Soft brake pedal on Cayman S
Discussion
Hi All,
Having recently purchased a 2005 Cayman S which was in deperate need of rear discs and pads - both worn pads and severely corroded discs is had ignored a rather soft pedal as thought it was probably related.
I changed the discs and pads and am still noticing a soft pedal. Symptoms as follows:-
Under heavy braking the pedal can be pushed progressively further and further and although it is possible to active ABS so they must be working, it is rather unnerving.
With the car ticking over, stationary, the brake pedal can be pushed nearly to the floor - it just doesn't feel like it firms up. If you pump it a few times it eventually firms up.
The obvious answer is the change the fluid, it was last done by OPC a year ago (circ 18k miles), but the reason for the post is to find out if there are any known issues with the braking system on the Cayman as I have 6 days left of the warranty and could get it into the dealer to perform a fluid change. I would rather not as want to use Castrol SRF or ATE Blue so will probably invalidate the warranty anyhow.
I was intending to do a fluid change myself but I have read some information about type/level 1 and 2 changes relating to the ABS which might mean it is a dealer job anyhow.
I might be being over critical as I am use to a GT3 which has more effective brakes anyhow but I have also run a couple of 986 Boxsters and I have to say I think I would notice it even if it was on my wifes Diesel.
Thoughts and advice welcomed.
Cheers
Simon
Having recently purchased a 2005 Cayman S which was in deperate need of rear discs and pads - both worn pads and severely corroded discs is had ignored a rather soft pedal as thought it was probably related.
I changed the discs and pads and am still noticing a soft pedal. Symptoms as follows:-
Under heavy braking the pedal can be pushed progressively further and further and although it is possible to active ABS so they must be working, it is rather unnerving.
With the car ticking over, stationary, the brake pedal can be pushed nearly to the floor - it just doesn't feel like it firms up. If you pump it a few times it eventually firms up.
The obvious answer is the change the fluid, it was last done by OPC a year ago (circ 18k miles), but the reason for the post is to find out if there are any known issues with the braking system on the Cayman as I have 6 days left of the warranty and could get it into the dealer to perform a fluid change. I would rather not as want to use Castrol SRF or ATE Blue so will probably invalidate the warranty anyhow.
I was intending to do a fluid change myself but I have read some information about type/level 1 and 2 changes relating to the ABS which might mean it is a dealer job anyhow.
I might be being over critical as I am use to a GT3 which has more effective brakes anyhow but I have also run a couple of 986 Boxsters and I have to say I think I would notice it even if it was on my wifes Diesel.
Thoughts and advice welcomed.
Cheers
Simon
Simon - get it in to the OPC now and tell them the problem. If as you say it's still under warranty - tell them you think it could be master cylinder/servo related and hopefully they will concur and change the lot.
From cold even if fluid has some water moisture within it should still give a hard pedal feel, and shouldn't drop to the floor apart from if you boil it on track or similar. Water moisture in the fluid changes it's characteristics and lowers the boiling point, but not to the level where you'd notice it from cold, and having to pump the pedal to get if firm points towards a hydrolic problem IMO.
If they change everything over and change the fluid in the process, then hey presto you have new hydrolics/fluid for free, then use the fluid for 6 months and change over to some high temp stuff.
I went from Cayman S to 997 GT3 with PCCB and whilst the pedal feel is different the Cayman S pedal feel was still a "sporty" setup, and not overassisted or soft. Still needed a boot to get it to stop.
From cold even if fluid has some water moisture within it should still give a hard pedal feel, and shouldn't drop to the floor apart from if you boil it on track or similar. Water moisture in the fluid changes it's characteristics and lowers the boiling point, but not to the level where you'd notice it from cold, and having to pump the pedal to get if firm points towards a hydrolic problem IMO.
If they change everything over and change the fluid in the process, then hey presto you have new hydrolics/fluid for free, then use the fluid for 6 months and change over to some high temp stuff.
I went from Cayman S to 997 GT3 with PCCB and whilst the pedal feel is different the Cayman S pedal feel was still a "sporty" setup, and not overassisted or soft. Still needed a boot to get it to stop.
Agree with Simma - get it in to the OPC as soon as you can. I'd also ask them about whether they can put different fluid in as they may be happy to do it for you. My old OPC proactively suggested I switch to a higher temp fluid and did it for me on one of my old 986's (which was well within warranty at the time) as I was tracking it quite a lot and overheating the fluid.
There was a big discussion about soft brake pedals on planet9 (a big cayman forum). I had the same issue on my 2.7 when I had it - sometimes the brake pedal would just sink. I don't think it was ever fully resolved but one of the main guys on that thread replaced a part which had cracked (it was a plastic cap or something) and he said it fixed his problems. He showed a picture of the area but I couldn't figure out where it was on the car. I'd suggest getting it into the dealer while its still under warranty and then going to have a look for that thread. I haven't been there for a good while since selling my 2.7 so I can't give you a direct link - sorry about that.
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