New owner with brake questions

I just bought a 1999 996 the other day. The wear light is on for the rear. What are the best pads and is this a bad job to do myself? I own newer and old corvettes and do most of the maintenance myself. This is my first Porsche. Thanks Joey

Easy to do pads in the rear. You don’t have to remove the calipers to remove pads. That’s one of the nice things about Porsche 996s.

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You sure Tex? All of my OEM Porsche brakes pads had vibration dampers (i.e. pad shims) which meant you have to remove the caliper from the rotor to get them off. Is there a new trick to this?

Yes, the only time you have to remove the calipers is to replace the rotors. https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...Brake_Pads.htm

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But how do you get around the shim issue? The OEM pad have vibration shims glued to the pads.

you can definitely diy and don't need to remove calipers. the pelican article is a good guide. pad spreader (remove some brake fluid from reservoir first) - key is to spread them as far as they will go thin screwdriver to peel dampers/shims away from pads remove pads remove dampers install new dampers, peel paper off adhesive back install new pads, hardware, sensor wire, etc I found rock auto to have really good prices. others like fcpeuro, pelican, etc. lots of choices. (these pics are when I did the fronts, rears are very similar - just that the dampers are 2 pieces/differing sizes)

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You can use a spackle knife to separate the pads from the shims. I was able to do this first time I changed pads on mine. For future changes, just reuse the old shims (press in before setting the pads in place). They do their thing just fine unglued. 996 brake job is incredibly fast & easy. You can also push the pistons in with a channel lock plier. Once you have the pin and retainer clip out, lay on top of rotor with the head against the tops of the pads and open the plier.

Thanks for the great advise and the pictures. I need to buy new wear sensors correct? Since the light is on. Thanks again for the help. Joey

Yes, you will need new wear sensors. Simple as that.

Oh, no, I didn�t realize there was a damper pad stickie. I installed mine without peeling off the stickie. I hope that doesn�t cause any issues?

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I just did all brake parts (except handbrake) last week. It was my first ever disc brake change (I did drums back in high school). Pretty easy on my 99 c2. I went with the expensive Zimmerman coated rotors and Akebono pads. The pads were chosen because of the good reviews here by fellow 996 owners.

I personally like Pagid coated rotors and Akibono pads. I bought mine from RockAuto. As said above, you may have to separate the vibration dampener shims from the factory pads. I use a screwdriver to separate them when necessary. No need to re-silicone them. I have used anti-squeal between them before but noticed no difference than unglued.

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This. Makes it so much quicker. I keep the dampers in the calipers. I just got down to 60mins for a full track-to-street pad change in my driveway.

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They are fine non-adhered. Just makes your next pad change simpler. I re-used the same dampers through at least a dozen pad changes

Thank you everyone. Not that bad of a job. Appreciate the advise and pictures. Joey

Rotors: the rotor hats (or centers) on my new-to-me 996.1 are completely covered in surface rust, along with the vanes. The rotor surfaces themselves are in great shape, plenty thick and the pads seem to be as thick as new. No functional issues at all. I 'll probably just wirebrush the rust off but am wondering about how to prevent returning rust. Am I ok to (heat) paint the surface where the rotor meets the wheel? The rust in the vanes I can't wirebrush, is a chemical rust remover a no-no? Or just leave be until the rotors need replacing? What rotors won't rust? I put Pagids on my Cayenne last year and they look like new. Thank in advance Rennlisters!

As long as you don�t have thick paint between where the wheel touches the rotor surface, yes, you can paint them. Otherwise, getting the wheel on and off couple prove to be challenging. You could use a chemical (acid) if it�s just on the part that the pads don�t interact with. Any rotor that�s coated (I bought Zimmermans) shouldn�t rust, but a regular rotor that�s been treated (painted) will probably also not rust. My Zimmerman coated rotors

The important thing is to make sure you install the dampeners. Some people tell you that they aren�t needed, but the PO of my car didn�t install them and my brakes squeaked badly until I installed some.

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I wouldn't worry about rust in the vanes. If you remove it, it will come right back. New Pagid rotors aren't THAT expensive. You can get all 4 for around $170 from RockAuto. ($160 with a 5% off discount code) https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...hub,rotor,1896 Add that code to "How did you hear about us" for 5% off. Zimmerman coated rotors are great too.

Dang, I paid like $120 for EACH Zimmerman rotor last month (PelicanParts)

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When I did my brakes 8 years ago using all OEM parts I paid about $1200. (pads, rotors, bolts, springs, dampers).

When I replaced my front and rear pads a few years ago, I mistakenly threw away the dampners and just installed the new pads. Funny thing was the brakes felt completely normal and have never squeaked at all. Come to find out most of the track guys just leave them off to make the pad change much easier. FYI, I switched to Hawk carbon ceramic pads. Absolutely no dust on the wheels as an added bonus.

Yeah, I thought about not doing dampers. They are surprisingly not cheap. But I did everything, mainly because pads and rotors can last a long time in these light weight cars that don�t have PSM/PASM like mine. I think the rotors on my car might have been original from 1999.

+1 on Hawk, have run HPS forever on different street cars, Hawk blue/black on the spec Miata.

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only if you want to keep the sensor light function. I cut and soldered mine so I could use Ferodo pads with Sebro slotted discs. Just periodically check the wear.

Where did you cut and soldier? All 4 ends, or somewhere closer to the main circuit (just once)? I suppose someone could make a plug that shorts the circuit at all 4 ends, which would also seal that area to prevent moisture and debris from getting in there.

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All four sensors at the plug and about 4cm from the top of the sensor plug. Stripped the wires about 1cm, soldered together (keeps the circuit intact), folded over and shrink wrapped. Here's a pic of the finished product:

Ahh, yes, that makes sense. So you built your own plug, essentially. Brake sensor monitoring is one of those features that sounds good at first, but it�s much better if owners actually just pay attention to their cars every now and again (periodically checking tire pressure, tire wear, brakes, oil levels, looking for oil leaks) once a month or once a quarter. Pretty sure most owners manuals have these checks listed.