I am trying to figure out why there is much more brake travel after I put new pads and rotors and bled all four wheels. I have searched here and found other posts of C230's with a lot of brake travel. I don't see a port on the ABS unit to bleed it. Am i missing something or is it somewhere else in the system. What i think is the ABS unit is a metal box inside the top part of the engine bay at the front drivers side with brake lines running into it.

__________________
John


1998 C230 for the wife
1986 Porsche 944 Turbo for me in the summer
1993 Audi 90 for me in the winter

Anybody know?

__________________
John


1998 C230 for the wife
1986 Porsche 944 Turbo for me in the summer
1993 Audi 90 for me in the winter

no not on a 1998 C230, I have one. ( at least not the ABS unit that my model uses - guess there could be a possibility that they used different ABS units as they used different power steering units on some model C-class).
BTW Startuned magazine available on the web has an article on the ABS unit bleeding (on mercedes cars that apply).

I just did a brake fluid flush on my car and the pedal has good feel not mushy, I'd had a mushy brake due to when I did a sloppy brake flush.
I pressure bleed and was very careful not to let my reservoir go empty and wait for all bubbles to dissipate from each caliper.

Thanks Ethan. That article is pretty basic. I used a Motive Pressure bleeder and started at the farthest wheel. The article said that some of the cars require a special tool to actuate some of the ABS solenoids to correctly bleed the system but it did not go into exactly what the tools was and what cars may need it.

__________________
John


1998 C230 for the wife
1986 Porsche 944 Turbo for me in the summer
1993 Audi 90 for me in the winter

the special ABS systems that you mention in the latter part of your last post relate to (for instance) the SBC (sensonic braking system ?) that the w211 cars use. These braking systems need I think a Mercedes computer unit that wires into the car to peform the flush or even brake pad changes, not exactly sure.

For your car you should be able to get a nice pedal feel by just evacuating and refilliing your reservoir to the very top, getting a good leak-proof connection from your Motive bleeder, and use a clear tube from the bleeder to a collection bottle with old brake fluid in it and the other end of the clear tube submerged, then open bleeder and watch old fluid travel out till it runs smooth with no bubbles. I actually place some Amsoil synthetic grease around the hose connection to the bleeder to eliminate as much as possible air traveling into system at that juncture.
You may have to disconnect Motive bleeder a few times to refill with fresh fluid as you go through the process. I'm not familiar with capacity of Motive bleeder.

You also have to pump brake pedal to press inward the pistons against the new brake pads before bleeding the system.