Remember: ALL of your car's safety features rely upon those brakes and in turn the brakes wear faster.

My front rotors were replaced at 65K. I have 80K. My rear rotors are lipping slightly; therefore, I will need a set of new rear rotors with new pads. However, I might be able to get by with just front bake pads.

However, bleeding brakes and a complete changing of brake fluid, is more than a one man job. Thus, I will have a rather full job done by reliable mechanics with parts I provide except for the fluid. And I only go OEM.

 

If your lights have come on, in all likelihood you'll have to replace at least one sensor. They seem cheap enough. You might have 35% of pad remaining but place your rotors at risk.

Heck, this is THE AREA not to skimp in repairs & maintainance! Brakes are your safety net, especially on these beasts!!!

 

MEDTECH is correct - a brake job on a Cayenne is relatively easy and makes for a nice bit of time in the garage. Make sure you have 'all' of the tools and specs before starting. And those rear caliper bolts are a bit of a trick to remove. As mentioned, don't skimp on new parts (the whole parts package should run a little over $1K). But after all is said and done by making this a DIY job you'll enjoy working on a fine machine as well as save a few $$.

 

As long as I could completely change out the brake fluid and had the help necessary, I'd prefer to do it myself.

It is encouraging to hear from others who have done it. My only experience was changing front pads on an Avalon but it cost me more in cell phone charges than it would in paying labor. The friend on the other end of the phone was in Mississippi and he is blind. It took a while to translate from tactile decriptions to the parts I was stumbling around.

 

Well, I had no help to do the brake fluid so I had that done at the shop. Porsche recommends every 2 to 3 years on the brake fluid (supposedly the new ECO friendly fluid does not hold up like the good old stop juice did).

 

is there an EASY way to tell which need replacing? my brake light just came on, and i'm about to change the pads myself, but would i only want to replace the ones that need replacing, and hold off on the other ones. I bought all the pads and sensors, just in case i have to replace them all ... my 05 CTT is about to hit 40k miles by the way

 

40,000 miles! You gotta drive!!! I passed 80,000 last month. Front Rotors done at 65,000. Mine will need rear rotors next brake job.

I'm guessing you may only have one broken sensor to replace if you get on it right after the light came on. It should be easy to spot the broken wire. From what has been described to me, the sensor wire breaks and then the light comes on. However, you may have 35% of pad left from the advice given me by others.

I'm sorry. I just don't play with tires and brakes. They've got to be in top condition.

 

I am also one that does not cut corners on brakes. As a
rule, pads and rotorsshould be changed by the axle. The
associated hardware, i.e., pad retaining clips, pins, caliper
mounting bolts and pad wear sensors should be replaced.
You might find the pad wear sensors yo be very brittle
after 40k to 60k miles (they will crack or break easy).
Remember, there are front & rear sensors-difference is
the length of the cable.
The reason for putting in new parts is said to be due to
the extreme heat generated by braking causing metal
fatigue. Some will tell you that is a money making answer.
But I say not. Better to spend a few extra bucks on
great brakes than potentially thousands on damage if
brakes fail. Good wrenching.

 

Thousands on damages . . . pain & suffering and incapacitation and death are best prevented.

Good tips on what it takes. I think I'll order a full set of brake parts and take your advice to replace parts per axle (in pairs)--just like my new set of tires today.

 

i guess nobody understood my question , i was asking how to know which need replacing, the FRONT or the BACK? does do computer tell you or do you need to inspect them visually. i bought all the parts necessary for both the front and the back, however, most of the time the front ones go out, so there is no need to replace all four if only two are bad. Well, in my case the back pads needed replacing, and I did it all last night, it definately was very easy. The front ones seemed like the owner before me replaced them a short time back, so they're in good condition, and the brake light turned off by itself.

gr8ful, i just bought the ctt a few months back with 35k miles, and i'm definately putting some miles on it

 

Yo, I got mine last August and I must admit I bought it unseen with 69,000 miles on it. Just passed 80,500.

My biggest complaint is service. The local dealer (Yes, we have one.) seems to (1) always be short Porsche mechanics [Any Porsche mechanic wanting to move to the most robust economy in the United States. (Yes, we are American not some damned foreigners.) ought to take advantage of the opportunity and come up here before all hell breakes loose in the Lower 48!!!], and the local dealer seems to (2) require the car TWICE to complete one repair. Also, the dealer (3) does not stock many parts and simple parts like a serpentine belt and plastic PCM valve take an inordinate time getting up here.

Just to give you an idea of the advantages:

There are no State income or sales taxes. In fact, the State PAYS US an annual dividend check!

Alaska houses 20% of our fighting men.

Alaska is the only state with a missile shield.

Alaska is home to the biggest weapon in our arsenal.

THE STATE JUST PASSED A MASSIVE INCREASE IN BUDGET! Damned fools went from $1Billion to $2.2Billon. The increase is to stimulate our economy with $1.2Billion in building projects this year.

So, there is work up here.

However, our housing market remains flat yet stable, and our unemployment rate rose last summer.

But, since this thread has been so helpful, I might just do my own brakes. Thank you.

Did you replace any of the sensors? Or did the light just go off without doing that?

 

you should definately do the brakes yourself, very easy to do. once the light comes on for the brakes, you have to replace the sensors. but like they said before, you should still replace the sensors either way cause the get brittle, and they're very easy to install also. taking the sensors of the old pads into the new ones, probably takes longer. they're not that expensive too. i recommend you do it yourself, just order the parts and save a couple of hundred bucks...

 

No it does not tell you, just take a flashlight and you can see which is pad is worn down.

 

Just got rear brakes in the 08' GTS....$861 installed at my dealer. Unit prices seem to be pretty damn close to online and Ebay...so $255 for labor. Done same day.

 

If I remember correctly the rotors are suppose to be replaced at the second pad replacement.

Bob