I have a 98 ML320 with 57K miles and every few months a strange thing happens when driving it. I call it uncommanded braking of the right front wheel. The vehicle becomes very cumbersome and will hardly move unless you really get on the pedal. When you release the gas, the car comes to a stop as though the brakes were applied. The right front brake disc area and wheel are very hot when this happens. All the other wheels are normal. There are no warning lights that indicate a problem.

Here is the part I don't understand. If it were only the right front brake that was malfunctioning, let's say a caliper sticking, then wouldn't the vehicle pull to the right when this occurs? It doesn't. Instead, it tracks straight ahead. The dealer replaced everything in the brake system, calipers, rotors, brake lines, pads and master cylinder under warranty. That didn't fix it. It still does this every few months and hit me today in stop and go traffic.

I tried going into low range and back out thinking that might help. It didn't. I tried everything I could think of but the only thing the seems to correct it temporarily is waiting for the brake and wheel to cool. When this happens the transmission also shifts normally so I doubt that has anything to do with it...but maybe it does. After it cools she drives fine again.

Of course I'm out of warranty now and would like some ideas on where to start troubleshooting. I've lost confidence that the dealer can fix it..he had a go at it and failed. Any ideas?

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99 E300 133K
98 ML320 99K
87 Saab 900 Turbo Conv 123K