I didn't know that. I should check that out...

Swollen hoses are not common problems and that is what makes them tough to spot. In the past, like back in the 1960's and 1970's, owners of German cars would replace the original hoses with stainless woven hoses like the ones on aircraft. This also had benifits if you were in the habit of driving your car very hard.

I remember these as being a real pricy item, but now they are about $80 for a set of four and make sense if you are planning a total brake job.

I don't really know what other benifits they might have, but they will never swell.

Pooka

We changed them to SS b/c swollen hoses was a common problem....

The only thing uncommon about swelling hoses is they were not commonly understood b/c they swelled from the inside, so they were overlooked in diagnosis..but today diyer are now more aware of this potention b/c of Forums..
..Any decent tech will look for hoses on an aged vehicle..and that goes for clutch hoses also...another common complaint in the older manual trans Benz was the pedal not returning as it should..and it was usually the constriced hose.
The new hoses do not have this problem b/c they have materials that are not susceptical to brake fluid as they were then, but I have changed countless bad hoses...and there are plenty right here in the Archieves.
More common then was understood..........
When we mention swollen, we do not mean you are looking for a fat hose...we mean it has an interior constriction and that constriction effects the flow..it is an interior hose problem and can not be detected by looking at your hoses.

..

__________________
A Dalton

Arthur, just for the books.....your insight has helped me tremendously so far in troubleshooting my current red hot rotor issue! I noticed a weird sound on the highway a few days ago and pulled aside to check the lugs....nothing so I went on a bit slower at 55mph. The next day was a planned trip to Tuxedo Park, NY from New Haven, CT. 30 miles later the car started making very strange noises almost as if it had an unbalanced wheel turns out the right passenger side wheel was very very warm, then I confirmed super hot rotors by wasting a bottle of Poland Spring.....lots of steam. Thankfully I was near my girlfriends house and we switched cars. After I limped the car home at 55mph, and ordered new hoses for all 4 corners. I'll confirm the swelled hoses by doing the bleeder check after work today. Now I kinda wish I had picked up some stainless ones . I'll let you know how it goes when the new lines are on.

With the new hoses today, you do not need SS hoses ..they are for high performance brkaes and standard hoses will be fine.

An important add to my post is it is also a good idea to change the fluid every 2 years..that helps maintain a brake system much more than was ever thought.. and just another thing that techs always knew , but thanks to forums, the diyer guy is now Hip to that too....

__________________
A Dalton

It has been my (limited) experience that a parking brake dragging can smell like hot brakes without creating enough heat to make the wheel hot, nor enough drag to be perceivable when driving.

If the service / disk brake is creating enough drag to smell hot, it will usually make the wheel hot, and create enough drag that putting the car in neutral at walking speed on level pavement will cause the car to come to a noticably faster stop than normal. The service brake is designed to dissipate much more energy/heat than the parking brake.

If the wheel is hot, I'm betting on a rusted/seized caliper or swollen hose. If not, parking brake (usually cable).

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I agree...
So, do the bleeder /wheel spin test before assuming anything.
My post is not a diagnosis, it is a procedure test to arrive at the proper diagnosis.

__________________
A Dalton

Exactly! Not sure if I'm the center subject now but I will rule out the E-brake....as its the front right disk. I could also suspect the caliper mounting pivots *name*? As I know the two anchoring bolts should allow for side to side movement, I'll add that check to the list. Thanks again Arthur, and babymog!

UPS should have my lines in by tomorrow........

Thanks. Well, I was forced to drive the car about 59 miles today and there were no issues. In fact, I smelled around that tire at each stop and it did not even have the smell today and was not even all that warm.

We had soaking and I mean a soaking rain all day, so it may have kept it cooler than normal when I was driving since it was probably staying wet/damp, but it was not even steaming with it being wet.

I will still check it out though.

Still, get it checked. Brakes are not childs play, however, at least it's not happening on the front.

Put the new hose on, cleaned up the old caliper, pushed the piston out and cleaned that as well. Its the second day now and all seems as if my red hot rotors are gone. Today will be a longer drive so I'll push her a bit hard through the trip to completely confirm the issue was solved. I'm also considering getting the caliper rebuild kits, the rubber on the one I cleaned up looked fine, however, I suppose the rubber inside could swell and also cause unwanted tightness between the caliper wall and the piston. Thanks so very much guys!

I can confirm the fix, new hoses and a good cleaning did the job. Took about an hour per front wheel in 20 degree weather, not hard. Time to pop the blower motor regulator in ....

I will. I drove it that Tuesday and there was no smell at all. I was hoping whatever it was broke loose, but it didnt. I had to drive the car today... about 15 miles at 55 mph. I stopped to refill with gas and smelled it pretty strong and I could feel heat if I placed my hand by the wheel. I was almost hesitant to pump gasoline right there. , but I did anyway, but carefully. I headed back home (which was 13 miles). I stopped a couple of times and checked and there as no smell and it was cool. I got home, checked it again and it was cool and no hot brakes smell. Something is screwy. I will either try to check it myself on my day off, or take it to one of the local MB mechanics.

If its only the hose causing the problem, is it easy to replace?

Thanks!

Is there any sort of grinding nosie when you drive? Perhaps you have a wheel bearing overheating.

Not trying to scare you, but a bad bearing can cause the area to heat up. There is usually somewhat of a grinding noise, though.

On the plus side: Changing the brake hoses is very easy. Just be sure to bleed that brake after installing the hose. It really helps to use wrenches tht are made for removing hose fittings such as these. They are not that much money for an entire set.

The bearing is a bit tricky to change unless you have the correct tools and then they are very easy to do. Changing a bearing is still a time consuming job, but everything is easy to get to and not very heavy.

Pooka