Loss of brake feel and loss of stopping power

[swajames]

Hi everyone

I have a 2007 C2s and I'm having an issue with the brakes. I've just gone over 9,000 miles and the brakes seem to have lost their stopping power and I've got a huge reduction in brake feel. My miles are mainly highway, and my car has never been tracked. The brake issue is a recent occurrence, until a month or so ago they seemed fine. I'm no expert but as far as I can tell, the pads are OK, I have no had no squeaking from the brakes, there's been no sense of any wear indicators coming into play and I have no sign of any rotor issues. Whereas braking used to feel connected and instant, it's now like I've got a pretty obvious loss of feel and what seems to be a real reduction in stopping power. It's to the point where I worry that the car would stop as it should if an emergency were to arise. I'll swing by the dealer and ask them to take a look but wanted to see if you guys had any thoughts on what might be causing this. Surely my pads can't be out at 9,000 miles!?!?

Thanks

[Loren]

Since your car is so new and under warranty I suggest you take it in and have the dealer find the root cause. This is not normal.

[mglobe]

Loren's right about taking it in under warranty. If I had to guess, I would say your fluid needs to be at a bled, and/or flushed. It's not normal though for it to go bad that quickly unless you've been tracking it fairly hard.

[swajames]

Thanks guys, I'm going to try to visit the dealer next week. I've never tracked the car and the brakes were fine until about a month ago. I haven't had any break wear warning lights and the pads look OK. Pardon my ignorance but is there a way to check the brake fluid levels? It's my first 911 so all this stuff is pretty new to me.

Thanks again for the replies guys.

[Loren]

Check you Owner's Manual. The brake fluid is under the front hood.

A low fluid level would trigger a warning light (as would pad wear). Either there is air/water in the brake fluid or something else is wrong.

[swajames]

belated update... Took the car to the dealer, ran tests for a couple of days, the long story short is they said they found nothing obviously wrong :unsure:

Pads/rotors checked out fine and caliper pressure tested OK too. My dealer definitely took the issue seriously so kudos to them. Going to keep an eye on it and see what happens.

Edited June 20, 2008 by swajames

[Deanski]

belated update... Took the car to the dealer, ran tests for a couple of days, the long story short is they said they found nothing obviously wrong :unsure:

Pads/rotors checked out fine and caliper pressure tested OK too. My dealer definitely took the issue seriously so kudos to them. Going to keep an eye on it and see what happens.

One day, schedule a test drive between your car and one that is same model at dealer. This way you both can come to some agreement if there is a problem. Brakes should feel firm and go into ABS if really pushed hard. Maybe a slight leak in the brake booster area if the brakes do not respond in the same way.

You could also request that they flush the system fully as a precaution and to eliminate any bad fluid that may have become hydroscopic. I flush my system every two years to be safe. It's also an investment for my PCCB's and calipers to avoid any pitting in the piston/cylinder areas. That was a problem with Vette brakes in the past.

If you're not too happy with your dealer, there's always others to get a second opinion, or request that a PCNA regional rep test your car as well the next time it's at your dealership. That has to be coordinated between dealer and PCNA.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Deanski

[david_yorkshire]

probably won't help you, but I've driven about 10 997's now, over the past two years (two of which were mine !), and all felt different under braking !

If you drive a lot of highway miles, and don't brake that hard really, then you could have glazed the pads / rotors.

Try some agressive stops from high speed & see if it helps.

Fluid shouldn't have gone off that quick, unless there is an issue elsewhere.

again, with that mileage & driving, pad / rotor wear should not be an issue either.

I have a new 997s at the moment, that I've just tracked for the first time, and the brakes now feel different post track - but they did get some abuse !

good luck & let us know how you get on

David

[LEX 460]

Hi to all Just as food for thought, remember that if you do not break in your rotors and pads your stopping power will be affected, sometimes making a big difference in how the car brakes for the life of the pads and rotors. If you don't break in the system right you can cause the resins to come out of the pads before the pad material properly gets embedded in the Rotors. Then you have to have the rotors cut or replaced along with the pads and the process has to start over. Also any cotamination of the rotors or pads can get imbeded in the rotors causing high low or hot spots and with time pedal pulseing. Every good brake guy knows you never touch the rotors or pads, and soap and water are the only thing to use to clean the rotors. Never Brake clean....