Testing Brake Wear Sensors

[JeTexas]

I just did a brake job, and I ordered the off-brand brake wear sensors from deutschparts on eBay. I used these sensors for my last brake job two years ago with no issues.

However, this time my brake wear light hasn't gone out. I was sure that last time it went out by itself after I replaced the sensors, but I thought maybe I was forgetting something, so I ran my PST-2 thinking I must have just forgotten that I needed to reset the light. Nope, couldn't even find a way to do that. Then the seller suggested that I might need to disconnect the battery to reset it. I tried that, but no dice.

I'm pretty sure the light is just on a circuit with the sensors and when something breaks the circuit, it comes on. Am I wrong?

All four of the sensors test good for a complete circuit.

What am I missing here? Is there anything else I should check?

I'm going to trouble shoot it one more time tonight before giving up and returning these sensors. I'm getting really tired of taking the wheels on and off. Any tips or advice is appreciated.

[goldenwarrior1]

The brake sensors just complete a loop as you stated so if all 4 of them check out then you have other issues. If you still have the old sensors you can cut the end off and twist the wires together and temporarily connect them to all 4 wheel sensor connectors. If the light goes out then one of your new sensors is bad. If the brake light stays on then you have other brake issues. Do you have or know someone who has the Durametric software? It will read out any additional brake faults you have in the brake system.

[JeTexas]

The brake sensors just complete a loop as you stated so if all 4 of them check out then you have other issues. If you still have the old sensors you can cut the end off and twist the wires together and temporarily connect them to all 4 wheel sensor connectors. If the light goes out then one of your new sensors is bad. If the brake light stays on then you have other brake issues. Do you have or know someone who has the Durametric software? It will read out any additional brake faults you have in the brake system.

I have a Durametric as well. I just didn't bother running it because the PST-2 didn't show any errors/codes.

I'm wondering of the new sensors just aren't pushing far enough into the sockets. There's definitely an issue with more than one because I swapped one of the old sensors that was still good into each socket to see if the light would go off. No dice.

[Loren]

The sensor(s) will only turn on the light if the Circuit is open - it's that simple a system.

[JeTexas]

Thank you, Loren. I was almost certain that was how it worked, but I started second-guessing myself.