rbrunelle

It depends, while it is possible to change the pads without a PIWIS, if you change the rotors, you need to recalibrate the parking brake. If the gap changes, and goes out of range, you will get a yellow dash warning. It is easier to remove the rotor if you move them to the service position. Doing so forces the recalibration.

Changing brakes is an easy job. I recommend Rockauto.com. Parts are same or better than Porsche OEM but significantly cheaper. Several quality levels to choose from starting with economy through daily driver to performance and track.

Bob Z.

I had my brakes swapped from Reds to Yellows and it was very straightforward with no programming or re-calibration.

rbrunelle

I'm not sure what red and yellow are but you likely didn't set the parking brake if you changed rotors. When the parking brake is applied, it measures the distance travelled which must be between 1.9 and 2.1mm If you change the rotors without placing the rear parking brake in the service position, then it doesn't yet know that the rotors were changed. When you set the parking brake, the gap is measured. If you are out of that range, you will get an error. If you did place it in the service position, a calibration is forced. So yes it is possible to change the rear rotors without getting a error and if you get lucky and the gap is still good afterwards, you wont get an error after applying the parking brake. If you however do it by the book, you place the parking brake in service position, change the rotors then complete a grind in procedure to grind in the parking brake to the new rotors. Once that completes, and your gaps are correct, you can calibrate.

LargePuppy

By red and yellow Bob is referring to his previous steel GTS brakes (red calipers) to the carbon ceramics (yellow calipers). He provided a thread detailing the swap, it's a bit costly... but very impressive

arter

I have replaced my rear rotors severals times, without needing to recalibrated the parking brake or put it in service position, without error.
To note, I have only replaced the OEM rotor with a new OEM rotor so the gap probably has been the same ( not much wear there)

Rich_Jenkins

Well believe it or not almost a year or so later, I still have these new parts (OEM pads / rotors, etc.) sitting on the shelf in the garage. Mid-COVID, I retired retired and stopped using the car on a daily basis, which meant my mileage went to almost nil since we weren't traveling. Anyway, we are moving house soon and I need to do this sooner or later, so I am going to pick a cool day and get this knocked out soon.

I did a search and didn't find a whole lot of info pop out of the forum in terms of brake pad / rotor replacement DIY guides or videos, but I'm still looking. Mainly searching for a checklist in case I need a reminder on how German car brakes go (pretty simple, I did it a couple times on my E46 ZHP over 8 years of ownership). Anything that's Porsche 991.2 specific I need to watch out for?

I'll take some snapshots of my process as I go along, but it won't be for a couple weeks.

Joec500

Nope i used a cheapie pad spreader and it works fine.

Rich_Jenkins

Getting prepped for this soon. I did find this video walking through the process of pads and rotors on a 2015 GT3, which looks similar-ish to my car (poverty spec '17 C2.)


Ignoring the things pertinent to a GT3 (like the centerlocks) that don't apply to me, I took some notes for my reference on the steps:

- Wheels off
- Prep zip tie, to tie caliper up out of way when it comes off
- Remove sensor wire/clips
- Remove 2x10 mm bolts (?)
- Remove T55 (?) caliper bolts
- Remove caliper, zip tie up, and open pads a/r using spreader
- R/R 2xpads
- Remove 2xrotor screws T30 (?)
- R/R rotor (pay attention, rotors are handed LEFT or RIGHT)
- Drop caliper back on rotor
- Button everything up. Caliper bolts, to 63 ft lb, 10 mm bolts, to 7 ft lb

Rich_Jenkins

Found one more, replacing the rotors with Gyrodisks on a 2019 C4S. Additional items he mentions are loctite (red?) on the 10 mm bolts, and ensuring all corrosion is removed under the rotor hat.

JW911

Blue Loctite not red! Blue is for parts that occasionally require disassembly. Red is permanent and requires 500 degree heat to remove.

Rich_Jenkins

Yeah that surprised me. But I'm color blind so maybe I didn't see the tube correctly. Yeah, I'm familiar with blue/red/purple etc. Good call.

Rich_Jenkins

Replaced front pads and rotors on my ‘17 991.2 C2 today.

I used genuine Porsche parts from Suncoast. I don’t like reusing old brake parts, so I also ordered new pad wear sensors (2), caliper bolts (4), brake disk rotor retaining screws (4), and brake pad spring clips (4), from Pelican Parts.

Total parts cost was $743.50.

Tools/Shop Supplies
10 mm socket
18” breaker bar
19mm soft sided wheel bolt socket
20V Cordless Impact Wrench
3” extension
AAA Headlamp
BF 2 ½ lb dead blow hammer
Blue Threadlocker
Braun Rechargeable Work Light LED
Ibuprofen
Jackpoint Jackstands
Hydraulic Racing Jack 1.5T
Pad spreader
Permatex anti-seize compound
Ratchet wrench
Steel Wire Brush
Torque wrench
Torx T55 bit
WD-40
Wheel alignment pins
Zip ties

The process I used:

- Car up on jackstands
- Wheels off
- Prep zip ties, to tie caliper up out of way when it comes off
- Remove sensor wire/clips
- Remove 1x10 mm bolts to allow the hangar to swing free
- Remove 2xT55 caliper bolts
- Remove caliper, zip tie up, and open pads using spreader
- R/R 2xpads
- Remove 2xrotor screws (the impact wrench came in handy here)
- R/R rotor (pay attention, rotors are handed LEFT or RIGHT)
- Drop caliper back on rotor
- Button everything up. Caliper bolts to 63 ft lb, 10 mm bolt to 7 ft lb DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN

The cordless impact wrench is awesome. Both for taking the wheels bolts off, and the dang stubborn disk retaining screws that are almost welded on. The rotors themselves needed several doses of WD-40 to unloosen, only coming off after a few enthusiastic whacks from the dead blow hammer. The pad spreader is the perfect tool for opening up the pistons on the caliper, prior to installing the caliper over the new rotor.

I took some measurements of the old parts. The rotors were at 32.4mm. New, they are 34.0 mm, with a service limit of 32.0 mm. The pads were down to about 7mm, the new pads are 12.5mm. So, from a wear perspective, the rotors were down to 5% life, and the pads perhaps over 50%. Possible that the pads were replaced once? Dunno.

A note for the Porsche purists: yes, my base C2 has red calipers. The first owner apparently had them powder coated red when he bought the car. I personally wouldn’t do that, but I’ve grown to like the look, so I’m going to leave them as is.

docman

I am replacing rotors and pads on my 06 CS, Brembo drilled rotors, semi metallic pads (although 'Textra' is stamped into the backing plate).
I'm having difficulty with the front spring retaining clips since my new pads have a lot more backing plate 'real estate''. See New vs Old below.
The tops of the old backing plates had a gentle taper that the 2 1/2" long clips could slide down. My new ones only have slots cut into the bulkier backing plate that are 3 1/2" apart. The front factory clips (995-352-960-00) won't stretch to reside in those wide slots.
The rear factory clips (996-351-959-01) are longer (3 /12") but too narrow (2 1/4") for the wider front caliper.

Do I take a grinding wheel to my new pads? I bought them from Rock Auto in the Fall thinking I'd knock it out before the weather changed. Too much time has passed, they're now non-returnable.
I've figured out the different wear sensors.

My New pads My Old pads

driven991.1

This was good info. I am annoyed with the sourcing of parts I have had to do between Pelican, ECS and FCP Euro. turns out I still have some missing parts. Can one of you confirm that I still need "brake disk rotor retaining screws (4), and brake pad spring clips (4), " its a 13S with 64K miles and I dont think the pads/rotors have been replaced - not in my 6 year ownership.

Wujohn

Pic below are the retaining screws. Those are only hand tight, so no real stress on them. No reason to replace them unless they are falling apart for some reason. Clips are probably fine - I change out pads all the time and my car is 4.5 years old and they still work just fine. If you find that they have no resistance when you put the pads in, then you would be best served by changing them. I believe guidance is to change but has not been an issue for me at all.