Brake warning Lights

[Guest]

After a great day at Bedford my car's brake warning light and ABS lights keep coming on and then dissappearing.

I'm positive the rear pads need replacing which is happening tomorrow morning, but will this stop the ABS light from occasionally coming on?

Any advice gratefully received

Kristian

 

[chrism964]

Did you check the brake fluid level? As the pads wear the fluid in the system will drop (to take up the increased piston travel required to apply the pads to the discs). As the fluid level drops in the resevoir acceleration and deceleration forces will cause the fluid to 'slop' around. This triggers the low brake fluid sensor causing the warning lights to flick on until the 'slopping' stops.

So changing the pads may help if this is the case.

 

[tat]

Does the light go off if you pump the brake pedal a few times? If it does it may indicate that the system is loosing pressure, which could be caused by low fluid, or a leak, or blistered hoses.

It's also worth cleaning the electrical contacts for the sensor (on the fluid reservoir lid).

Let us know how you get on!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the tips.

Turned out the pads were incredibly low and my rear calipers corroded which was causing all the problems.

Had a temporary fix but I need a caliper re-build or replacement calipers.

Tempted at the thought of the bigger caliper upgrade (mine is a 1991 car with the small rear calipers) any advice as to where I could find the parts?

cheers

Kristian

 

[Jamie Summers]

Kristian,
On a C2, particularly one you intend to take some weight out of, I think that going up to Big Red brakes is overkill. They are hugely expensive and almost certainly you will need the larger 993 master cylinder (which brings another set of problems - different size fittings to the 964 version). Instead I strongly recomend doing what I've done to mine.i.e.
1.) Ordinary 993 front calipers (or 928 S4 - they are the same) £200 ?
2.) Adapter brackets for front calipers £125
3.) Ordinary 993 rear calipers £200 ? (bolt straight on)
4.) 928 S4 drilled front discs (bolt straight on) £150
5.) 964 RS drilled rear discs (bolt straight on) £150
6.) Stainless hoses £50
7.) Super Blue or SRF fluid
8.) Pagid Orange / Porterfield R4-S / Performance Friction P97 pads
9.) Remove brake dust shields FREE !
10.) 964 Turbo brake bias valve (moves more braking force to the rear) £50
This lot gives you a decent improvement over the standard 964 set up (esp if you're still using the tiny 2 pot rears), for a lot less money than the full Big Red kit. 993 calipers are a lot easier to find than Big Reds, so if you're lucky you could save a good deal more than the prices I've suggested above. ( It think there's a set of fronts for sale on Pistonheads at the moment).

Jamie

 

[Guest]

Cheers Jamie - looks like my car is slowly morphing into yours.

One quick question - could I fit 993 rear calipers and stick with my standard 964 fronts? Or would this mess up the break balance?

My fronts seem to be working really well with the new Pagid blues, cross-drilled discs, uprated fluid and braided hoses. They bite hard with no real fade and it's just the rears which are letting me down.

Would save me a packet too.....

Thanks again for all your help

 

[Jamie Summers]

Kristian,
Mine had 993 rears with the normal 964 fronts when I bought it, the previous owner had not got round to installing the front calipers even though he'd bought the adapter brackets. So in a word yes it works. Not sure exactly how the brake balance would be though. I think I only did one track day before I put the 993 fronts on, but I don't remember any dramas. Give it a try. If the balance feels unsafe you could always run a less aggressive rear pad eg OE. Interestingly the 993 rear pad is the same size as the standard 964 front, so if you kept your OE front pads when you upgraded to Pagids you could just drop those straight in !
The 964 front calipers are reasonably saleable as they can be used as an upgrade for the 3.2 Carrera (but takes some machining) - I got £150 for mine, so you can offset some of the cost of the upgrade. Sadly the two pot rear calipers are a bit friendless, I don't know of any upgrade which uses them ! Look at it this way when you go up to 993 rears you have a far greater choice of brake pad at lower price, so you end up saving money in the long run !

Jamie