Thread: Akebono Brake pads- Anyone tried them?

Fitted a set on the front of my 2010 2.7 D4 along with new discs just before a trip to Cape York. They need a firm foot and a lot of temp to work as well as OEM pads and I found that after approx 12,000K's, the discs had turned blue and the pads were totally glazed.

I admit to being hard on the brakes and tow a Kimberley Camper but was disappointed at the performance of the pads particularly off-road in a lot of dust and numerous creek crossings. Minimal brake dust yes but overall - not my 'cup-of-tea'.

I went back to OEM pads with vented discs and don't regret the decision.

Are you referring to the akebono ceramic or the bendix ceramic from the last page?

I don't have vented disc's in any case but happy with the brake force of the oem set up

I'm second day on holidays and my car has flashed up to say "brake pads worn" and I'll be away for two weeks, would I be correct in assuming they will still run for a while? Visually it seems there is a bit to go

could be broken/bad sensor or connection , if theres still meat on the pads you'll be fine , if it is a dodgy sensor , and it becomes annoying , you can cut the wires down stream of the connector and join them together. just make sure the remainder of the sensor wire wont get in the way of anything. new sensor can be got when you get home

Originally Posted by Catmatt

Fitted a set on the front of my 2010 2.7 D4 along with new discs just before a trip to Cape York. They need a firm foot and a lot of temp to work as well as OEM pads and I found that after approx 12,000K's, the discs had turned blue and the pads were totally glazed.

I admit to being hard on the brakes and tow a Kimberley Camper but was disappointed at the performance of the pads particularly off-road in a lot of dust and numerous creek crossings. Minimal brake dust yes but overall - not my 'cup-of-tea'.

I went back to OEM pads with vented discs and don't regret the decision.

What type and brand of discs?

Originally Posted by scarry

What type and brand of discs?

Direct import from Ashcroft Engineering in the UK. I wanted to try a set of quality ventilated and drilled discs and am pretty chuffed so far as I have no overheating or blueing and the pedal pressure with OEM pads is much better - even if the wear rate is a lot higher due to the softer compound OEM pads.

I have no issues with Australian made discs but can only find solid discs for the D4. Had a set of Aussie made discs all round on my D2 and they worked fine!

Originally Posted by discorevy

could be broken/bad sensor or connection , if theres still meat on the pads you'll be fine , if it is a dodgy sensor , and it becomes annoying , you can cut the wires down stream of the connector and join them together. just make sure the remainder of the sensor wire wont get in the way of anything. new sensor can be got when you get home

Nah some meat but not a lot so I think the sensor is ok, perhaps it's just a little cautious as you'd expect.

I've fitted a set of front and rear akybono pads to the car today, after atarting the car the "brake pads worn" message and light still comes on.

Does anyone know how to fix this? How do I know if the sensor is broken or just not fitted properly? If I knew how it worked this might help me trouble shoot

Or, does it need to be reset somewhere like the service required message I recently had.

Thanks

My understanding is that once a brake pad has worn enough to activate the "worn brakes" message, the sensor that has detected this is stuffed and must be replaced. Basically, you wear the end off the sensor and create an "open circuit" - the only way to properly get rid of the message is to replace the sensor. I believe that you can "bridge" the wires to the sensor to get rid of the message, but this should be a temporary fix only, as you will then have no warning should you wear through another pad or have other problems with that wheel.

Sensors are not expensive - there's only two of them (not fitted to all four wheels I've been told). You can get them through any dealer, or after-market ones through Pedders and others.