VW Bora warning light

pontovic

Anyone know what this warning light on the VW Bora means ? It came up on the dash yesterday and I dont have an instruction manual. Google has nothing.

PaddyFagan

From memory it's a warning about the brakes - either wear in the pads or a fault in the abs. - if it's yellow, I'd suspect the former.

Paddy

Lex Luthor

Looks like the brake pad wear indicator sensor...

Time to change the pads and sensor soon. You've got about 2-3mm left on your pads (approx. 1000 miles). Leave it go after that and you'll be needing disks aswell.

pontovic

How much do you think it would cost to replace the brake pads on a Bora ? My car is a comfortline 1999 1.6l with Disc brakes front and rear.

alias no.9

It's a break wear warning light. If it comes on when you brake, one or more of your pads needs replacing, probably just the front pair though cos the rear brakes do very little braking. If it is on all of the time then there is a fault with the circuit that checks the brakes. In my experience, these circuits can be a reasonable guide but are not always reliable, it's best to do a take a look at the pads to check for wear. One car I had used to have this light come on when it was wet, obviously water causing a short circuit.

pontovic

it comes on when i start the car, and sometimes it comes on when im driving it. it doesnt stay on all the time, though. is it a big job to replace the brake pads ? could i just pop into halfords and get some new ones and fit them myself ?

el tel

Don't know if it's the same for your 1999 car I but recently changed the (rear) pads and disks on a 2002 Passat and it was a $hitty job. As the pads were fully worn, the pistons were at their maximum travel from the calliper and screwing them back in was a nightmare. If it's the same case with yours then I advise getting a Sealy Brake Piston Rewind tool (about €35) as it will save you hours of needless labour. In my experience at the moment (albeit in the North) VW dealers prices for the proper VW pads/disks are as cheap as any.

alias no.9

If you are doing it yourself, open the bleed nut before trying to wind back the piston, you'll not only save yourself a lot of effort but if you don't do this, you at risk of reversing seals inside the caliper.

el tel

alias no.9 wrote:

If you are doing it yourself, open the bleed nut before trying to wind back the piston, you'll not only save yourself a lot of effort but if you don't do this, you at risk of reversing seals inside the caliper.

I was considering opening the bleed nut but a VW mechanic, among others, had warned me of the potential perils of doing this if the car has ABS. Having only worked on non-abs brakes previously and not wanting to chance a mishap, I didn't do it in the end amd did it the hard way instead.

crosstownk

el tel wrote:

I was considering opening the bleed nut but a VW mechanic, among others, had warned me of the potential perils of doing this if the car has ABS. Having only worked on non-abs brakes previously and not wanting to chance a mishap, I didn't do it in the end.

That is good advice. A special tool is required to wind back the piston. A VW dealer is the most expensive option, but you could go to Advance Pit Stop and they'll do it cheaper, and while you wait but they won't use genuine VW pads.

The warning light is only associated with your front pads there are no sensors attached to your rear pads.

alias no.9

el tel wrote:

I was considering opening the bleed nut but a VW mechanic, among others, had warned me of the potential perils of doing this if the car has ABS. Having only worked on non-abs brakes previously and not wanting to chance a mishap, I didn't do it in the end amd did it the hard way instead.

What are these potential perils prey tell? You've got to be careful not to get any air or contamination sucked back into the system bit this is easily dealt with by attaching a clean, reasonably long flexible tube to the bleed nut and hold it above the bleed nut so the only thing that can get sucked back in is the brake fluid you've pushed out. It begs the question, why have a bleed nut if you're not supposed to use it?

crosstownk

alias no.9 wrote:

What are these potential perils prey tell? You've got to be careful not to get any air or contamination sucked back into the system bit this is easily dealt with by attaching a clean, reasonably long flexible tube to the bleed nut and hold it above the bleed nut so the only thing that can get sucked back in is the brake fluid you've pushed out. It begs the question, why have a bleed nut if you're not supposed to use it?

Unless you are a competent mechanic, operations like bleeding brakes are best left to those who know exactly what they are doing. Bleed nipples are there so air can be removed from the system after replacing components such as master cylinders, calipers, burst brake pipes, etc and also when the brake fluid is replaced (VW recommend this every 2 years). I'm sure nobody needs reminding that if something goes wrong and you loose you brakes you could be killed..........There is enough carnage on the roads already so if you decide to do it be sure you know what your doing.

alias no.9

crosstownk wrote:

Unless you are a competent mechanic, operations like bleeding brakes are best left to those who know exactly what they are doing. Bleed nipples are there so air can be removed from the system after replacing components such as master cylinders, calipers, burst brake pipes, etc and also when the brake fluid is replaced (VW recommend this every 2 years). I'm sure nobody needs reminding that if something goes wrong and you loose you brakes you could be killed..........There is enough carnage on the roads already so if you decide to do it be sure you know what your doing.

I understand this and have bled brakes in the past without issue. I've replaced brake fluid, pads and flexible brakelines.

My question is why it would be different for cars fitted with ABS? I understand that they are very sensitive to contamination but once steps are taken to eliminate contamination, why would you not open the bleed nut to allow you wind back the caliper, taking care to always apply pressure to the piston so that the flow is outwards only while the bleed nut is open?

crosstownk

OK - there should be no real difference as the ABS pump is further back down the line and will not be starved of fluid at any time while you are winding back the pistons. Be sure that you brake fluid resivoir is at max before you start in case you accidentally spill a bit of fluid. You may have to remove some fluid when you are finished as the new pads will have the piston further back and the fluid level higher.
There is no reason why you should introduce any contamination in to the ABS pump. The long flexi hose you suggested earlier is a great idea - you could simply cable tie it to the suspension spring so you can have 2 hands free - a transparent hose that is resistant to corrosion by brake fluid would be preferable.

Lex Luthor

seeing as you mentioned the light is not all the time, may point to something other than worn pads. I would take off each front wheel, one at a time and have a look and see how much pad is left. The wear sensors are normally designed to kick in with about 2-3mm of pad left.

To replace the pads, unless you've done it before or you have a step-by-step guide with photos, I'd leave it.

I just replaced both sets of front pads & wear sensors on the 2 cars in the house, bith with ABS and on all 4 wheels I pushed back the pistons. No problems. I used a G-clamp with a small piece of wood between the clamp and across the face of the piston. Obviously you have to open the cap to the reservoir first to allow the excess to come to the top and all the time watching it in case it starts to spill out.

Both my calipers require a 7mm allen key to remove them as have most calipers I've removed on previous cars.

If you do decide to do it yourself, you can get all the parts from (GSF - German Swedish French car parts) on Oak Rd., just off Nangor Rd. They sell original parts at a discount of dealer prices.