Edward

OK, I get it. Misalignment ...caliper's pistons are not clamping squarely onto the rotor. I would have never even thought of checking that. Great find ...thanks for posting that!

Edward

Randy 1

Well, after some serious investigation on the part of the mechanic, he confirms (finally) that it's the ABS pump. *sigh* There goes $1,500, plus labor.

That said, if this is a problem for anyone else, I had far and away the most success with Sunset. They priced the part at $1,540. The next lowest was in the $1,900 range, Porsche list price is somewhere stupid in the $2,400 range.

Of course, this was for Porsche part 993.355.955.50, for 4wd cars. For C2 owners with this problem, the part number is 993.355.955.00. And you're lucky bastards. Because there's a brand new one on eBay for $850, BIN. Why don't things ever break just right for me like that?!?!

Thanks so much for everyone's help. Looks like the low-mileage gremlins rear their ugly heads again.

geolab

Randy, first thing to do is write down the Bosch cross reference number that I gave you.
Call Bosch and inquire if they rebuild the pump and for how much and where.
I am sure you will save loads.

Randy 1

Thanks for the tip, but a call to Bosch was a dead end. In fact, the person I talked to couldn't even find the Bosch cross-ref number!

I tried a few more times, but sounds like we dumb Americans don't fix, we throw out. Thanks again for the idea, though!

Randy 1

So, the happy ending to the story is that after a good month at the shop, my brake pedal has it's good ol' firm feel. I also had the left fender/hood/door resprayed due to someone (who I hope burns in the most fiery pit of hell) keying it. I'm very happy with the paint work, as well.

I will have to say, Otto (who some of you have used in Venice) is a very above board mechanic. Part of the delay in getting the car back was him trying to diagnose the problem as accurately as possible before I bought the part. He promised that if the part replacement didn't work, he'd eat the cost of it (not inconsiderable given the $1,500+ pricetag).

It's not the most glamorour shop in the world, but I feel like they do very good work. They were thorough and charged a reasonable rate for their labor. You can't ask for much more than that.

Randy 1

So, the happy ending to the story is that after a good month at the shop, my brake pedal has it's good ol' firm feel. I also had the left fender/hood/door resprayed due to someone (who I hope burns in the most fiery pit of hell) keying it. I'm very happy with the paint work, as well.

I will have to say, Otto (who some of you have used in Venice) is a very above board mechanic. Part of the delay in getting the car back was him trying to diagnose the problem as accurately as possible before I bought the part. He promised that if the part replacement didn't work, he'd eat the cost of it (not inconsiderable given the $1,500+ pricetag).

It's not the most glamorour shop in the world, but I feel like they do very good work. They were thorough and charged a reasonable rate for their labor. You can't ask for much more than that.