boolala

Front brake and pad replacement at about 35K. The rears are still good at 60K and 6 years but I imagine will soon need replacing based upon what I was told 6 months ago.

Paul S.

Wouldn't the easiest thing to do, be looking through the wheels at the pad thickness? As others have said, the warning light can be a bad brake wear sensor. While there may be uneven wear from the inboard and outboard (the one you can see) pads, if the outboard pad thickness is greater than the thickness of the backing plate, I would bet it's one of the sensors. With my 01 Turbo which I tracked, for a long time, it would throw brake wear warning lights on "dewy" mornings at the track. The pads were plenty thick--better than 60% of original thickness.

Most dealers will do an inspection for no charge, btw. I don't trust neighborhood brake shops because you can break some pretty expensive plastic just by raising the car on a lift in the "wrong" way. And I trust my own eyes first for an inspection of brake pads.

Also, the OP's car would still be under warranty. While pads are wear items and not covered, a bad brake sensor or a problem with the brake system that caused premature pad wear would be under warranty. I'd be going to the dealer and just discuss up front what, if anything, you'd have to pay to check it out. Should be nothing.

cbzzoom

Yeah, it's easy to look in and see for yourself.

FYI my brake sensor lit up incorrectly a while ago. I drove on it for a few more days and it shut itself off. So it might sort itself out.

Next time I do brake pads I'll probably just disconnect the sensors.

winkingchef

Above 49k miles and had 10% left at my last yearly inspection and oil change (last month)
No squeaks, no check brake light. My guy said to wait for the light. Fortunately, he's a block away from my place.

blake

Excellent points. I recommended getting the car up on a lift b/c I had a sticking "inside" brake pad (calipers were not releasing) and the outside pad looked good, but I wasn't able to see the inside pad until I took the wheel off. I was unaware that Porsche would do this inspection for free...

I have become self-sufficient with a lift in the garage, so it is hard not to recommend the same approach...

Did the OP ever figure out what the problem was?

-B

JJB236

Thanks for all the input.

I looked into it further, and the dash gave the info that the pads are worn. I inspected the pads through the wheel, and they are thin. I had the front pads changed. Rear pads had about 1/3 left. Out of the 16k mile, I'd say more than 80% is city mileage.
Cheers

ADias

Either there was something wrong or you drive riding the brakes - a practice I see all the time in front of me - city driving notwithstanding.

drspeed

I have 18,000 mi. on my 997.2 3.6 and my pads are worn down to the same thickness of the pad backing. I've heard other owners suggest that this equates to a few months worth of use before replacement is necessary. So I'm on corse for a sub 30,000 mi. brake job for sure. However I am now doing DEs with my car (I did my first ever last month and am registered for May). I'm going to do the brakes after my next DE.

I'm perplexed by people getting 60k mi. from their brakes, so I gave it some thought. First, I do 90% urban/suburban driving. So each mile driven involves multiple brake usage unlike cruising on the highway. Second, I got the car in Sept. of 09' and since spring of 2010 I have been heel-n-toe shifting constantly...all the time. While there is engine drag after downshifting, heel-n-toe (the way I do it on the street) involves dragging the brakes a bit as you blip the throttle. I can't help but think that someone who simply applies the brakes later (shorter) and a bit harder without downshifting is probably wearing the brakes a bit less than me? Just a thought.

Regards,
DRP

Macster

The pads are a mite thin for DEs. Generally I would think you'd want nice fat pads and rotors of good thickness to better withstand the rigors of DEs.

I do not practice heel/toe at any time. (I do *NOT* track my Porsches.)

But I do delay braking a bit later than some other drivers. I was told a long time ago there is less brake wear from applying the brakes a bit later compared to applying the brakes earlier and leaving the brakes applied up to when the car comes to a stop.

Furthermore when I can just before the car gets to where I want it to stop (say at a light) I'll release the brake and let the coast/slow down to a stop.

This bit of roll with the brakes released allows the pistons/pads to retract a bit from the rotors and avoids transferring as much heat from the rotors back to the pads/calipers as would otherwise happen if I left the brakes applied.

Sure sometimes if the road is on an incline I'll have to hold the car using the brakes, and in those cases I leave the brakes on as teh car rolls to a stop and as it remains stopped.

BTW, I have now over 60K miles on my Turbo's brakes. I routinely get 50K miles or more from my Boxsters brakes. (I honestly can't remember the last time I did the brakes on the Boxster is was so long ago). I admit I do not track, heel/toe and my usage of my cars is more freeway driving that urban/suburban driving.

Roughly a 30 mile (one way) commute to work is 65% highway and the rest city driving. But sometimes even on the highway I still have to use the brakes a bit due to traffic congestion.

Sincerely,

Macster.

blake

I'd highly recommend that you pop in race pads (Pagid/PFC/etc.) for your DEs. I found the factory pads initially faded then eventually crumbled at track temps... Playing around with different pad compound combos front & rear helped me rotate the car more easily on the track. But on the street, race pads squeel like crazy... You should be able to get 30K out of your street pads if you don't DE with them...

Zeus993

Yep. Nice to have PCCBs. No fade. No dust. No wear.