I started getting this, my car (2005 GT) has about 67,000 miles. I don't know which "service" this relates to, since it's mileage, I presume oil, but is there any other service that the car self-schedules? Oil was just changed, but I don't think the oil changer place had the OBD to reset it.

I am planning on hooking up the computer in a day or so because my rear wing has a fault will it tell me anything interesting about the service?

Also...brake pads. presumably this thing needs new front pads, the pedal travel tells my gut this. Does the computer know the brake pad depth, or only the replacement minimum? I don't mind replacing them early, I like a taught brake pedal and planned on simply changing the brake pads and batteries when I first took delivery, just because. I did neither. Advice?

 

British:

The service mileage follows the service manual. A Bentley dealer would be following it. The computer knows both the pad thickness and the replacement thickness requirement (if it was reset properly the last time). You do not need a scan tool or VCDS to reset the service monitor. Here are the service mileage requirements:

 

The message refers to the oil change. The car can't tell brake pad thickness - it'll just generate a warning on the dash when the wear sensor gets activated.

 

HI,Reset the service yourself

 

Sam,

On the service interval and mileage warning, as these cars get second hand owners, often they move to a DIY type service and the dash interval is taken as just an oil change. If you notice in the Service table I posted, every milestone includes a SERVICE A and the first service A item is the oil change. Since few to no owners actually read the service manual, the dash indicator is the visual "notice" to the owner one of the service milestones has been reached. DIYers often only do the first step in A skipping all the other steps and just call it a day.

On the brake pads, the fronts and rears are different. Although the fronts use a wear sensor which, in essence, is reaching a certain pad thickness when electrical contact is made by the sensor and the rotor, the rears are far more sophisticated. Back in March, I did a write up of the correct way to replace rear pads. If the rear pads are done correctly, a detailed process is used to program the rear brake module. Literally, you make a measurement of the new pad thickness and program that, in MM, into the brake module via VCDS. You also set, in the program, the minimum allowable wear thickness. By doing so, the computer (the car) now knows the initial pad thickness and the expected final thickness. The brake module calculates that wear over time by how far the caliper has closed in MM. When the min thickness is reached, a CEL is set.

I've seen DIYers change pad and not reset the brake module. Without doing these programming steps, the brake module will set a CEL because the caliper is in a different "new" position and does not match the last known position in the original reset.

Here is an excerpt from the post I did on programming the rear module:

Computer Interventions:

There are 5 VCDS service interventions to complete the rear pad replacement.

2 are mechanical to change the pads

2 are calibrations after the pad change.

1 is a park brake test after the pad change and thickness calibration

Start by using the 2 mechanical steps.

Retract the park brake - VCDS #53 parking brake – #04 Basic settings – code 007.

Then make the mechanical pad changes both sides, pump the brake pedal to close the new pads.

Next close the park brake – VCDS #53; #04; code 006.

Next is calibration and test, HOWEVER you don’t want to do the inclination calibrations with the rear of the car on jacks. I put the wheels on and set the car back on its suspension and a level surface to do these last 3 steps. You could do everything EXCEPT the inclination sensor before, your choice.

First set the pad thickness calibration – this is how the system knows and keeps track of the pad wear. Essentially, you’re programming the new pad thickness into the module. It tracks wear by how far the brake motor winds in over time and with wear. When the motor winds down over time to a preset position, (subtracted from the number you’ve entered), the brake pad warning light is illuminated on the dash.

Pad calibration is – VCDS #53 PBM; #10 Adaptation; code 06.

Enter the thickness of your new pads in MM. NOTE: This must obviously be done BEFORE you install the new pads. If you accidentally forgot to measure the thickness of the pad material before you installed, most new pads are going to be about 11mm or 12mm. The Stoptechs I installed were 11mm. If you forgot to measure, you’ll be safe entering 11mm as the new pad thickness. If they were actually more than that, you’ll just get the dash warning 1mm sooner (safer) someday when the pads need changing again.

Earlier I said I didn’t need brakes. Since it is pretty obvious from this calibration that new pads are about 11/12mm, and the min in the module is set at 3mm, and my old pads measured 6mm, so I was about at half life.

Now do the function test –

VCDS #53; #04; code 010.

This just exercises the brake module through retract and service positions several times so the PBM accepts the new brake pad thicknesses.

The last intervention and 2nd calibration is the “Inclination” calibration. This is the part that needs the car on a level surface. The inclination sensor tells the park brake whether you’re using it on a flat park surface, or parking on an incline. It determines how much force the park brake exerts on the pads in the park position.

VCDS - #53 PBM; #04 basic settings; Code 020.

This sets the inclination sensor at the level surface.