Brake Fluid Warning Light

[paulwat]

Hi all,

Am hoping someone can help me here, I bought a 2006 Boxster from an OPC in March, car was sold on the basis that it had full service history and that it had been maintained per Porsche service schedule.

My service schedule shows that the car was serviced 6K miles ago (August 07, so car was 18months old but had done 20K). It also states that the brake fluid should have been changed at 2 years.

When I purchased the car it was 2years and 2months old and was supposed to have been checked by the dealership and all level were supposed to have been checked and topped up to correct levels. Also under the Porsche approved scheme I was lead to believe that servicing that was required within 3months or 3K miles would be done by dealer.

After covering just 2K miles since buying the car I now have a very clear warning to check the brake fluid level.

Before I talk to the dealer tomorrow I would be interested in people's thoughts on the following:-
1. Is it fair to assume that if a car is positioned as "maintained per service schedule" then the brake fluid change should have taken place?
2. The car was sold with Porsche warranty - would a failure to change the brake fluid at 2 years, even if it was prior to my ownership result in this being invalid on the basis the car hasn't been properly maintained?
3. How does a car pass the 111 point check in order to qualify for warranty if the brake fluid change hasn't been done as required by the service book?
4. If the brake fluid was changed at 2 years old - Where is it now? I have never encountered a car loosing brake fluid as a general consumable.
5. How much is it to get the brake fluid changed if I need to? Can I get an indy to do it?

I realise I should have gotten this clear before I took delivery but got caught up in the moment when buying it (and this is the first car I have ever bought myself - always had new company cars)

To be fair to the dealer I haven't approached them yet and they have been pretty good to date on points I have raised so may not be an issue but wanted to see what people think before I have a "chat"

Many thanks in advance

Paul

 

[colinbythesea]

I am guessing the newer models cannot show a light when the quality of the fluid is bad, if they can technology is getting good. So your car is probably losing fluid there could be a leak in the system that is not easily detected on the dealer check. It could be that the previous owner knew about it and just topped the fluid up to keep the light off before trading it in.

The big concern here is that your brakes might be about to fail due to a leak in the system rather than the age of fluid so it needs looking at. The leak would not necessarily drop fluid on your garage floor just seep a bit out under the pressure of braking. If you bought the car from an OPC does it have a warranty?

 

[THX911]

Hi Paul,
There is a separate stamp for Brake Fluid in your service booklet where you can easily check when it was last changed; it should have been August last year. As Colin mentioned I doubt that even the latest Porsches have sensors which would measure the quality and viscosity of the brake fluid...

 

[paulwat]

Cheers for comments guys, car is under warranty with Porsche, will a leak in the braking system come under warranty??

From a quick visual inspection all of the pads look fine and am not getting any pad warning so I assume it is not becuase the pads are worn - i.e. cylinder further out therefore less oil in header tank?

Also when I took a look under the bonnet, there appears to be no visual way of checking the fluid level, surely there must be in case the sensors has a wobble, any idea how you do it??

As to the stamp in the book I hadn't read far enough through the service book to see those pages and no there isn't a stamp in there, I will be ringing the dealership today and depending on how I get on in my discussion I may have to "drop by" the Porsche stand while at the Motorshow and have a chat with them!!!

As I say car was sold as maintained in line with service schedule and quoting from service manual "The brake Fluid must be changed every 2 years" so I am guessing they will struggle to use the "it's at the customer's discretion sir" defense.

How much does an OPC charge for the fluid change - one would assume that if there is a leak with the brake system then they will have to change the oil when they fix it

Regards

Paul
P.S. Fortunate enough to have another car so don't need to drive Boxster until I get it fixed - It's supposed to rain the weekend anyway

 

[Mark_Bennett]

If you bought it from an OPC then yes everything should have been done. Maybe they forgot to stamp the book (it happens).

It sounds to me like you have a leak. You can see the service pricing on the Porsche website
http://www.porsche.com/uk/accessoriesandservice/porscheservice/servicepricing/

 

[danofesher]

On a 996/GT3 the Brake Fluid reservoir is at the front of the car, to the left but forward of the battery. I don't know about a Boxster. I can't believe it's not visible on a boxster. You Must check it incase it's low and not drive the car until you know whether there's fluid in the system. Also, I think your OPC should feel guilty if the car was sold to you at over 2 years but they'd no changed the brake fluid. If the book's not stamped I'd insist on them changing the fluid and stamping the book now, i.e. don't just take their word that they'd have done it.

 

[Mark_Bennett]

ORIGINAL: danofesher

On a 996/GT3 the Brake Fluid reservoir is at the front of the car, to the left but forward of the battery. I don't know about a Boxster. I can't believe it's not visible on a boxster. You Must check it incase it's low and not drive the car until you know whether there's fluid in the system. Also, I think your OPC should feel guilty if the car was sold to you at over 2 years but they'd no changed the brake fluid. If the book's not stamped I'd insist on them changing the fluid and stamping the book now, i.e. don't just take their word that they'd have done it.

Good points.

On the 987 the reservoir is under a little flap on the left side (right side on Left Hand Drive cars - before anyone says it [])


The 987 manual says this:

Checking the brake fluid level​

The reservoir for the hydraulic braking and clutch​

systems is in the front luggage compartment.​

1. Open and remove cover flap A.​

2. Regulary check the brake-fluid level on the​

transparent expansion tank through the window​

B.​

The fluid level should always lie between the​

"Min" and "Max" marks.​

A slight decrease in the fluid level due to wear and​

automatic readjustment of the disc brakes is normal.​

If, however, the fluid level falls markedly or below​

the "Min" mark, the braking system may have developed​

a leak.​

Have the braking system checked immediately​

at an authorized Porsche dealer.

 

[paulwat]

Thanks for the pointers, I had tried to check the fluid level visually but hadn't noticed the viewing window as it was dark.

Anyway having spoken to OPC the car had the brake fluid changed in Feb and also had the 111 point check prior to delivery to me and all was fine.

Upshot is car just left on a trailer headed for the dealership as they didn't want me to drive it to them. Recovery guy couldn't find anything obvious wrong with the car, will wait and see what the OPC says once they have had the chance to look at the car.

cheers

Paul
P.S. disappointed to see Porsche, Audi and BMW didn't seem to think it was worth attending the motor show. Thankfully the ticket was free and we were there for another reason as would have been hacked off if had paid for it

 

[paulwat]

car back on drive 24hrs after leaving with problem sorted, brake bleed valve nipple not sealing properly caused a slight leak which over the 6months since brake fluid was changed resulted in the fluid disappearance.

Great customer service from OPC Bristol, they also took a look at and fixed a couple of other niggles that I mentioned when I was there to pick up the car this afternoon. Only downside is it looks like they forgot to fully close the drivers window when they left the car outside in the rain [:-], (either that or it's sprung a leak!!!) not sure the electric seat memory switches are supposed to have water running out of them!!

Thanks again for all the helpful commments

Paul