Bizarre issue with "Brake Pads!" warning in C7 A6

[Sinitron]

Good afternoon all,

Never had an issue like this and figured I would tap the community before I surrender the car to the dealer for review. I've always been a firm believer of working it out myself so be patient with my story.

I have a 2013 CPO C7 A6 3.0T. Car has been flawless for 20k+ miles, and I enjoy driving it with the family.

One day while driving on the highway I get a single beep warning, and "Brake Pads!" is displayed in the center information screen. I can index through my other menus, but can't clear it. I reach my destination, turned the car off, turned it back on, and it was gone. Scanned with vagcom cable, no codes at all. A week later it does it again, and with the error present I leave the car running, get my cable, scan the car, and again absolutely no codes using generic or C7 scanning routines in the vagcom software.

No big deal, it's brake pads right? I get new rotors and akebono ceramic pads from ECS, put in new front rotors, pads, and sensor. I'm glad I did, the OEM's were a little warped. Smooth braking power.
A day later, the same error dings on the center screen again.

Ok, maybe the rear? car has 50k miles on it, probably due. I get matching rear rotors, pads, and sensor. Perform the correct vagcom rear electronic e-brake lining service steps, replace everything, brakes are perfect. Warning returns the same day.

I turn the car off, and as a test got two ECS brake sensor wear eliminators to try and diagnose if it was a sensor or other issue. I replace both F+R new brake pad sensors (car has sensors drivers side only) with the ECS sims, and the message appears yet again.

I think it always seems to happen if I'm turning left or go over a slight elevation change (e.g. backing out of a driveway, slight incline, etc.)

Any ideas? I can't think of anything else to test unless it involves reprogramming pad depth via vagcom or some other operation I missed.

Thank you,

[averagejoe26]

I had a very similar problem. My brake pad light would turn on when turning left. Only difference is vag com pointed out the front left brake sensor had a electrical problem. Turns out the abs harness was cut halfway. I got the harness repaired and no more brake light :)

[Sinitron]

I had a very similar problem. My brake pad light would turn on when turning left. Only difference is vag com pointed out the front left brake sensor had a electrical problem. Turns out the abs harness was cut halfway. I got the harness repaired and no more brake light :)

Well thanks, that confirms what I have been seeing and gives me something to go on. Guess I'll Google it a bit as well.

[DGVR6]

Well thanks, that confirms what I have been seeing and gives me something to go on. Guess I'll Google it a bit as well.

Found out the issue?

Did the red “BRAKE” light come on with that also?
I did my service and my dealer mentioned that I do need to replace pads, find it odd that just the red brake along with brake pad message comes up without the yellow brake worn indicator. Don’t want to touch brakes if it’s not actually the brake pads and some wiring issue

[goliath1]

I have seen worn brake pads trigger the red warning light. Less pad causes further pedal travel thereby reducing the amount of fluid in the master reservoir. This can trigger the red warning light.

[DGVR6]

I have seen worn brake pads trigger the red warning light. Less pad causes further pedal travel thereby reducing the amount of fluid in the master reservoir. This can trigger the red warning light.

True, but dealer just flushed the system, also checked and it seems like it’s acutally overfilled instead of under so can it trigger because it’s over the max line?

[AAAudiA6]

I got the same Brake Pads yellow msg with the red “brake” light in the display. Anyone figure out what it could be? I was thinking to replace rotors and pads including the sensors. DGVR6 have you solved your issue yet?

[Soft]

Following, just replaced the whole front pads/disks, still yellow light.
Will have a look at the rear today.

[Sinitron]

Hey just to update my post from way above. It ended up being the front lower driver side brake harness. Another members post tipped me off, he had the exact same issue. I tested this out after replacing the front rotors, pads, and sensors (still had light), rear rotors, pads, sensors (still had light), reset w/ laptop, still came back. Bought 2 ECS racing brake light eliminator kits (for big brake kits to eliminate warning light, a resistor inside of a plug) and STILL got the light, which convinced me the problem was electrical and beyond the scope of replaceable parts.

Made an appointment, dropped of my C7A6, argued with the dealer even though the car is CPO, they tried to charge me 2 hours of labor and convince me to buy all new rotors, pads, sensors (FU) even though mine had zero miles on them. In the end they charged me an hour of diagnosis and 2 new pad sensors, even though the work order says they found a corroded lower left brake harness, tried to repair pins, ultimately replaced the harness an the problem went away. They tried to tell me the ECS sensors I left installed were the problem, and I reminded them that's how I progressively troubleshot the issue to an electrical level. Bunch of morons. I asked if they could at least wash the car and have it ready for pickup 2 days later. Picked it up dirty, with the lot tags and seat covers still left in the car. I think I'm moving away from Audi after the experience.

[Laserrs]

There are two Audi dealers here, one are complete bags, the other are awesome to work with even with certain items that are questionable regarding future warranty. To that end, any dealer of any make can be the same way. I suggest you find a dealer you like and invest some time with the service advisors ;)

[BuickTypeR]

not to bring post back from many years ago what does light look like on c7? Dealer told me FRONT BRAKES 5MM AND need to be replaced but i dont have light on my dash thanks

[Sinitron]

not to bring post back from many years ago what does light look like on c7? Dealer told me FRONT BRAKES 5MM AND need to be replaced but i dont have light on my dash thanks

I got rid of the car a year ago, from what I remember it was a warning message in the center LCD screen on the dash cluster, not a yellow MIL dot. The lower left brake sub-harness was corroded and wouldn't reset with vagcom after replacing all brake components.

[Valpo A7]

not to bring post back from many years ago what does light look like on c7? Dealer told me FRONT BRAKES 5MM AND need to be replaced but i dont have light on my dash thanks

The warning light won’t trigger until you start wearing into the sensor. The sensor is there as a sacrificial piece to warn you that the pads are very thin (roughly 3mm) and it’s time to replace. You can buy the sensor from Advance Auto for under $10 or go get held up without a gun at the dealer for over $50 each. You need 1 for the front and 1 for the rear. Both are on driver side. You will need software to release the rear electronic emergency brake. There are videos on YouTube showing how to physically remove the e-brake and do the job without software but most just go the software route with VCDS or OBD11. You need 1 or the other if you are gonna do your own work on these cars.

[Kawasakijim]

How old is the battery? Might be unrelated but I dropped off my car once to have some work done and when I got it back, I noticed the overall time driven was almost at 6 hours... just draining the battery (but mine was still pretty new). I got the "brake pad" message after for a day or 2. After driving around a couple of days the battery was charged again and I never saw the message come back.