I have repaired and replaced the calipers, pads, discs, and hoses, 18 short months ago. When I recently heard the scraping noise I thought what gives; it felt way too soon for this to happen. The other three are fine and have plenty of pad to go. It is my left rear caliper and since I did the brake job somewhat recently I wanted to identify the manufacture of the caliper. I looked and I see a Mercedes symbol and under that 61P or G1P and to the left of those two marks is a symbol or design I am uncertain of. I suppose it is safe to assume it is a Mercedes caliper. Okay, let me ask ... is it; does anyone know?

I have read the forum and note all of the votes against rebuilding a frozen caliper with just a few saying they have done so successfully. I have rebuilt a caliper once and I remember it had some challenging moments. I did complete it successfully. My problem is that I am on a very limited income so I have to cut costs whenever and wherever I can. So I am looking for some advice.

I don't know yet if both sides are frozen. I read about and like the suggestion of using hydraulic pressure to free up the frozen side. That is if only one side is frozen. I am thinking of using hydraulic pressure to make certain the unfrozen side is moving freely. Then leaving the unfrozen side in place and freeing up and removing the frozen side. After that removing the side I messed with first. Any ideas on what I am thinking of attempting?

I figure I will buy an ATE rebuild kit, I hope that will work on the caliper I have to work on. Will that work? By the way anyone have a caliper rebuild kit they decided not to use for my 94 E320? I am going to look at the parts section of the forum to see if there are any postings. I need to get a disc in all likelihood too.

You could have something as simple as a stone that got up into the pad area.
Get the wheels off the ground and check.

__________________
1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

Okay I will try that. I will even pull the caliper off. I had a friend look at it quickly and he thought the pads look worn out. I will give it a better inspection so I can see whats up. Thanks for the idea.

If you need to cut costs, brakes should be the last place to consider. Try getting some from a junk yard as is. I did that about 3 years ago and been good ever since.

__________________

1990 190E 3.0L

Henry, if you replaced the calipers 18 months ago then you should know what calipers you bought. Don't understand why you're asking for help identifying the brand caliper. It's difficult to imagine you're having brake system problems when you essentially rebuilt the system 18 months ago. Did you bleed the entire system and install all new brake fluid?

Rather than rebuilding the caliper I agree with Ismalley ... check prices for the proper caliper at a salvage yard.

__________________
Fred Hoelzle

Actually as strange as it may sound, before last week I would not have known the supplier of my front two calipers. So, even though one would seem to reason that I should know this information, I simply don't. As ridiculous as that might seem; I needed the receipt to remind me the details about the other parts as well. Yes, I changed the brake fluid, bled the system; I have done brake work before and have had no problems in the past. The other three wheels are doing fine. So, it is likely a faulty caliper. My brake lines are whole and holding pressure. I am quite perplexed by this series of events. The brake noise. Discovering the frozen caliper after 18 months. It is a mystery to me.I am trying to identify the rear calipers so that I might contact the manufacturer as some calipers have a 24 month warranty.
You are both probably correct about the rebuilding idea. I will likely reconsider my rebuild attempt. Although last time I checked around here the salvage yards wouldn't sell me a caliper. I think it was a matter of liability and safety and them not wanting to be responsible. The guy might have claimed it was the law. I will check again and if it can't be had there I will get a rebuilt one. Thank you for the input. I appreciate your help and insight
Now, anyone want to comment on my other post regarding engine surging, idol hunting, and all the codes I found with my home made reader?

The Phoenix Caliper Co in Chicago will rebuild a caliper for about sixty bucks and you can express mail it each way for about ten bucks, turn around time on mine was a week. And they come back looking like new.

__________________
I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him. -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer (1564-1642)

Hi nestorb98,
Thanks for that information. I figure I will send them in the frozen caliper and that will be that. Only doing the one side is probably okay since I did the brakes one yeay ago February. I appreciate the input.
Henry

I had a rebuilders caliper lock on me,and it was about a year old,I simply bought another one,and its been fine since

__________________
1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran, deutschland deutschland uber alles uber alles in der welt

I had a bad flexible brake line once on an old honda. Some gunk got stuck in it and the result wasa brake caliper that acted like it was stuck. I have also had luck disassembling cleaning and reassembling calipers on my 300e you have to be careful and be aware of the possibility that you may find bad seals or torn boot and may need a rebuild kit or new caliper anyway. Quite often cleaning the piston and the bore can fix it

Henry, if you decide to go used I've got a rear pair from a 1995 E320 sedan with 98K miles. $48/pair includes shipping to you.

__________________
Hanno
'79 6.9 Sold (after 27 years)
'83 280SL, 5 spd.
'94 E320 Sdn. 5 spd conversion
'02 E320 Sdn.(on loan to mom!)
'87 300E (5 spd. conversion) Sold
'05 E500 Wagon