?

Just wondering if anyone has tried it yet.

I still can't belive that Lexus considers the sensor as single use. I still had about 20-25% of my pads left.

joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

hmmm.. bmw has similar sensor.. i could've sworn it was $15 last time we replaced it.

sgmorton

Price I am seeing is anywhere from $50 to $122 each! Which makes the "single use" sensor cost more than the pads they are protecting! I am equally astonished that they fail with 20% to go ... looking at my pads after changing I would have considered it time to start thinking about brakes and probably would have changed them in another 3K with my driving habits.

Maybe I am looking for the wrong piece? google shopping link.

joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

question... so there's no sound like other cars? when the metal tab touches the rotors...

sgmorton

No there is no metal "screecher" tab here.