e-brake removal - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

xp190 · #1 04-04-2003, 12:04 AM

My 190E is making a thumping noise when I drive from the rear. I took the disc breakes off and there is some noise there when I turn it, it also seems to be coming from the e-brake pads.

I want to remove these and drive a bit to see if this really is the problem just to be sure.

Is that a good idea or a bad idea? Did anyone try it?

that thumping noise is very strange, and I'm not sure if it's going to make the car fall apart or not, so I want to test.

xp

G-Benz · #2 04-04-2003, 12:49 PM

I'm losing you on your english translation of your problem, so let me see if I can figure our what you are experiencing.

Quote:

My 190E is making a thumping noise when I drive from the rear.

I believe you mean you hear this noise when backing up or when transmission is in "R" or "Reverse".

Quote:

I took the disc breakes off and there is some noise there when I turn it, it also seems to be coming from the e-brake pads.

Did you just take the wheels off and rotate the disc (or rotor) "by hand"? If you heard noise, then I am assuming you did not remove the brake caliper when doing so.

Quote:

I want to remove these and drive a bit to see if this really is the problem just to be sure.

Not a good idea...

. You can unbolt the caliper and move it away from the disc and rotate by hand again to see if noise goes away. If if does, you may just have a broken spring clip, or excessively worn pads.

You can inspect pad wear without removing anything except the wheel. If it's less than 1 cm, you are due for replacement.

On another tangent...if your brakes are not the true source of the noise you are hearing, it might be a suspension component or a driveline bushing of some sort...but I'm not an expert in that area...sorry.

Pilotx1 · #3 04-07-2003, 12:23 AM

I just replaced the e-brake pads on my '84 190e. In my oppinion id say its a bad idea to remove the pads and go for a drive, the cam mechanism that expands the pads when the cable is pulled is only held together by a small pivot pin and on my car, in the process of replacing the pads this pin worked its way out of the assembly and fell off, there is very little room to work between the wheel mounting flange and the hub/ brake sheild. It took me about 20 minutes just to get things lined up and the pin back inplace. driving the car without the pads coudl lose the pin forever and I dont think the dealers have this pin on its own, youll probably need an entire sub assembly. you could try taping over the pin to hold it in if you really want to remove the pads and drive it as a test. also reassembling the ebrake assembly was tricky, especially installig the pad return springs, I dont have a brake spring tool so this made things harder using only a pair of needle nose pliers to pull the springs into position.

Hope this helps

xp190 · #4 04-08-2003, 12:44 AM

I decided not to take off the ebrake pads once I saw how they work, however, the noise is still there.

I made numerous adjustments to the breakes to see if anything changes, but so far no luck.

the ebrake never worked right for me to begin with, I think one of the lines might be broken, and I plan on replacing it soon.

I'm starting to think that this is related to the driveshaft, I had my felx discs replaced not long ago, perhaps something came loose.

All I know is that the noise is related to the speed of the car, I can't hear it below 20kmph, and above 70 it turns into a constant moan.

xp

anthonyb · #5 04-08-2003, 01:26 AM

Flex discs will make that kind of sound, I believe, as will a belt separation on a tire. More of a wah-wah-wah on the last one though.

-anthony

md21722 · #6 04-08-2003, 09:07 AM

Start moving the tires around on your car and see if it moves the thumping. A bad tire may be intermittant and may make a thumping noise that seems like an axle halfshaft. (BT, DT). Bearings may get loose and worn out. How long they last tends to depend on climate. In drier parts, the life of the car is not uncommon, 300-500Kmi. In wet climates where snow is common, less.

-brian

xp190 · #7 04-12-2003, 10:00 AM

anthonyb I think you are right.

I just had the flex discs changed not long ago and the noise is like wha-wha-wha...

I noticed that the metal bracket that bolts onto the flex disc coming from the differential has a really worn out bolt hole and I'm suspecting that this is the problem.

Is there a remedy for this? replace that piece?

Can it even be bought seperately? Or do I have to get a new differential?

Does the flex disc cause it? Mine are brand new, is there such a thing a defective flex discs?

I had to switch mine around and the noise still originates from the same place, so it's not directly from the flex disc.

HELP HELP HELP, this noise is killing me!

xp

Pilotx1 · #8 04-12-2003, 10:51 AM

My 190e was making that same wha wha wha wha sound when I was turning, its turns out that my drivers side front wheel bearing had gone south so now I am in the process of replacing both the left and right side wheel bearings. Id check the adjustment of the bearings on the car. If its the fronts I can help you through that replacement process but the rears I cant help there. also check the condition of your tierods, thats what I had suspected had gone bad causing the noise and turns out they are in fact loose and I beleive that is what mey have damaged the bearings.

xp190 · #9 04-12-2003, 12:43 PM

I checked the bearings and they seem to be fine. I jacked the car up and tried to move the wheel up and down. There was no play so the bearings seem to be fine, but I'm sure a lot of others, and me too would appreciated a post about changing them.

xp

Pilotx1 · #10 04-13-2003, 03:01 AM

Ill type up a lengthy post on how to do them in the near future, but anyways... I also checked the bearings for play in them and mine had none, the only true indication that they had went south was the sound they made as I went around curves. the confirmation that my bearings were infact bad came from a teardown and visual inspection.

xp190 · #11 04-13-2003, 08:14 AM

Well to be honest, I'm really clueless when it comes to figuring out this problem. The noise is there at all times as far as I can tell, there is no single moment where it leaves, this is why first I thought it was the breakes, and I still do think that to some extent, but then after inspecting the driveshaft I realized it was assembled incorrectly and I hoped that correcting it would fix it, however that did not work either.

Last night I climbed under the car one last time before I go to a shop and lift the car up and look at it as the wheels are spinning for any clues, everything looks normal on the ourtside, the flex discs are settles in correctly, everything turns.

One of the breakes seems to be getting stuck while going around in one place, this I don't know yet, but do the calipers close up a bit when the engine is off? Do they open up a bit further when the engien starts running? Perhaps this is my problem, the rotor got warped and is hitting the pad, but then the noise would go away (not necessairly I guess) or at least it would chnage when I step on the breakes, nothing like that ever happens, and this is what is leading me to believe that there is more to this story then that.

Perhaps I should go look for a used caliper and rotor and see if that makes any difference.

This problem is really getting to me....

xp