Robert Coats

With the weather here in Atlanta around 64F yesterday and today, I tackled the job of installing new rear pads and adjusting the parking brake.

The job went quite smooth, except I could not figure out how to access or even adjust the parking brake. I ended up removing the caliper and brake disc just to have a good look at the guts. After a bit of hosing down with brake cleaner, the adjuster worked as designed. Now, it only takes two clicks of the parking brake lever to set the brake, but I still leave the car in gear out of habit.

The rear caliper came off easily, but the lower bolt requires a long 10mm hex wrench, and I only had a 3/8" drive hex driver. I pulled the actual hex bit out of the socket, and used a 1/4" drive deep socket to drive the driver. The only problem was I did not have a 1/4" breaker bar, and ended up making a trip to the hardware store for a nice long 10mm hex wrench. Oh well, now I have a full metic set with a holder, so not such a bad thing.

Unlike the front pads, all but one of the rear pads slid into the calipers with no drama. I only had to file the sides of one pad, and it dropped in nicely. I noticed the left inboard pad wore about 2x as much as the outboard pad, so maybe the pistons are sticking or ???. I also discovered the large spring that holds the pads is easily removed, making the job of fitting the pads much easier. I didn't realize the spring would come out so easy, and it really got in the way when I did the fronts last summer.

As Porsche service jobs go, this one was not bad at all. It helped a lot to have the right tools and understanding of the bits involved. Best of all, the sun was even warmer when I took the car out for a test drive later in the afternoon. I don't know what made me smile the most...was it the therapy of doing mechanical stuff, or saving money, or the satisfaction of knowing it was done right.

Now if I could only get my new Tivo system to work on the computer network here at home...

Youcef

Nice post.

Bill Gregory

While our 964's are sometimes quite complex, isn't it great that there's stuff we can do, which gives satisfaction at completing a hands-on job, and saves money. Just changed my oil yesterday. Not difficult and, after buying oil (Mobil 1), filter (Mahle), and 2 aluminum washers, saved $95 over what the local shops charge for a 911 oil change.

Arjan B.

Robert,

It is very important that the pads slide in easily. The wear inside and outside is always a little different, but it's mostly caused by stuck pads, or stuck cilinders in the caliper.

The parking brake needs to be adjust thru the big hole in your brake disk. Use a flash light to look for the chain weel which is the adjustment. The adjustment needs to be done by a screw driver by rotating the chain wheel.


Please look on my 100 K miles service thread from November/December.

Nice job! Gives a great feeling he?

Robert Coats

3 of the 4 pads dropped in perfect, and the 4th pad only required a brief pass on the grinding wheel before it too slid into the caliper easily. It makes perfect sense when one pad would wear faster if it was sticking, even just a little.

I found the big hole, and had a good idea about how the adjuster worked, but never actualy saw one, so I was really lost at first. Once I took the disk off, it was clear how to make the adjustment. I also found it easier to make a precise adjustment to the parking brake while the pads were removed. This allowed me to turn the disk easier, and detect when the parking brake shoes engaged.

Arjan B.

Great Robert, you did it the right way! Up to the next DIY project.

Eric-17

Robert:

Just read this, thought it may help with your TIVO...

Extremetech.com Article about TIVO

Eric