420 sel rear brakes - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

weekendmechanic · #1 10-09-2007, 12:34 AM

it feels like my rear brakes are dragging, the emergency brake is off so it cant be that. the funny thing is that when i put my foot into the brakes the rear do not really get a lot stopping power. i checked this out by putting the car in gear with the rear tires suspended in air. in neutral the rear tires are hard to turn. anybody got any thoughts on this?

RKreutzer · #2 10-09-2007, 05:23 PM

Hi there,
There is an adjustment for the emergency brake that pushes the pads closer to the drum or away from it. Don't remember which way to turn, but you need to only take out 1 wheel bolt and spin the wheel until you see the screw through the hole. A long screwdriver to then move it up or down. The picture should explain it. That way you can make sure it's not the emergency brake.

weekendmechanic · #3 10-10-2007, 02:21 AM

thanks man, i will try it.

waybomb · #4 10-10-2007, 08:54 PM

Or maybe stuck brake pads inside the calipers. That's why when you press on the brakes, you get hardly any change.

If that's what it is, pull that calipers off, beat the pads out, file all the rust off the sliding area for the pads, then sand with sand paper, coat with a bit of SylGlide, replace the pads while you have them off, put it all back together.

RKreutzer · #5 10-10-2007, 10:16 PM

Once you lift the calipers of the rotor and take off the pads, you will see how it looks. Mine looked like this and needed a new rubber seal and the cleaning etc. that goes with it.
You won't know until you take the caliper off.

Edit: Sorry, I can't get the picture to attach, it exists already on another thread. Search for "brake caliper piston rubber seal" and my handle to find picture

wbain5280 · #6 10-11-2007, 07:50 AM

You may also need to replace the rear brake hoses.