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Brake Calipers

Cunno

Magny-Cours
Joined
13 Dec 2008
Messages
2,738
Who here has had there Calipers rebuilt? Not interested in the cosmetic side but rebuilding internals I.e. new pistons, pucks and seals. Is this a mtce schedule item,or do you just renew if they start leaking / sticking?

Jon
 
Chief did his, and I'm going to do the ones on my 964, as they must need it by now.

Your cars still a bit new???
 
Hi
The calipers most likely will never leak from they use.
How worn are the seals is the most important point you need to look at.
If the car is off the read for a while , lets say winter it is more likely the pistons will get sticky quicker as when the car is not in use the fluid seal will bite in to the piston and once moved it leave a friction of the rubber on it. This point will be more sticky when piston moves forward and backwards making them not move as freely as they are design to.

From my experience rear seals get worn at they 30-35k mark and front at they 50k.

Have look at this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOLMkzdx8yg

Thomas
 
It all comes to what you want from the brakes.
Some want the car to stop and are saying the calipers are perfect at they 100k mark
Others want a full performance and do a rebuild of they calipers fully (no repaint) at 40k mark.
Some changing brake fluid every 2-3 years and some every season, and some every track day.
You have the picture :-)
 
Standard Porsche calipers should not run hotter than 180degC. If they do Fluid seal needs to be replaced so you need to look at if you track your car did you have a problems at some point on the track with brakes, if they fade badly more likely you boiled the brake fluid and your seals has gone.
They get very hard when overheated and wear quicker, still they wont leak.
St they are hard and worn they will not move the pistons backwards once your brakes are released. Making longer contact of pads and discs making them wear quicker and running hotter.

So if you look from my point of view there is much more in to it than just stop the car at the traffic light.
 
Thanks Thomas
Interesting video and some good points to consider. Mine have covered 56K at present, and although no real issues to report, I'm starting to think there not as good as I remember. If that makes sense.

Jon
 
It's hard to say if the brakes are as new as you're getting used to them while you driving and is hard to remember how they ware when the car was new.
The best way to check if they are as good as new to drive a new car with the same brakes on them (I know it's hard but you get the point).

The way I see it is that people are ok to do service every year as this is what Porsche told to do. They spending from £300 upwards for every stamp in your book as well as to make the car drive good and last long.
If you do a full caliper rebuild then it will last for another 50k or 5 years.
For some it might sound as a lot of money but when you spread it for 5 years it's not that much. Also you spend less on pads and discs as they will last longer with rebuild calipers.

It's not like the car will brake quicker with rebuild calipers or saddenly got more braking power, it's more about how you can control your braking with calipers where pistons are moving with every little touch of the brake pedal. The car handle and drive much better with good working calipers as it's not unbalanced in any way.
Brakes are design to every specific car with they balance (35 rear-65front lets say) so if the rear calipers are sticky then when you push your brake pedal 25%, only front calipers will work where brake balance at this point will be 0-100%. The car front will dive more then it should, the suspension will be compressed more, your tires will get bigger patch... i could wrote a book in here, but you know where I'm going.

As I say in my first post, it all depends what you want from your car and brakes.

The best way to check your calipers is to remove the pads and try to push the pistons inside the caliper by your fingers only. If they don't want to move then they need to look in to them, if they do than they should be ok.
 
I've never heard any of our drivers or teams mention a calliper rebuild but given mine has raced now for four seasons (and the donor car had done about 40k miles), I have to wonder if it should be done. Having said that, I've not encountered any symptoms I could put down to callipers not operating correctly - but then I'm not as quick as the other guys!

Chris.
 

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