Red MINI on lift + Brake light won't go out!

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   I have 2008 Cooper S Hardtop. I now have a red icon of a MINI on a lift and my BRAKE light will not go off. This happened as I was making a U-turn in front of Seattle MINI.

What this can mean and means in my case, for reference, is that one of your brake pad sensors is warning you of impending damage because of how worn your pads are. For me it's the rears and the car says I have less than 300 miles left on the pads. Glad I was in front of Seattle MINI when this happened so they could read my key fob.  

I've ordered parts and will be doing a pad+rotor swap on all 4 wheels. I could use some help with this work but I'll start another thread once I confirm delivery of all the parts. 

My question, and reason for this thread, how accurate is the computer? The service light went on in November at something like ~36,000 miles. I'm now at 42,000 so I've known about the worn rear pads for a couple of months. Just have been procrastinating on what I wanted to upgrade to. I figure I can drive till I need gas (filled up yesterday) and then I should probably stop driving till I get the work done. 

Thanks

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ipeverywhere Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List PSMINI Admin PSMINI Treasurer Joined: June/16/10 Location: Sammamish Status: Offline Points: 1273	Post Options Post Reply Quote ipeverywhere Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Red MINI on lift + Brake light won't go out! Posted: July/24/12 at 11:28am
	I have 2008 Cooper S Hardtop. I now have a red icon of a MINI on a lift and my BRAKE light will not go off. This happened as I was making a U-turn in front of Seattle MINI. What this can mean and means in my case, for reference, is that one of your brake pad sensors is warning you of impending damage because of how worn your pads are. For me it's the rears and the car says I have less than 300 miles left on the pads. Glad I was in front of Seattle MINI when this happened so they could read my key fob. I've ordered parts and will be doing a pad+rotor swap on all 4 wheels. I could use some help with this work but I'll start another thread once I confirm delivery of all the parts. My question, and reason for this thread, how accurate is the computer? The service light went on in November at something like ~36,000 miles. I'm now at 42,000 so I've known about the worn rear pads for a couple of months. Just have been procrastinating on what I wanted to upgrade to. I figure I can drive till I need gas (filled up yesterday) and then I should probably stop driving till I get the work done. Thanks

johnf36 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List PSMINI Expert Advisor PSMINI Member Joined: August/30/07 Location: Ephrata, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 8612	Post Options Post Reply Quote johnf36 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: July/24/12 at 1:03pm
	I don't think its very accurate , because its based on mileage and not actual driving.
	If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.

ipeverywhere Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List PSMINI Admin PSMINI Treasurer Joined: June/16/10 Location: Sammamish Status: Offline Points: 1273	Post Options Post Reply Quote ipeverywhere Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: July/24/12 at 2:10pm
	Actually there is a wear sensor for the pad and I _really_ hope it's used for the calculation as the bloody thing is $50 to replace. I'm just trying to determine how accurate the sensor is.

johnf36 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List PSMINI Expert Advisor PSMINI Member Joined: August/30/07 Location: Ephrata, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 8612	Post Options Post Reply Quote johnf36 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: July/24/12 at 2:26pm
	If its like the gen 1s it is just a normally open contact sensor and when it rub the rotor it closes the circuit.
	If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.

onramp Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List PSMINI Expert Advisor PSMINI Member Joined: November/19/06 Location: Renton, WA Status: Offline Points: 2321	Post Options Post Reply Quote onramp Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: July/24/12 at 6:12pm
	Yep - you need to replace the sensor as well as the pads. When the pads wear down to a point where safety will eventually be affected, you wear thru the sensor until you reach the metal contact, which turns on the light. If this is a recent event, you are probably OK if you aren't going down the Grapevine or hitting the track. General around town street driving shouldn't be a problem for a couple of weeks. I would be happy to help teach you how to do the work. Is this the first set of pads still on the rears? You might not really need the rotors - we could measure them and decide. If you already have them coming, keep them. You will eventually need them. PM me your phone number and we can talk more about this if you have other questions. Pat
	2006 Hyper Blue JCW