924Board.org

[cgalyon]

Ok, I finally found a place to get my car serviced and it was about $1250 (just a bit over actually) to get it done. They did the belts, seals and waterpump; overall I feel like I actually got a pretty good deal.

Next up, I need to get my brakes overhauled (brake pedal is a little squishy), fix the odometer (and maybe more of the gauges as the needles are getting a bit wobbly), parking brake (doesn't work at all) and can finally begin some of the cosmetic things.

I spent about $2k for the car in the first place and perhaps if I'd done some more inspecting and shopping around I could have gotten a better deal, but it looked like prices on '88 924S was generally around $2-$4k depending on the condition of the car. I guess I'm just spending the $2k difference in repairs. :p Also it's damned near impossible to find a good navy blue 924/944.

[Paul]

Brakes are easy, let us help you do it yourself.
_________________
White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

[cgalyon]

Great, I'll gladly accept help and try to do the work myself! I'd like to learn more about how to properly work on and maintain these cars. I've done simple brake work before on Toyotas and Hondas; given their typical simplicity, brakes seem like a good way to get my feet wet with the 924/944 line. I'll start by scouring the forums for various posts related to brakes and see what I can learn there, then as I get nearer to actually doing the work, I'll start asking questions.
_________________
1988 924S Navy Blue - Phone Dials

[Paul]

Here's some reading:

http://clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/brake-02.htm
_________________
White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

[cgalyon]

Excellent information! It looks like pretty standard brake work too; I have most of the needed tools already. Something I did on a Honda several... maybe more like ten years ago actually... was clean out the calipers using a drill bit and cloth. Wrapped the bit in cloth, used a low setting and ran it in and out a few times to help get out some grime that had built up over the years. Think it's still alright (or even advisable) to do that with 924S brakes?
_________________
1988 924S Navy Blue - Phone Dials

[Paul]

Since your rubber brake hoses are probably 20 years old, consider replacing them.

A $49 pressure bleeder is a great investment.
_________________
White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

[gohim]

I use a new piece of a green "Scotchbrite" scubbing pad (no detergent, just a plain pad), and scub by hand.

Using a powertool only gets you in trouble when trying to clean without planning on any machine shop work.

Find a place that sells silicone grease for brake assembly, and use a thin coating on everything as you assemble the calipers.

Buy Genuine caliper seal kits made by the OEM manufacturer of your calipers (probably ATE but could be Girling/Lucas). The aftermaket supply companies charge less than $10 a piece for them (one kit for each caliper). If your caliper hardware is badly corroded buy new.

You will need a simple tool to set the angle of the step machined on the face of the caliper piston for the brakes to work properly. I made one myself from a piece of a polycarbonate (plastic) cutting board.

Check your bleed valves in advance incase they are damaged and need replacement. You will want to have all of the parts necessary for the work on hand before you start.

The front rotor wheel hubs contain the wheel bearings. You should have new grease seals on hand so you can clean, inspect, and repack the wheel bearings while you have the hubs off the car. The outer wheel bearings are small, and easily damaged if they run too loose, or out of grease. Check them carefully for damage. The wheel bearings are relatively inexpensive as they are the same ones used on many 911s (Porsche changed to larger outer bearings, probably because they fail). The front hubs must be removed to replace the front rotors, as the retaining bolts are on the inside.

There is only 2mm of wear thickness on the front rotors, and 1.5mm of wear thickness on the rear rotors. That means that if the wear ridge on the outside of the rotor edge is more than the thickness of a fingernail, you are going to need to replace the rotors, because there isn't enough meat there to turn the rotors (even once).

Plan on having (2) quarts of brake fluid to bleed the brake properly when you are done.

[cgalyon]

Another question about the timing belt; in my '86 944 I had to have the belt re-tensioned after a bit of driving (after getting the service). As the 924S has a spring-loaded tensioner, does the belt still need to be re-tensioned? (I'm sure this is a stupid question, but I'm still learning my way around the engine and would rather ask the question than erroneously assume!)
_________________
1988 924S Navy Blue - Phone Dials

[Paul]

Yes since it's only "spring loaded" when its released to tension the belt.
_________________
White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

[Mav666]

Sorry to jump in on your thread, but the belts on my '88 where only done around 2k ago, and there is a rumble developing around 3,000 rpm, I've heard that this could mean what you are saying about having it re-tensioned, is this correct??

[Paul]

The belts MUST be retensioned shortly after a belt change, if yours have not been done since yours were changed, you are way overdue. You may even need new belts.
_________________
White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

[cgalyon]

Yeah, I thought the belts are supposed to be re-tensioned at about 500 miles after the initial change. Maybe that's too early though... ?
_________________
1988 924S Navy Blue - Phone Dials

[Mav666]

They were done before I bought it, so not sure if they have been re-tensioned, think I'll just bite the bullet and book it in for new belts, way way cheaper in the long run

[clay924s]

When I bought the car the front end of the engine got the treatment you are looking at. There was one surprise when one of the balance shafts was found to be 180 degrees off. Moral is - know who is doing the work. It sounds like you've studied this well and the advice coming from this forum is impressive.

[Rasta Monsta]