Finished Caliper replacement W123 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

boneheaddoctor · #1 12-14-2005, 08:29 AM

Well I finished replacing my Calipers....I had the left rear inner piston sticking but did all four so I would have piece of mind. I did the rear 2 nights ago...Remanufactured calipers, new rotors, and new texel pads. You could definately tell I had brakes dragging. Had more pep off the line. Last night I replaced the front calipers, I kept the old pads and rotors till I have time to do the wheel bearings...at 151K I think I will put new ones on it rather than take the time to clean and repack the old ones that likely have never been repacked, I will put new Texel pads on it along with new rotors at that time, the car now required less effort to stop than it ever did since the fronts were replaced also. The brake fluid that came out of the lines was pretty nasty looking....very dark...obviously pretty old. Point to make to you folk who haven't flushed yours to consider doing it the next nice day. I always felt the brakes on my W123 were inferior to my W116 as they required more effort to stop the car.....with a fluid flush and 4 new calipers I change that assesment...the brakes now feel on par with my W116.

Funny thing I noticed doing this...I couldn't find a brand on the original rear calipers and since I grabbed generic pads to buy me time since one rotor gat chewed up going metal on metal due to the stuck piston I "assumed" it was the more common Bendix Calipers...I decided after a lot of thought to do all four so ordered 4 bendix calipers. Last night Pulling the front caliper I was shocked to see ATE on the caliper...so I HAD ATE calipers and nor bendix....well I prayed the ATE pads would fit the Bendix calipers since pars books show different part numbers for either....well they fit ..so I can finish the rest on the next fairly warm sunny day and not be working in the dark (except for a trouble light) freezing my behind off.

I have no idea why parts catalogs shows different pads for ATE and Bendix calipers when they both are identical. as I had the old and new pads side by side to compare.

t walgamuth · #2 12-14-2005, 09:03 AM

work. glad you are happy with results.

in my experience the ate calipers out number the bendix about 10 to 1.

dont know production numbers though.

tom w

dannym · #3 12-14-2005, 09:05 AM

Quote:

I have no idea why parts catalogs shows different pads for ATE and Bendix calipers when they both are identical. as I had the old and new pads side by side to compare.

I never thought that there would be different pads for different calipers. You would think they would give the same specs to each manufacturer. And we all know how those Germans are.

I did the side by side comparson also and never noticed a difference. Who knows maybe a micrometer would find it?

Danny

boneheaddoctor · #4 12-14-2005, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

work. glad you are happy with results.

in my experience the ate calipers out number the bendix about 10 to 1.

dont know production numbers though.

tom w

I guess there really was some issue with my front calipers even though they weren't sticking...since braking effort required to stop the car decreased so much with the rebuilt ones...Glad I decided to do the fronts also, now my W123 stops just like my W116 does....which is exceptionally well.

THe back was a no brainer...I had one that definately was sticking recently. But wasn't contributing to the higher braking effort the car had required since I bought it..

t walgamuth · #5 12-14-2005, 01:22 PM

found that the pads were the same no matter which brand caliper you use.

tom w

barry123400 · #6 12-14-2005, 01:56 PM

Well this has inspired me to some degree. Have one 123 that the brakes seem sub standard in comparison to the other 123s. Booster seems to be ok and pads seem good. Although to be fair I never deglazed them. Paricularly no obvious sticking calipers. Rebuilt master cylinder more as a precautionary thing when first aquired car. Guess will know what i am going to be doing to that brake system this spring. Will deglaze and reinstall pads first just to check. Do not like the pedal effort required on this car and has been the same since i got it.I kind of suspect yours felt much the same before you did the job. Almost makes a guy wonder if the pistons get hung up a little as they are extending. Seems impossible though. My bet is still the pads have a low coefficent of friction from previous usage. The good thing about your calipers replacement is since you notice less drag the rotors and pads will wear a lot slower.

boneheaddoctor · #7 12-14-2005, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barry123400

Well this has inspired me to some degree. Have one 123 that the brakes seem sub standard in comparison to the other 123s. Booster seems to be ok and pads seem good. Although to be fair I never deglazed them. Paricularly no obvious sticking calipers. Rebuilt master cylinder more as a precautionary thing when first aquired car. Guess will know what i am going to be doing to that brake system this spring. Will deglaze and reinstall pads first just to check. Do not like the pedal effort required on this car and has been the same since i got it.I kind of suspect yours felt much the same before you did the job. Almost makes a guy wonder if the pistons get hung up a little as they are extending. Seems impossible though. My bet is still the pads have a low coefficent of friction from previous usage. The good thing about your calipers replacement is since you notice less drag the rotors and pads will wear a lot slower.

I kept my old front pads.....I have not replaced them yet....just the Calipers.....I want to put new wheel bearings with fresh grease when I put the new front rotors and pads on it...since the hubs have to come off the spindles to do so.

so the change was purely calipers and had nothing to do with the pads. IT went from compairitively heavy brakes to very light as my W116 has....so now you can put the passenger through the windshield with a light tap of the brakes rather than stomping on them.

#8 12-14-2005, 02:58 PM

did you replace the brake hoses as well?
if you didn't it is always a good idea to do them when replacing the calipers. the hoses themselves have been known to cause dragging and not allowing the pistons to not return properly. they are less than $20 each. good practice and you are already there.

boneheaddoctor · #9 12-14-2005, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carson356

did you replace the brake hoses as well?
if you didn't it is always a good idea to do them when replacing the calipers. the hoses themselves have been known to cause dragging and not allowing the pistons to not return properly. they are less than $20 each. good practice and you are already there.

no...did not do those....but I do know what you talk about....hadn't thought about it when I ordered the parts. I know mine had a stuch piston...the outer piston went back in with hand pressure..the inner I used a welding hammer (the chipper) to leverage it back in to put cheap pads so I had a car to drive untill parts arrived....

phidauex · #10 12-14-2005, 03:51 PM

********.com has hoses for less than 10$ at the moment, pretty good deal! I'm going to be rebuilding my rears soon (they are trashed, but functional), and I got a set of hoses to go with the replacement. Plus, with new hoses, I can use vice grips on the old hoses to prevent the fluid from draining out while doing the rebuild.

peace,
sam

#11 12-14-2005, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phidauex

********.com has hoses for less than 10$ at the moment, pretty good deal! I'm going to be rebuilding my rears soon (they are trashed, but functional), and I got a set of hoses to go with the replacement. Plus, with new hoses, I can use vice grips on the old hoses to prevent the fluid from draining out while doing the rebuild.

peace,
sam

be careful using the vise grip method, i have seen that damage the hoses as well

boneheaddoctor · #12 12-14-2005, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carson356

be careful using the vise grip method, i have seen that damage the hoses as well

the little plugs they use to keep debris out of the calipers when reversed are the perfect size for the brake hose end....no dribbling on the drive way.

phidauex · #13 12-14-2005, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carson356

be careful using the vise grip method, i have seen that damage the hoses as well

Actually, I was assuming that it would damage the hoses, which is why I'd clamp off the old hoses while working on the caliper, then install new hoses at the time of reinstalling the caliper.

But if there was a handy plug, like boneheaddoctor mentioned, that would be better. Where do you find them?

peace,
sam

boneheaddoctor · #14 12-14-2005, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phidauex

Actually, I was assuming that it would damage the hoses, which is why I'd clamp off the old hoses while working on the caliper, then install new hoses at the time of reinstalling the caliper.

But if there was a handy plug, like boneheaddoctor mentioned, that would be better. Where do you find them?

peace,
sam

good question..they came in the rebuilt Calipers I got.....otherwise a chunk of plastic wrap adn a rubber band is better than nothing...

#15 12-18-2005, 04:24 AM

why not let the fluid drain out? you have to bleed the system anyway, good time to remove and clean the reservoir and add nice clean DOT4

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