Brake troubleshooting help

[bcrown]

I have a 1995 993. It is the first Porsche I have owned and although the brakes work, they seem extremely stiff in the pedal. The pressure does not seem to change when the car is off or after it has been running. The car is supposed to have a brake booster and I am looking for someone with experience with this model to help me either find the problem or convince me that the brakes should be as firm as a car with power brakes when the engine gets turned off.

Our there any easy steps or items to look for which would help me determine if the brake booster is actually working (or how to access it)? From what I gather, there should be some vacuum hoses to check as well as possibly a relay.

Any help to point me in the right direction would be appreciated.

Thanks

[wvicary]

Is your 993 a RWD or Allwheel drive?

[bcrown]

RWD

[bcrown]

There seems to be a couple of relays mounted inside the trunk on the passenger side wheel well. The cover does not want to open up. Is there any trick to removing the cover to access the relays? According to one manual I saw, it seems to be a pin inside the rivet but I can not figure out how to remove it.

Edited November 30, 2010 by bcrown

[1schoir]

There seems to be a couple of relays mounted inside the trunk on the passenger side wheel well. The cover does not want to open up. Is there any trick to removing the cover to access the relays? According to one manual I saw, it seems to be a pin inside the rivet but I can not figure out how to remove it.

If you have a pin inside the center of an installed plastic rivet, you can usually just push the center pin in with any pointed tool and you will then be able to pull the rivet out.

Depending on the design of the rivet, the small center pin will either fall into the cavity behind the panel, or, the more common design is that the center pin will go in and remain captive inside the small "legs" at the inside end of the rivet. When you get ready to re-install it, just push the center pin towards the top of the rivet so that it protrudes, then install the rivet, then push the pin so that it's again flush with the surface. In that position, the pin presses outwards on the "legs" of the rivet to keep it in place. Once you push the pin in further, that sideways pressure on the legs of the rivet is released, allowing you to pull on and remove the rivet.

Regards, Maurice.

Edited November 30, 2010 by 1schoir

[bcrown]

Thanks Maurice.