Do It Yourself Brake Pad Change?
 

One of my front Brake Pads is gone and with the amount of money I have spent recently on new wheels and tires + Registration I really can't afford another expense for a while.

It will be a lot cheaper for me to buy the pads and do it myself but is it a hard job for someone who has minimum mechanical experience?

:confused:

The hardest part will be jacking up the car and taking the wheels off, unless you have to do the rotors too.
Lots of DIY for this on many sites.

Replacing the brake pads is one of the easiest things you can do.

Tools needed are Lug wrench from the spare to remove the tire, and a screw driver
to carefully push the pads away from the rotor, and needle nose pliers to remove the pins that holds the brake pad retainers off.

Once the wheel is off its probably 10 minutes or less to replace the brake pads.

If they are worn down to the brake sensors you may need to replace them as well. which adds maybe 1 or 2 minutes to the task.

So easy your 12 year old could do it!!!!

I read something about flooding the brakes afterwards?
What's that about??

Flushing the brake fluid is likely what you are referring to.

It basically bleeds the brakes until new brake fluid is in the lines.

I think the Manual says to flush every 3 years but racers do it much more often.

I use a "Power Bleeder" and it adds another couple minutes to the brake job.

I did a Youtube video to show how easy it is. You alternate brake fluid colors and it greatly simplifies the process.

Google "Brake Flush" and you will get plenty of hits.

The Boxster S has 2 bleed valves so you open one to do most of the flush and open the other for a second or 2 after and it will drain the old fluid as well.

Easy when using a Power Bleeder.

Is the flush %100 necessary?

No, just every 3 years is fine, or if you have squishy brakes.

Brake fluid absorbs water which causes squishy brake feel, corrosion in the lines and pistons and the water lowers the boiling point which is dangerous when racing and really heating your brakes up.

What's the YouTube link for your Video so I can have a look?

brake flush - YouTube

Nice video it's a shame you don't have one with the Brake Pad change alone.

Not a video, but this will show you what is involved.

Replace Brake Pads & Rotors

Thanks

How can you tell if you have to replace the Rotor as well?

More, Reading through this thread I suggest you invest in a Bentley repair manual. It certainly sounds like you have the desire to learn more about the car and effect some of the repairs. It is true that brake work is fairly easy but judging by your questions I think a step by step guide would be beneficial. Even an easy repair can become expensive if mistakes are made and knowing exactly how things come apart and in what sequence will go a long way toward making sure your efforts are not wasted. To answer the rotor question you can measure the thickness and check it against the wear tolerance it also needs to spin without warp and be free of surface scoring.

+1 on the Bentley Manual.
I got mine 2nd hand from a fellow who was selling his. Snapped up his 101 Projects book too.
They both make great bathroom reading as well. :D

Here's another article:
Pelican Technical Article: Replacing Boxster Brake Pads - 986 / 987

I used this along with the one on Pedro's site and it went smoothly.

Several of us got together yesterday to flush ours. It was pretty obvious that mine had not been done in some time(I just bought it last summer). It would be worth it to do, just to know you have fresh fluid.

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1355073531.jpg

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1355073576.jpg

Thinking of tackling the brakes myself, which I have never done before. One thing that is not clear to me is whether using some kind of anti-squeal grease (copper of whatever) is necessary and if so what do you use? Will a shop always use some or they just stuff the new pads in there?

The pads I bought online had the squeal muffling pad on them already, so just drop them in place and all will be well.

Rotors are replaced when they get to the minimum thickness or get scored.

Scoring only occurs if you wear the pads down to the rivets or metal backink plate. but your sensors and brake light will come on before that happens if your sensors are still attached and working.


once the Wheel is off you remove 2 pins and the brake pad retainer is released and the pads come right out once you push the pistons in a bit.
Just yank the sensors out first with pliers.

Great DIY 996/986 brake calipers and rotors, step by step:

part 1
DIY - changing front brakes on a water-cooled Porsche - YouTube

part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--6HLa3Vays&feature=relmfu



and rear calipers and handbrake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DpC0lXHP5o

https://preview.ibb.co/mTFWLK/20180902_185430.jpg
I cant remove my wheel lug bolts off with this factory socket wrench even if I step on it. Any recommendations?

Get a can of Aerokroil and liberally spray it around the edges of your lug bolts. Let it sit / soak for 24 hrs. Then use a 19mm long socket on a breaker bar.

All of these items can be purchased at an auto parts store if you don't have them. Remember, it isn't a project unless you have to buy a new tool. ;)

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1535938785.jpg

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1535938847.jpg

A couple suggestions. Go to like a hf and pick up an electric impact. Handy thing to have. Second don't do what I did and put the pad in backwards. Always put the ware material against the disk:)

Htown - slip a piece of pipe over the red handle for extra leverage and re-orient it 180* so you can pull UP with your legs - Think doing squats at the gym.

Go to any service station and have them loosen the bolts with an impact gun, or buy an electric impact gun and do it yourself. Then have the tightened to the proper torque before driving it. Someone must have tightened them with a torque gun, a no-no.

That built in handle in the tool roll is way too short, a harbor freight breaker bar an 19mm socket, and a decent 1/2" torque wrench to reinstall them at 96 lb/ft.

Too much is never enough!

If something is really stuck, I use a 4 ft length of heavy gauge copper pipe that slides over an 18" Craftsman 1/2" drive breaker bar with a 19mm socket (just like the one shown in Husker's photo above).

Take your weight x 4 and that is how many ft-lbs will be generated by just using your weight.

Here is a pic of this tool on the Boxster (Note: this is only for REMOVAL - I would never use this to tighten a lug bolt - use a proper torque wrench!)

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1535997992.jpg

If your pads are worn down and the brake fluid reservoir on the master cylinder has been topped up to compensate for the pad wear, when you push the caliper pistons back in to accommodate the new pads that will be much thicker, the extra brake fluid that will be going back into the reservoir may cause it to overflow, make a mess and possibly cause some paint damage (it did in the old days anyway). You need to keep and eye on the fluid level and maybe use a clean turkey baster to remove some from the reservoir if it gets up to the maximum full line. Not sure if any of the videos or links already posted mentioned the already. You may also need a 1 inch wide putty knife to free the pads from the backing plates that go into the caliper pistons and are glued together. That may only be on the S models and not the base cars.

Also best to replace both the left and right side at the same time :)

I recently did both rotors and pads myself and its not that hard :) Set aside a day to do it and don't forget to bed in the pads when done. Bedding them in is important https://rennlist.com/forums/996-forum/326526-how-do-i-bed-in-new-brakes.html

It takes longer to jack up the car and remove the wheels than it does to actually remove and replace the pads.

If you are doing the rotors, a little longer, maybe 10 min a wheel

Pads are one of the easiest DIYs on a Boxster

Car talk guys
 

[QUOTE=husker boxster;578547]Get a can of Aerokroil and liberally spray it around the edges of your lug bolts. Let it sit / soak for 24 hrs. Then use a 19mm long socket on a breaker bar.

All of these items can be purchased at an auto parts store if you don't have them. Remember, it isn't a project unless you have to buy a new tool. ;)


#1) I once heard a Car Talk show where one brother said, "Remember, every project is an excuse to buy a new tool," and the other brother said, "Every project is an excuse to buy a WHOLE LINE OF TOOLS!"

#2) glad to see I'm not the only one reading every word of a 6 year old post.

You are correct about it not being a project without having to buy some tools!
I have just about everything ready to go for doing rear rotors, pads, flush, clutch bleed.
One thing I don't see mentioned are the brake dampers.
https://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/SuperCat/1049/POR_1049_BRKPAD_pg3.htm#item13
Apparently there are two different sizes for each piston on each caliper.
I'm replacing the hardware as well, but wasn't sure about the dampers.
I bought them and will replace them as well, so everything is new.
This doesn't look too difficult at all.
The video below was quite helpful, too.
It's just odd that the dampers don't seem to be mentioned much.
Do people reuse them or not use them at all?

You can never be too rich, too thin or have too many tools!

I was talking about brake pad dampers in my earlier post, I didn't know that's what they are called. They are different on the S model front brakes, both on one sheet of something and they go deep into the caliper pistons and are glued onto the back of the pads. They look like this -

https://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/SuperCat/1052/POR_1052_BRKPAD_pg3.htm#item13

I do have an 02 base, but I think the concept is the same.
This must be the part that is referred to as "needing a putty knife to gently remove"
that I saw in one of the posts.
I ordered them anyway and want to do the job right and completely replace all components.
For some strange reason, I am looking forward to the Aerokroil.
That stuff looks like fun!

Yes if you're replacing the front pads on an S you need to insert the putty knife between the backing plate of the brake pad and the thin plate holding the 2 dampers together. When I did my front brake pads, I followed the online information for non S cars and didn't know about these dampers. They were never on the old British cars with Girling or Dunlop disk brakes that I worked on as a kid, so I thought the pads would just come out after I took out the retaining pins. Since I was also changing the rotors, I removed the calipers which I had to do anyway so I could see what was going on in there.