Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

hi guys

just bought a j reg 944 s2 yesterday. got it at the right money as a few things need sorting.

i have got to get the belts replaced (its the law apparently ).

i also need to investigate the lights on the dash (this is where you guys come in) the "!" red light is on as well as the "brake assist"?? light (i think it os called that). the lad i git the car off has been very truthful about the things that needs doing and says that when he last had these light he had to change a sensor on one of the wheels, which cost him about £19. is this likely to be the fix? if so what do i need to order? also has anyone got a piccy of these in situ, so that i can recognise what i am looking for. the brakes work well by the way, so i dont think it will be anything more sinister.
thanks in advance
albi

Firstly Hi & welcome

Are you sure it says Brake Assist & not Brake Pads? Assuming it is brake pads then each pair of pads (one calliper) has a sensor wire loop embedded in a small piece of plastic. When the plastic erodes & brakes the wire it goes open circuit which puts the light on. On mine I've bypassed the lot as A. They cost around £8 each & tend to break when you move them & B. Tended to be unreliable on mine. Also my servicing is that it only does 3K a year so checking the brakes is fairly frequent anyway.

thanks for the welcome

yeh, i'm sure that was the description, its towards the right hand side of the dash. also the "!" light in the centre of the dash is lit.

i will check the description, this evening, and post on here. from what i can remeber, i think it had a wide but slim triangle (pointing down) under it.

It isn't brake fluid level is it?

i will check it when i get home tonight, and post it on here.

hi guys
i have checked the dash light, and it says "antilock" and the triangle is pointing up. i'm sure its to do with the abs. the sensor, that the bloke i bought it off was on about, must have been the abs sensors. i have checked the europarts website and they are quite cheap (£8). is there a way of testing these?

testing brakes? stopping quickly is highly recommended

When does it come on? If it is immediately the ignition is turned on, it could be a shorted sensor or knacked ECU. If it comes on as you drive away then it'll almost certainly be a sensor. Best way is to scope them with a oscilloscope but you can check them with a DVM for resistance & then AC volts output. Check the connections as that maybe the issue. Also the wiring is starting to age so could be intermittent.

The "!" is possibly the handbrake. Make sure you have the hand brake totally off, lever pushed right down. In my S2 the handbrake seems to be able to sit in a position where the brake is off but the light is still on.

its as you pull away, looks to be as soon as it gets to about 10mph. sensor it is then. i will get them checked out. cheers lads