I had my front rotors and calipers replaced about 2 months ago on my 98 ML 320. Now, the brake calipers are bleeding out in all four wheels, esp. in the front ones. The brake pedal is mushy. The brake fluid reservoir is still full. I checked under the car at all four wheel. The fluid is brake fluid. They are coming from the calipers, not the bleeder screw.

I think the mechanic I used in my small town may be jacking with the car. I brought it to him and he suggested that all four calipers need to be replaced due to "liability" reason. He doesn't recommend rebuilding the caliper.

How can this happen to all four calipers at the same time. Did the mechanic put wrong brake fluid and now it is eating up all the seals in the caliper? I did him a favor and he in turn did the brake job for free with me supplying the rotors and brake pads. I remember they were Zimmerman or Brembo rotors and Mintex pads. Therefore, we have no official transaction records of this brake job..

At this point, I don't trust him anymore. He seems to like to wholesale replace parts instead of diagnosing the problem.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

John

No matter what happened, your first action should be to fix the brakes!!! Do not drive the car!!! If they are already bleading at any moment the brakes can totally fail!!! Have it towed to a respectable shop and get the calipers replaced or rebuilt!

As for the reason why they are all bleading, if it is indeed due to poor quality brake fluid, which I have seen do this before, I highly recomend that you change the seals in the Master Cylinder as well.

Iggy

__________________
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

2006 - Suzuki Gran Vitara (2.0 L fully equipped) Like this car so far except for trying to put on the seatbelt.
1988 - 190e - 2.3L - 172K miles (It now belongs to the exwife)
1999 - Chevy Blazer LS Fully Equiped - killed it June 2006
2001 - Honda Civic EX - 68K miles (sold June 2004)
1963 - 220S - Dual Carb 6 cyl. (sold)
1994 - Yamaha WaveRaider (fun to ride)

At this point, I have not found any respectable shop in this moderate size town (100 k) people. This is the third shop that I've gone to.

John

I am not sure about your specific vehicle but usually brakes are an easy DIYer project. Why not order the parts from fastlane and do them your self?

There are lots of threads that cover this topic that can help and in the DIY section there is a generic thread that gives step by step instructions


Iggy

__________________
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

2006 - Suzuki Gran Vitara (2.0 L fully equipped) Like this car so far except for trying to put on the seatbelt.
1988 - 190e - 2.3L - 172K miles (It now belongs to the exwife)
1999 - Chevy Blazer LS Fully Equiped - killed it June 2006
2001 - Honda Civic EX - 68K miles (sold June 2004)
1963 - 220S - Dual Carb 6 cyl. (sold)
1994 - Yamaha WaveRaider (fun to ride)

The piston seals in all four calipers are bad. You can rebuild them, but most mechanics won't for liability reasons -- they get sued and lose big dollars if something goes wrong, and they are not responsible if they install new or third party rebuilt brakes.

Probably the best course of action is to install new calipers all round -- send the old ones back as rebuild cores, this will save you some cash.

Both you and the mechanic need to know what caused them to leak, though -- for you, to prevent this again, and for him to keep customers. I'd never take a vehicle back to a shop where the seals got destroyed doing a very simple brake pad replacement!

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Do you think that he put wrong brake fluid or bled it incorrectly at that time when the rotors and pads went in? I find it hard to believe that all four calipers when bad at the same time. It seems that the previous installation was not proper somehow.

John

MB's don't do well with certain methods. It is impossible that all 4 corners go bad at the same time, just because...
I bet he is NOT an MB mechanic!
I do not know is Fast lane carries rebuilts but I used this place before with good results:
http://www.easternimports.com/
Just an option!
Good luck!

__________________
J.H.
'86 300E

He fixes and specializes in the foreign cars, including a lot of MBZ. He seems to know the older mercedes non computerized well. He or his helper may not be trained in the newer cars. I am swinging over his shop later today. He is looking at the car now. I wondering what BS he going to tell me and that it is not his fault. The only thing I do on this ML is change the oil.

John

Iggy; there is a DIY section with step by step instructions for simple jobs?! That is exactly what I've been searching for but haven't found it. I'll go look again and if I still don't see it I might ask for a direct link.

Thanks,

Doug

Canis

Here is the link....

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W124BrakePads

Iggy

__________________
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

2006 - Suzuki Gran Vitara (2.0 L fully equipped) Like this car so far except for trying to put on the seatbelt.
1988 - 190e - 2.3L - 172K miles (It now belongs to the exwife)
1999 - Chevy Blazer LS Fully Equiped - killed it June 2006
2001 - Honda Civic EX - 68K miles (sold June 2004)
1963 - 220S - Dual Carb 6 cyl. (sold)
1994 - Yamaha WaveRaider (fun to ride)