Barbarian Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Hi, We have a 2007 (07) Autocruise Starspirit on a MWB Peugeot Boxer 2.2HDi. We went away last weekend with a start mileage of 6564. Not long into the trip the brake pad wear warning light came on. We continued at a very relaxed pace, the light came on and off went off intermittently. When we stopped and turned the engine off the light did not come on immediately on re-starting. We are planning a trip to Portugal in the next few weeks and will have this resolved, waiting for a price from the garage we usually use, will ask their opinion when they replace the pads. In the meantime, any ideas? It does not seem a big mileage for the brake pads to be worn, we are not heavy breakers, the vehicle had a full Peugeot service last August (2010) Barbarian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Presumably it has been confirmed that your Starspirit's brake-pads are actually worn down, and it's not just the wear warning-light playing silly beggars? If the wear-light's signal is not a false alarm, then there may be a fault with the braking system (eg. a partially-stuck calliper) that has caused one set of pads to wear excessively. Pad-thickness should be checked during a service and, if the thickness were OK in August 2010 at, say, 6000 miles covered, it's difficult to see how the pads could have worn so rapidly since then unless something unusual has caused it. Should the pads of both front-wheel brakes (that do most of the stopping work) turn out to be well worn down and inspection reveals no mechanical faults, then (Dare I say it? :-S) at such a low mileage it's likely to be due to the driver(s) as there's very little else one can blame. I've known people drive with their foot caressing the brake-pedal almost constantly, which does the brakes no good whatsoever. If your garage does need to replace the pads, you might want to ask them to use a specific make (I'm fond of Ferodo) just in case that helps in future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 The mileage is low, but it is possible that the brakes have been binding (my previous van had this problem, and unfortunately on the side which does not have the pad wear circuit!).What you haven't said, however, is whether you've actually checked the pads, rather than just relying on the warning light. It is not unknown for the pads to be OK, but the circuit to be faulty, especially if the lead has become detached/broken near the pad.If they have worn in such a short mileage, I should make sure that the calipers are properly cleaned off, and that the new pads have clear movement in their mounts (any good garage should, of course, do this). The problems I had were on the previous Ducato, but one pad was becoming stuck in its mount (the caliper pistons themselves were OK), and wouldn't back-off when the brakes were released, causing premature wear of that one pad. I've heard of a few similar occurrences.Edit:Derek - SNAP! (almost) ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy mccord Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Have you tried turning your front wheels on full lock and have a look at the meat thats left on the pad from the back side of the wheel. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dikyenfo Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Its quite common for the wire to contact earth and give a wear light operation. Always check brakes fully release when pulling to a stop . There should be no jerk which indicates sticking. The remedy is straightforward and apply appropriare grease to the pistons and forcing the piston back[mind level of fluid] and do this several times. Leave the piston fully closed and twist the caliper to check for free movement as the tilt action operates the balanced action. If double pistons are fitted this last can be omitted. Brakes are very easy these days and well worth familiarising yourself with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbarian Posted January 18, 2011 Author Share Posted January 18, 2011 Hi again, Thank you all for your very interesting replies. I have just had a reply from my garage guys and booked the van in for Friday afternoon to have new pads fitted. £115 inc VAT & fitting, seems reasonable to me(?) I will ask for their opinion on the old pads, calipers, cylinders etc. they are a 2 man band, time served reliable mechanics. As for the driving I have a (Police) Advanced Drivers Certificate and still try to drive to 'the system' per the roadcraft manual. If we did not change the pads we, would just worry all the time. We are planning our next long month trip to Portugal within the next few weeks, so we have decided to replace the pads for our piece of mind. I will let you know what the mechanics say, and just hope the warning light does not come on again! thanks again. barbarian B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 I would be surprised if the pads are worn out, or that the sensor wire is at fault. It is more likely to be something less obvious because we have found that although sensor wires are fitted to X250's they do not seem to be attached to anything. We have never had a brake warning light come on even ewith the pads going metal to metal with the discs! Needs a thorough check. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbarian Posted January 18, 2011 Author Share Posted January 18, 2011 Hi euroserv, I too would be surprised if the pads are worn, but we do not know how long the vehicle was standing before we bought it in July last year. We were told that the previous keeper had bought it on a whim, did not use it much then moved to Turkey and it was sold on his behalf. We have not noticed any binding of the brakes but in any case I would have thought the Peugeot service would have shown that up. I, like everyone else will be very interested in the mechanics opinion. After the pad replacement we are contacting an Auto Electrician to check the useless radio, and also hopefully put a stop to the 20 minute shut down, also to try to establish why the leisure batteries charge when the engine is running stationary, but not when it is moving!!! Will also ask him to check in case there is a fault causing the warning light to play up. I have not got a clue about electrics, mechanical or domestic so I leave it to experts, thank you. barbarian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Barbarian - 2011-01-18 6:21 PM ...we are contacting an Auto Electrician to check the useless radio, and also hopefully put a stop to the 20 minute shut down... barbarian These are some earlier forum threads that may be helpful. http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=17102&posts=9 http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=7703&posts=12 http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=6634&posts=30 Your Starspirit is based on the current Peugeot Boxer and (if I'm interpreting the advice in the above threads correctly!) it looks like the only way of to overcome the 20-minute limitation is to replace the standard radio with something different. As good radio reception demands a good aerial, that will be a sensible starting point for your auto-electrician' detective work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbarian Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 Hi all, as promised the update on the brake pads, well it is good news, when the mechanic got down to the pads he found the wear indicator wire had disconnected and was touching the caliper creating the circuit to make the warning light come on. He is good, he could have said the pads were worn and replaced them, instead he said they are like new and did not need changing. He reconnected the wire and secured it with wire ties to stop it coming off again, and saved us £100. In future maybe I should wait before I post my problems here as this was a simple fix. Regarding the radio issue I followed the advice in the links provided by Derek (Thank you) and tried the option to go 00time on the radio menu, unfortunately it made no difference. I just have to now convince my 'accountant' that we need a new radio! *-) Thank you all for your advice, regards barbarian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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