Brake Pads

[Jorge332655]

I have a 2000 Cab C2.. Do all these cars have brake wear sensors? The dealer told me i had to do a brake job but they seem ok to me. isnt there a light that comes on when the pads are low? Do I also have to change the rotors when i do the pads? The car has 35,000 miles. Any special tools needed Ive always done my own brakes.

[skyline]

As far as i know all 996,s have wear sensors fitted. The rotors only need changing in 2 instances, 1st Have the outer edges corroded I.E tap the edges of the rotors with a small hammer & see if large rusty flakes of meta fall off leaving the edge of the rotor not in contact with the pad & are the central cooling vents clear I.E not built up with corrosion. 2nd If the rotors are worn down more than a percentage then they need changing. The tolerances are in the manual for this giving a new width & a limit. Here in the UK brand new rotors from europarts which are of a german & good manafacture are in uk pounds £53.00 i guess about a $80 each. These are cross drilled as well. Cheers. Steve uk 996

[1999Porsche911]

It is a normal mod of operation for a dealer to tell unsuspecting customers they need brakes. Beware and look at them yourself. Unless you track your car are ride the brakes, it is extremely unlikely you need pads yet. When the pads DO get down to the size where they need replacing, the sensors will wear though and warn you in plenty of time. Replace with OEM pads unless you track the car.

[Jorge332655]

Thanks for all your input. I will check them out myself. The brake job doesnt seem hard at all.

[SpawnyWhippet]

Thanks for all your input. I will check them out myself. The brake job doesnt seem hard at all.

I just changed the front and rear pads on my 2001 Cab yesterday. I only needed to replace one of the sensors, which was a 2 min job with no tools needed. The sensor cost $30 Australian dollars. Pads were the same to change as on most disk brake cars.

I don't think you are supposed to simply push the pistons back into the callipers though, as you could damage the master cylinder. I was advised to release the bleed nipple when pushing back the pistons to give the clearance for the new pads.

[Izzy]

Jorge,

If you wait until the sensors light up, that means you have to do the brakes and put in new sensors too (about $14 each). You can change the pads earlier and don't need new sensors, just keep your eyes on the pads. I got mine from Sunset, about 60% of the dealer price for the pads and the spacers.

I change my pads for tracking, so I got it down to about 15 minutes. Once you do it once, it is a piece of cake.

I would not open my bleeder line though, but open the cap off the break fluid reservoir to release pressure from the pistons being pushed into the calipers. I would be concerned of any air being sucked in as the pistons may retreat and come back, just a little bit, but enough to get an air bubble.

Izzy