alambert

Hi everyone, first post here and proud new owner of up a new-to-me 1985.5 944 NA here. It runs and drives and the interior it is pristine condition aside from the cracked dash. Mostly everything works except for the power steering and the brakes. I know about where to start with the power steering and to check things out there, but the brakes I don't know where to start. The brake pad light is on when it's running and the pedal is springy and returns when pressed down, but doesn't actually do anything in terms of stopping the car.

I was told it was mostly sitting for 2 or three years with a little bit of driving, and the owner thought the brake calipers had seized or there was a leak in the brake lines, but I don't know how likely that is for only 3 years sitting. The fluid reservoir is full, so I didn't think there was a leak, so I'm not sure if it's a bad master cylinder, air bubbles in the lines, or what. What would you guys recommend? Should I try and bleed the lines and flush out the old brake fluid, or replace the master cylinder, or how would I accomplish figuring out what exactly is the issue?

I can post some pictures if wanted, but the brake master looks pretty beat up and has some corrosion on it.

Unrelated to the brakes, I'm planning on changing the oil, flushing coolant, and doing the timing belt and balance shaft belt, probably the spark plugs as well. I got lucky and the A/C actually blows cold air right now! There currently is no coolant in the tank, is there any other major maintenance that a 944 sitting for 3-ish years, in general, should have done? I'd appreciate any advice at all. Thanks for any help you can offer.

peanut

welcome to the forum. Great car the 85.5 my first Porsche was a 85.5 and i'd still have it if I hadn't wrapped it up at 20mph in the rain on a greasy roundabout ....

Your brakes are going to need a thorough overhaul which is a lot of work but quite doable by the average diy .

its beyond the scope of a simple message here but I'm sure there are excellent tutorials both on this site and on Clarkes garage and Pelican too .

One thing I will say is that the brake pads have a tendency to bind on the stainless steel pads which protect the brake calipers . Its caused by oxidation and expansion of the aluminium caliper body beneath the steel pads which support the brake pads . Eventually the oxidation forces the caliper pads up sufficiently to jam the brake pads and prevent them moving in and out .
.
If you google Porsche brake caliper lift you can read about it. its easy to fix .
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...&f=48&t=490656
Also have a look for videos on youtube

alambert

Thanks peanut, I started looking more into the problem and discovered that I was mistaken and there was no fluid in the reservoir (I don't know how I mistook this) and when I added more it all leaked out immediately between the brake master and brake booster. I'm planning on replacing that seal and possibly the whole cylinder now. I looked up the whole process for caliper lift, thanks for the tip.

peanut

good luck and please let us know how you get on.

alambert

So, I replaced the master cylinder this past Friday, but many more troubles arose after that, unfortunately. I went to the passenger back to bleed but the nut would not open. I moved to the other side in the back, that one bled well. Then, I went to the front right, but with just a small amount of pressure on the bleed valve, the stem snapped off the caliper, and the driver's side wouldn't open either and I wasn't about to try and open it after breaking the bleed stem. I went to bleed the clutch next, but when lifting it up even more to crawl underneath, brake fluid started leaking out of the lines about halfway down the car. It's in the shop right now, they're going to replace the brake line in the middle and the calipers (Also, the line closest to the drivers side had about 1 foot missing from it, but no fluid was leaking out? I'm assuming this might be a pad sensor wire, but I'm not sure). Also, after attempting to bleed the clutch, my pedal was to the floor, I'm assuming I got a bunch of air in the lines or did not properly bleed it with my vacuum pump. It's all a little out of my league right now, hopefully, they'll be done with it soon and I can get to work on the timing belt and water pump.