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-   -   What was the average life of your car's brake pads? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/40503-what-average-life-your-cars-brake-pads-7.html)

I have had to change on my AT cars - Zen and Santro in under 25,000km. In fact the second set on my Santro lasted for all of 16,000. Ditto for my manual Esteem (pre Ventilated disc days). My Accent lasted for 40,000km. I hear that Civic ATs regularly last for 60,000+. So a lot depends on the manufacturer.

My Swift has done 46000 kms. I am still on my original brake pads. I don't do much engine braking at all. One thing though is that, atleast 20000+ kms of my 46000 has been on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

Hmmm. That still means more than 25K in the city which is near to how much I have driven. Any pointers on what should be done to ensure that the brake pads dont wear out prematurely?

Nice thread and wonderful perspective with a huge curve from different manafacturers regarding how long the pads last with some lasting as long as 1 Lakhs kms and some going kaput at 10K kms or little more.

My Accent Viva CRDI's pads lasted 34,000kms even after some hard driving. And, as GTO mentioned, keep a lookout for the high mettalic sound which is a dead giveaway that pads are on its last legs.

I am curious to know if there are any other reasons that will ensure a brakepad will last MORE/LESS number of kilometers apart from the basic ones we all know ( a good manafactured one and careful usage of brakes)?

My experience from Civic, manual - Front pads changed at 58K, almost worn out totally. Rear pads changed at 63K, around 2k left on it.

Swift Zxi, at 31K on inspection seems half is still remaining. Guessing 50K.

How to find out the remaining life of a brake pad? Is it possible to do it only if the brake pad is taken out?

Ofcourse, its only by visual inspection after physical removal, there is an indicator attached to the pads.

Thank you!!! I will have a look at the same tomorrow when they remove the brake pads for replacement and confirm that the wear is indeed there.

My cedia's fronts lasted 38k and rears lasted 27k. Lots of hard braking.

One relevant question. My Linea Brake Dics has developed a groove alomst 1.5 mm deep. Does that mean that it is time to replace the brake dics?

Something is not right as the brake bias (Generally 55-45) is towards the front in all vehicles and thats why the front disks will always go first.

How much has the car run ? You can also skim the disc but this shouldn't happen unless there is a major issue with the pad and calipers.

^ The car has run just 20K. Is it ok to skim the disc or should I get replaced, or should I just leave it. There is no problem as far as brakes are concerned.

My Indica’s (GLG, 2008) brake pad lasted 20K.
I use it for my daily commutation to office and one or two trips in a month to native from Bangalore.

This is too early for a mark to come on the disc. Get it checked thoroughly and get it replaced under warranty. The reason for the mark seems most likely to be because of manufacturing defect of the brake pad or the disc.

Speak to the ASC and see what they say.

Cheers

1.5mm is a lot. Probably caused by a stone chip or metal bit getting stuck between pad and disc. I'd expect the groove to be not too wide (maybe 0.5-1mm wide), so you can happily let it be (unless you can manage a change under warranty). Discs can be skimmed upto 2-2.5mm, before discarding them, so if you skim the whole disc now just for that groove, you'll shorten the life of the disc. OTOH, leaving that groove in place won't change braking efficiency.

To comment on the average life of disc brake pads, I changed the pads on my Swift today, after 52500km. Still a lot of material left, and one can compare between the new one and how much wear has happened. The new ones are TVS-Girling.



The metal strip is always there to squeal when pads are worn down, but pads are easy to inspect when the wheel is removed, without opening up anything else. Acceptable thickness is 1.5 mm, anything less and it's worth changing.