I'm not getting any of the Good kind of luck with trying to get my new-to-me C4 looking and acting like new. I can use some diagnostic help with this new platform.

Changed out the rotors, pads and sensors on all four wheels; perfectly simple job with no drama. The two fronts only got new rotors because the Textars were almost new. Got to the part where I take it down the road to bed in the pads and the dashboard told me Two things... the first was that one of my pad wear sensors was activated, and the other was that my E-brake was On.

Removed the rear wheels and inspection showed nothing unusual, and nothing weird about the e-brake cable routing, either.

?? Is there a re-set that is supposed to take place after a brake job?
?? Is there a way to diagnose the E-brake system?

I'm taking the car to a Porsche dealer Saturday in order to get the convertible top adjusted so it will close completely, and they can do these other two items, but I won't learn anything that way. Is there something I can do to either re-set the lights, or at least narrow down the list of suspects?

 

The brake wear sensors work on continuity, in removing them and re-installing them you must have broken one of the wires. If you're able to monitor your brakes yourself one options is the sensors cut the wires near the connect, solder the wires together, and reinstall. you'll always have continuity then and no need to worry about the sensor. other option is to buy new sensors and install, they're not terrible expensive. the wires they use are pretty thin and not super flexible, easy to break in handling.

The ebrake...trry following these procedures to set the brake:https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...djustment.html.

 

Thanks, Dk27, I now have a project for this afternoon, and can save time and money at the dealer's, too. Lawd knows how much the convertible top will cost to get adjusted, but the dealer might be able to install the OEM radio I sourced from another member, so that's a Plus, too.

 

I feel for ya, Bama. Getting myself prepared to do the same brake work on mine before too long...

On the radio front, I would reconsider having the dealer swap it out. Barring any crazy wiring changes made by previous owner(s), should be very straight-forward job doing it yourself. I bet the Porsche guys will charge at least 2 hours of labor for that. More money you can reserve for the exhaust... for which I'm dying to know your current thoughts.

 

From what it took to re-paint the center console and trim pieces, I got to look at a good bit of the wiring and it seems like all of the plugs are connected to the current radio (Pioneer). There's a heavier-guage brown wire that looks cut, but that's about it. I haven't seen any screws and don't have a clue how to remove the Pioneer; otherwise you're right, a simple swap-out would be in order. The stereo place wont' simply remove a radio, so that's out. I'm going to fashion some sheet metal blades to slide on each side in hopes that something will catch, and after that it's the dealer.

Talk about exhaust wasn't me, maybe you were thinking about the cooling system R&R and I'm going to go with the suggestions that let's get what's needed done first, then move to what we want.

Any clues about removing a Pioneer head unit would be great.

 

Time for Round 2... The dashboard light that tells us about a wear sensor has a small block with an arrow in it, and this one points to top left, so I assume that the front driver's wheel is the one sending a wear signal. I cut the wires and spliced them, but no change. Another sensor is on order, but anybody have any idea whether those arrows actually point to the offending wheel?

The hand brake went up 5 or 6 notches, and that's too many. Removed the LR wheel, found the adjuster and turned to stop, then backed off 4 clicks. Hand brake now engages at 3 notches, which is supposed to be correct.

Test drive, no change. The e-brake light is still ON. Where is the microswitch that tells the car that the hand brake is ON? My guess is that it's under the center console, but is there another diagnosis?

 

2 questions: First, does the small box with an arrow on the dashboard warning indicate which sensor has failed?

Secondly, If so, and if I spliced the sensor wires and the light/warning still comes on, what is a logical next step?

 

Do you have a multimeter? If so set it to continuity, the mode that beeps when you touch the probes together. Then pull connector at the hub at each corner and stick the probes into the two connectors inside the white insulator. if it beeps that means that sensor is good, if it doesn't beep that means it's bad and replace or cut and solder the wire.

As for the parking brake switch, it's under the center console, if someone pulled it to respray they may have moved it or not reinstalled the plug?

 

Multi meter test due for tomorrow, thanks for the tip.

What plug for the e-brake switch? I've wished for many years that that "somebody" was more OCD and less ADD, lol. I don't recall a plug, though, so looks like I'm going to pull the console again and see what's missing. If the switch is a micro-switch that is contact-activated, what and where would a plug come into play?

 

Is your brake fluid at the proper level in the reservoir?

Did you also adjust the parking brake on the other rear wheel or just the one side?

 

Fluid is good, but I only adjusted the left side rear shoes. Once the hand brake was at 3 notches, I test drove the car, learned that the light is still on the dash, and decided that the light has to come from a micro-switch sensor and not adjustment. Is that possibly wrong?

 

Light is from the handbrake switch, but for proper function of the handbrake you want both sides adjusted correctly even though it won't solve the light issue.

 

Thanks for the confirmation. Looks like I've run out of time to chase these surprises because my appt at the dealer is this Saturday, so while it was an option to have them make all of these corrections, this thread has me thinking that the issues can be resolved when I throw more time at them. I have two new sensors coming, and a radio removal tool, so by the time the convertible top gets repaired I'll be able to tackle the rest of this.

Really, guys, the car is great, it's these teething pains that will go away soon enough.

 

Lucky for us, there are TWO kinds of luck, and today it was Good. As was suggested, I checked each brake sensor for continuity, and the LF wheel (why does it always have to be the last one we check?) had the almost new Textars so I didn't replace the pads or sensors. I must have done some moving around while I was painting them, so it failed the test, anyway. Quick splice right at the connector and was feeling good when I took the car for a test drive to check the Pad Wear alert. I knew that the BRAKE light would still be On, but if the wear alert was killed, then I could concentrate on removing the console again and seeing what was different with the handbrake switch.

For reasons I can't explain, BOTH lights went out. The wear sensor light went out because I fixed the continuity, but how did that affect the Brake light? Is it possible that the light tells us that either the handbrake is still On, or that a problem with the sensors exists?

For whatever reasons, the dashboard is now Normal. Thanks, guys.