Parking Brake Question - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

tobybul · #1 03-30-2007, 02:55 PM

84 300D..... does the parking brake have a separate brake pad/shoe? My parking brake foot pedal goes all the way down with no resistancce. I checked the cables under the car and they are responding when the pedal is pressed down.

What should I be looking for to fix the problem? Thanks

mespe · #2 03-30-2007, 03:01 PM

The parking brake on these cars is seperate from the stopping brakes. I'm sure if you do a search you wil find adjsutment procedures.

rrgrassi · #3 03-30-2007, 03:14 PM

The shoes can actually wear out, especially if they drag, or they are not released all the way. They have a star type adjuster like the typical drum brake.

Stevo · #4 03-30-2007, 07:30 PM

The E brake pedal on my 79 would go WAY down before securing the brake which pissed me off evey time I get in the car, so I adjusted it...

now I get a warm cozy feeling every time I mash the E brake pedal.

Motorhead · #5 03-30-2007, 07:38 PM

As said above, there is a small star wheel adjuster that is accessed through a lug bolt hole. It is sometimes easier to take the rear wheel off first. With a flashlight, look through a lug hole and turn the brake rotor slowly until you see the adjuster. Turn the adjuster star in the direction that will move the screw out toward the brake shoe. I tighten them up until I can't move the brake rotor and back them off until the rotor turns free with a SMALL amount of drag. Make sure that when you jack up the rear of the car that the transmission is in neutral and that the emg. brake pedal is all the way returned.
To check the condition of the shoes, You need to remove the rear caliper and then slide off the brake rotor.

tobybul · #6 03-31-2007, 08:08 AM

thanks, motorhead............. very helpful info,,, I'll chk this today while I work on the driveshaft. I will be taking down the driveshaft to replace the center bushing. This will be the 1st time for me to do this - flex discs removal. Suppose to loosen the center driveshaft nut also. Hope I have a big enough open end wrench.

rino · #7 03-31-2007, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motorhead

As said above, there is a small star wheel adjuster that is accessed through a lug bolt hole. It is sometimes easier to take the rear wheel off first. With a flashlight, look through a lug hole and turn the brake rotor slowly until you see the adjuster. Turn the adjuster star in the direction that will move the screw out toward the brake shoe. I tighten them up until I can't move the brake rotor and back them off until the rotor turns free with a SMALL amount of drag. Make sure that when you jack up the rear of the car that the transmission is in neutral and that the emg. brake pedal is all the way returned.
To check the condition of the shoes, You need to remove the rear caliper and then slide off the brake rotor.

I did that procedure just a few hours ago... It might be helpful to know that in order to tighten, the starwheel needs to be turned upward for the rear right wheel and downward for the rear left. At least it worked that way on my 1979 240D.
I wasted some time trying to figure that out, so I thought it might help here...

carnut · #8 03-31-2007, 01:58 PM

Make sure you mark both sections of the driveshaft prior to taking them apart. The shafts are aligned together! Must go back on exactly the same spline!

tobybul · #9 04-02-2007, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnut

Make sure you mark both sections of the driveshaft prior to taking them apart. The shafts are aligned together! Must go back on exactly the same spline!

Thanks for emphazising that, Carnut.... I read it in my Haynes manual, too but they did not highlight it as you did.

I was hoping I could finish the job on the weekend but I didn't have a large enough open wrench (1 3/4 & 1 5/8) to loosen the shaft nut. From what I've seen so far, to change the center support bushing & bearing, I don't think I need to remove the front half of the shaft. Just unscrew the shaft nut to remove the rear half of the shaft?

Does the shaft nut hold the spline in place?

Also, is a puller necessary to remove the bushing/bearing?

I also plan to replace the tranny support while I'm down there.

tobybul · #10 04-03-2007, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rino

I did that procedure just a few hours ago... It might be helpful to know that in order to tighten, the starwheel needs to be turned upward for the rear right wheel and downward for the rear left. At least it worked that way on my 1979 240D.
I wasted some time trying to figure that out, so I thought it might help here...

Also just did mine on the 84 300D since I have the rear end up for the centrebushing job....

It might further help to know that the starwheel can be found at the 11 o'clock position. And yes, mine also adjusted the same way as rino did on his 240D.

The parking brake pedal now works as it should. However, I;m thinking that the shoes are probably worn if the pedal went down that low in the first place. Another project....

124via126 · #11 07-02-2007, 12:01 AM

hi all, which rear wheel is the E-brake calipers connected to - left/right or both?

thanks,
george

dwoloz · #12 07-02-2007, 12:06 AM

There are parking brake drums on both wheels, the cable splits at a tensioned junction

pawoSD · #13 07-02-2007, 12:31 AM

Something weird happened to mine long ago, and I've not investigated it....now that I have a bunch of free time for 5-6 weeks, I will probably delve into it. My symptoms are that one day I went to apply the parking brake (a year ago

) and it kinda "bounced back" and the pedal is midway in the travel from up to down, and won't go up any higher, it feels springy....and when clicked down, 0 resistance on either wheel, but its pretty hard to get the pedal down....so I don't know what broke. I'll have to take it all apart and see I guess. It happened about 4-5 months and many many successful uses after I replaced the parking brake shoes.