300SD-Front brake replacement...........
 

I ordered some Bendix front brake pads for my '83 300SD and I'm wondering if it's easy to install them without any special tools? The indicator light on the dash seems to be telling me that I need to replace them, or at least it does on ocassion:rolleyes: . The current pads only have 21K on them. I took a peek through the opening in the wheels and they look like they still have some life left in them, it's hard to tell for sure without pulling the wheel. Anyway, I'm just wondering if there are any surprises awaiting me when I do this. Any advice is appreciated and thanks.

Pull the tire/wheel off and look closely at the brake caliper. You should see the pad wear sensors. Inspect them. If the insulation is gone/cut and the wire is bared then you need to replace the sensors. You will be able to see the pads better with the wheels/tires off too.

I just got done doing this front brake pad replacement and it took me about an hour and I've never done it before:eek: . It is one of the most user friendly designs I've ever seen and there are no surprises. Those wear sensors are interesting and one of them was worn down to the wires. I guess that's why I was getting the intermittant illumination of the light. I didn't order any of these, but the other 3 are OK. The pads did need replacing and they only had 21K miles on them, don't know what brand they were. I replaced them with the cheap Bendix pads. The rotors do show a pronounced ridge on the outer edge, hopefully they will last awhile.

After I got everything put back together I started it up and pressed the pedal to the floor about 5 or 6 times and the pedal feel started to go back to normal again. I then drove it up and down the driveway testing the brakes and they seemed fine to me. I parked it and checked the master cylinder and all was well with the fluid level. I used paper towels to lap up the excess fluid from the master cylinder, worked OK for me.

Now if I could only get the heater and ventilation fan to work:D

very straight forward , if all that is needed is pads. Make sure you do not stretch or stress the brake lines during your R/R If rotors are thin or grooved you will need to replace. This requires removal and repack of bearings and setting load. Not a bad job, but do your homework. YOu will see many posts that tell you not to surface the rotors. I agree, they are cheap. THere is a minimum diameter punched on them somewhere , use that as a guide.