Breakpad Wear

[newt]

I just purchased a CPO 2001 Boxster S....while inspecting the break pads, I noticed that part of the red caliper cover/ housing is VERY close to the rotor, like 3/16" (4mm or so),is this normal? or is it an indication of break pad wear? Please advise

[Orient Express]

Newt:

Are you talking about Brake pads? or did you break your Brakes?

[Highlander]

I just purchased a CPO 2001 Boxster S....while inspecting the break pads, I noticed that part of the red caliper cover/ housing is VERY close to the rotor, like 3/16" (4mm or so),is this normal? or is it an indication of break pad wear? Please advise

This is normal. Porsche does not use a "floating caliper" design. The gap between the caliper and rotor is fixed and not dependant on pad wear. What you need to look at (you'll probably need a flashlight) is the amount of material left on the pad.

If you look at this picture, you should be able to make out the brake pistons, the pad backing material and the actual friction material. The pads in this pics are at the limit of their useablility IMHO (my car, my brakes - yes I changed them out).

Unless someone has removed them (I have, they are not shown above) you have a pad wear sensor on all 8 pads on the car. When the pads wear to about the depth you see in the pic above, you will get a warning light on the dash. It will start to illuminate intermittantly at first, then stay on all the time. When it stays on, it;s time to order new brakes, of schedule your car for a brake job.

One last thing... :welcome:

Graeme

[newt]

THANKS!!! I see now that I have plenty of pad, so I didn't get ripped off,.... boy these Porsches put out a lot of brake dust! An hour and a half of spirited driving and I have to wash the car (I GET to wash the car :-) ...brake dust all around the back of the car.....anyway, thanks for the info....one more question, as the pads wears, is there a spring that keeps it close to the rotor, or does it gradually get farther from the rotor when brakes are not applied?

[Highlander]

THANKS!!! I see now that I have plenty of pad, so I didn't get ripped off,.... boy these Porsches put out a lot of brake dust! An hour and a half of spirited driving and I have to wash the car (I GET to wash the car :-) ...brake dust all around the back of the car.....anyway, thanks for the info....one more question, as the pads wears, is there a spring that keeps it close to the rotor, or does it gradually get farther from the rotor when brakes are not applied?

You are very welcome.

There is no spring that keeps the pads close to the rotor. When you release the brakes, the pads will stop there clamping force on the rotors but will stay just touching them. The rotor surface is not perfectly flat and kinda pushes the pads back just far enough that they do not bind. It's all self correcting so the pads always stay roughly the same distance from the rotor no matter how much the pads or rotor wear.

If you want to understand more about the principals behind disk brakes, check out this article:

How disk brakes work

It shows a "floating caliper" style of brake, but the basic principals are the same.

Have fun,

Graeme

[newt]

Thanks for the information, Graeme!! This has been very helpful.....steve