I've had the brake pads warning light and message come on intermittently for a while, and now it comes on every time I start the car. So I got some new pads and got stuck into replacing the pads, only to find that all the pads on every corner have plenty of meat left, in fact hardly less than new pads. I also checked the wiring to the front pads which do not look as if they have been touched and are perfectly intact. So, why the message, and how can I switch it off? I have now got a refund on the pads I bought, and the braking is perfect, but I need to get the car MoT tested and wonder if the warning light will constitute a fail perhaps?

Did you check the inner and outer pads?

Perhaps the one front or rear pad within the wire on it has somehow ground to earth or however it works?

Yup, wheels off, checked the pads on both sides of the disc through the front of the caliper, etc,  loads of pad left. I might disconnect the wire and reconnect it and see if that helps!

You should be able to short the two wires together for the brake pad warning to disable it.

 

If not, you can code the warning out with VCDS or similar.

Does short the two wires together mean detaching the wires and bridging the contacts with a paper clip or something? I'm not sure how the circuit works; is one side an earth?

Yeah, connect the two wires together.

 

There is a link inside the brake pad that does the same. As the pad wears, it eventually destroys the link so they aren't connected causing the warning light to show.

 

At least that's my understanding 👍