kosh

Hi, The low pad warning light's been on my car for a bit now so i've finaly decided to replace them myself!

Ive never done this before so if anyone can offer me any 'enthusiast inside knowledge' it would be much appreciated!!!

Firstly, I've brought the pads, shocked to see that there are no sensor contacts like i've seen on other car pads that have a sensor light on the dash, strange but been informed that none of the 964 do have them.
Must be on the callipers themselves, I assume?

So what tools will I need?
And is it an easy job?

Thanks in advance guys.

Porsche 964 C4 (1990)

Mike_964

Take a look here: http://p-car.com/diy/brakepads/
There should be a small cut out in the brakepad for the wear sensor. Look at the small black brake pad in the picture ;-)
Remember to buy a new sensor as when the warning light has been tricked the sensor has been worn over.

Steven C.

The pad sensor goes in the pad. The backing plate will most always have the cut out for the sensor but some non-factory pads do not have the hole in the pad material itself. Just take a drill and drill a hole to insert them in the pad material. I just did this to a set of Hawks on my 996.

ronone10

I was in the same position last year. I started this thread and it can be found in the DIY Section. Mind you, I wasn't the expert here, but was given some excellent advice from fellow Rennlisters.

https://rennlist.com/forums/diy-993-1995-1998/260561-first-time-replacing-rear-pads-questions.html

Indycam

"And is it an easy job?"
No , its not easy . Find someone who knows how to do the job , bribe them to come over and watch what you do as you are doing it .
Whats the thickness of the rotor ? Does it need to be cut ? Does it need to be replaced ?
The pistons in the caliper need to be pushed back into the caliper without damaging anything .
Brakes are not a beginers job if you are driving on the hope that your brakes work 100% .

dfinnegan

Is there a technique for preventing damage? Do you open the reservoir cap or, maybe, open the bleed screw?

Indycam

"Do you open the reservoir cap"
The reservoir has a vent tube , so no need to open the cap .

"open the bleed screw?"
If you do that , you will need to bleed .

"Is there a technique for preventing damage?"
Yes , idealy you would remove the calipers from the car and strip them down , pistons out , redo the seals , dust boots , spring plates , etc . Have a real good look see at the piston and bore .

If you like to buy tools....
http://www.eagleday.com/brmato.html
http://www.samstagsales.com/Porsche.htm
http://www.nextag.com/brake-pads/search-html

Pesty

has anybody mentioned to him about the caliper plate corrosion issue?

I agree brakes are not something that should be tackled by yourself for the first time. I have done hundreds of brake pads on various cars(always end up doing the mrs friends cars. cars from people at work, family friends etc etc.)
And I had trouble changing the pads on my 964. specifically because of the plates. other than that they are prety standard.
As for the wear sensors are you sure you need them? I shorted mine out so I did not need to replace them. As I inspect the pads regulary I had no need of them

kosh

Well, thanks for the advice.
Yes i'm having a nightmare.
The pad on the outside is quite easy to slide out of the calliper once the clip has been released.
However the inside pad is a complete b@stard. Even though ive pressed the cylinders right back & prised the glued pad with the antisqeal shims off the old pad and removed it to make more space. The pad will rattle (kind of) within the calliper. But it WILL not pull up, its as if the pads too wide to come UP out the top of the calliper.
This is the same on BOTH sides of the car so it's obviously no accident.

Whats the rotor?
Do I have to remove the callipers?
I know I have'nt looked at all the links ahead yet but I will.
Thanks

Indycam

Where are you ? I guess England because of , prised .

"This is the same on BOTH sides of the car so it's obviously no accident."
Its just a coincident .

"Whats the rotor? "
Its the disc that the brake pads grab .

"Do I have to remove the callipers?"
No .

"But it WILL not pull up, its as if the pads too wide to come UP out the top of the calliper."
Do you have vice grips ? Might be time for brut force .

They made a tool for removeing pads that are stuck .
http://www.eagleday.com/brmato.html

"This is the infamous Hazet® 1966-2 Impact Pad Puller with 4mm prongs that the Porsche Workshop Manuals recommend but that no auto parts store has ever heard of. If the Porsche workshop manual recommends the use of the tool there is an excellent reason. From all our research, the Hazet 1966-2 is the only tool, we know of, that has the required 4mm diameter prongs which fit the holes in brake pads for Porsches. The tool doesn't require an air compressor. It functions as a slide hammer.

NOTE: CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE

pad
BPP-100pad$119.85"

colo964

Maybe I've been doing it wrong for all these years, but I found changing the pads VERY easy.

1) Undo the spring clip with regular pliers.
2) Pull the sensors out with needle nose
3)Use a big flat screwdriver to push the pads back (put duct tape or rubber hose on the blade tip to protect the rotor if you are not replacing them, I've never done this and never had a problem from a little nick on the rotor face)
4) Use a putty knife to unstick the damper pads. Brake pads will slide right out. Dampers stay in place.

Maybe a 15 minute job. No special tools. I don't have cosmetically enhanced calipers so don't worry too much about the paint. If they were nice reds, I still don't see it taking more than 30 minutes.

Indycam

"Maybe a 15 minute job."
If everything goes right , sure .
If the pads are stuck , spring plates jamed up , etc , it takes a little longer .

colo964

Agree. The one time it took longer was when I THOUGHT the damper pads were separated, but one (the inside pad) had a mushroom still stuck. It was a mother pulling the pad out, didn't pop out just kind of moved a little. Resliding the putty knife to make sure it is off, solved it. Unless the damping spring is mangled or some foreign object is lodged, the pads will always slide right out.

ronone10

After getting all of questions answered last year when I did my first pad replacement, I found the job to be very straightforward and without any major problems. I too had to remove the mushroom from the OEM brake pad and used a putty knife. The first wheel took me about 1 hour only because I went really slow and had to figure out the best way to get the mushroom off of the pad. The other wheels took me about 10 - 15 mintues each after the wheels were removed.