Full Brake Change

[stonecutterC4]

Hi,

I need to change my front and rear brakes (pads and rotars according to the local Porsche dealer that did a recent service). My dad and I have a car shop with a lift so I plan to do it myself. Although I lifelong fan of Porsche I have limited technical knowledge. I purchased a 2001 C4 in January. My question is what do I need to do a full change for the brakes. Any help is much appreciated.

[minny]

Hi,

I need to change my front and rear brakes (pads and rotars according to the local Porsche dealer that did a recent service). My dad and I have a car shop with a lift so I plan to do it myself. Although I lifelong fan of Porsche I have limited technical knowledge. I purchased a 2001 C4 in January. My question is what do I need to do a full change for the brakes. Any help is much appreciated.

When I did mine, I replaced the pads, discs, the damping plates (4 in total for the front, 8 in total for the rears) and I needed 2 wear sensors as my front pads had worn right down to them and I couldn't remove them without damage. Interesting thing is that Porsche instructions advise changing the caliper bolts but the official Porsche centres here don't do that so I reused my caliper bolts.

[deckman]

There are instruction in the DIY section. You might need to become a contributing member to access it. You should do it anyway if you get value from the site.

Edited October 13, 2009 by deckman

[jgriffin56]

Very easy job on a Porsche. I replaced everything including the bolts ( small part of of the total $). You do not need to replace the sensors if they have not worn thru the shoe. If you buy other than OEM, the new brake pads may not have the hole drilled out for the brake sensors and you may have to drill out a small hole for the sensor.You do not need to remove the calipers completely ( disconnecting the brake hoses). Get a strong piece of wire and when you disconnect the caliper bolts, use the wire to suspend the caliper in the wheel well. Follow all the DIY instructions. Also be extra careful not to get any grease or any fluid on the brake pads, they should be totally like they came out of box. Make sure that you use a torque wrench and tighten all bolts to specification. Also and very important, this is the best time to REPLACE ( not just bleed) the brake fluid either with OEM or another good brand. They do come in different colors, blue and gold, usually good to replace the new with a different color to make sure that you have removed all of the old brake fluid from the system. I have a C4S and it seemed that all the parts for the brake job were twice as expensive as the other 911, because they have the big red brakes. Usually the front brakes are first to go and the rears are usually changed out at a rate of half of the fronts. Check the rears good, before buying all the parts, you may not need rears ( unless you track the car- tough on rear brakes) Good luck.