Brake pad wear sensor - or lack of !

[XC40Warwick]

Had my XC40 serviced at the Volvo garage in Northampton. Service was great until they informed me that the rear pads were worn 96% ..... My response was that I would have expected the indicator to tell me there was excessive wear, they told me the XC40 has no pad wear sensors fitted. It was also suggested the other XC range are the same.

The car has completed 28,000 miles since new and last year at service no mention of pad wear was reported. The last 12 months mileage was 12,000 miles.

If you do a fair amount of miles between service I would suggest a check every now and again.

[Deleted User 2525]

Depends on driving I suppose but pads should last at least 30k miles, so 28k isn't unreasonable.

I'm not too worried about lack of sensors, many cars have them, many don't. They can give a false sense of security if the wear is uneven.
I'd be more worried why your first service didn't pick up the wear as an advisory notice at least. What did your service check list say? They usually give mm or percentage wear.

[Dermottdog]

Depends on driving I suppose but pads should last at least 30k miles, so 28k isn't unreasonable.

I'm not too worried about lack of sensors, many cars have them, many don't. They can give a false sense of security if the wear is uneven.
I'd be more worried why your first service didn't pick up the wear as an advisory notice at least. What did your service check list say? They usually give mm or percentage wear.

I’m a bit sceptical about the lack of sensors. I drive a Renault Kangoo company van. Pad sensors are not fitted. I’ve had at least to sets of front discs because of worn pad damage. By the time you hear and feel the grinding noise, it’s too late. Renault used to fit sensors years ago. So why not now? Fitting Sensors would save the customer lots of money but I guess that wouldn’t look too good on the bottom line of a profit spreadsheet.

[Deleted User 2525]

Many manufacturers, I'm not sure about Volvo, use an alternative "sensor" or marker than does make a noise as you describe, that indicates that the pads need to be changed. This type of sensor that grinds/squeals is a legitimate indicator. It's physical part of the brake system that makes a noise when the pad is part worn.

The electrical type of sensor, a sensor in the true sense of sensor, is an electrical device that sends a signal to the car and indicates, usually via a warning light, that the pad is worn. Volvo in the XC40, and other models doesn't use these electrical types of sensor.

As I understand it the electrical type can be over or under optimistic depending where the wear occurs. Suggesting pads should be replaced where there isn't a problem or not picking up a problem where one exists.

Volvo doesn't use the electrical type, I don't know if they use the squealing type. They may use nothing at all apart from the 12 month service.

In any event they should have picked up wear at an initial 12 month check if a 2 year check showed almost complete degredation.

With regard to Renault - I once had a Renault Scenic, a brilliant car, that had one fault in my 8 years with it. It had as many new discs as it had disc pad changes in my time with it. Perhaps it's something with Renault !!!

[Dermottdog]

Many manufacturers, I'm not sure about Volvo, use an alternative "sensor" or marker than does make a noise as you describe, that indicates that the pads need to be changed. This type of sensor that grinds/squeals is a legitimate indicator. It's physical part of the brake system that makes a noise when the pad is part worn.

The electrical type of sensor, a sensor in the true sense of sensor, is an electrical device that sends a signal to the car and indicates, usually via a warning light, that the pad is worn. Volvo in the XC40, and other models doesn't use these electrical types of sensor.

As I understand it the electrical type can be over or under optimistic depending where the wear occurs. Suggesting pads should be replaced where there isn't a problem or not picking up a problem where one exists.

Volvo doesn't use the electrical type, I don't know if they use the squealing type. They may use nothing at all apart from the 12 month service.

In any event they should have picked up wear at an initial 12 month check if a 2 year check showed almost complete degredation.

With regard to Renault - I once had a Renault Scenic, a brilliant car, that had one fault in my 8 years with it. It had as many new discs as it had disc pad changes in my time with it. Perhaps it's something with Renault !!!

Yes and no...

The van only makes the grinding noise when all the pad material has worn away and the metal pad contacts the disc. It truly is metal to metal. The 20 year Shogun we are about to sell does indeed have a metal ‘squealer’ strip. This gives fair warning that the pads are spent. As far as tech goes, my previous Mini had a warning system which involved renewing a sensor wire which was buried behind all sorts of stuff. They obviously didn’t want it to be changed by ‘Kerbside autos’.

[XC40Warwick]

Depends on driving I suppose but pads should last at least 30k miles, so 28k isn't unreasonable.

I'm not too worried about lack of sensors, many cars have them, many don't. They can give a false sense of security if the wear is uneven.
I'd be more worried why your first service didn't pick up the wear as an advisory notice at least. What did your service check list say? They usually give mm or percentage wear.

Just looked at the checklist for the first service - no sign of brake pad wear being reported.

[Deleted User 2525]

I'd try it on with them. They should have reported either mm or % wear at that time. The boats already sailed I fear though!

They wouldn't go from no-wear to 96% in 12 months with only 12,000 covered. Sounds like they didn't check at 12 months.

[5kestrel]

My daughters car is a first edition XC40 T5 Design. She had to have rear discs and pads replaced at less than 30k. In all my 50+ years of driving/owning cars I’ve never heard of rear brakes having to be replaced before front, which takes the heavy load. Next up was the accelerator requiring replacement. Today she is out with her friend and gets a message ‘brake failure’ ! Luckily she was on a car park at the time and Volvo Assistance is due to visit within 90 mins. She has previously driven Porsche Cayenne and Macan, Jaguar F-Pace all of which were trouble free. The Volvo was new, top of the range and although still in warranty is of massive inconvenience when things go wrong. What has happened to the legendary Volvo build quality and reliability? The issues experienced were usually associated with Land Rovers before quality improvements! Thankfully both my daughter and her friend were able to make emergency arrangements for others to collect their children from school. Come on Volvo get your act together!!

[Reg Istered]

I've also experienced the brake failure message, warning me to pull over.
After pulling over, using the car's brakes, which were fine!! I switched the car off and turned it on again. This cleared the message and I haven't seen it since.
I agree about quality, this sort of thing is software related. The brakes were always operational.

[Volvo XC40]

Auto hand brake system if not manually disengaged drags the car and friction Is wearing out the rear pads