I have an SL500 1994 and depending on the inclination of the street, when I place it in parking it will roll back or forth, until it stops with a clicking sound. The parking brake doesn't seem to work at all. I engage it and is like if it wasn't engaged whatsoever. Are these two functions related? I f anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. Thank You, PEP

And also, I forgot to mention that when I place it in drive or in reverse it does it in a hard way, specially when it goes into reverse you can hear like a metal clonking sound. Is this also related to the same problem mentioned above.

The rolling when putting the car in park is normal. Mercedes have pretty thick parking pawls and as a result have a larger window for the pawl to engage in and more travel before the pawl clicks into the window.

The parking brake not working is not normal. The two functions are not related. Park on the tranny functions mechanically inside the transmission, the parking brake functions on a set of drums inside the rear disks.

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

Check to see if the parking cable is in place. Not sure if this is a model specific procedure, but on my SE I had to tighten up the brake as the pedal went almost to the floor. This is done by first tightening the brake at the rear wheels, and if that isn't sufficient, you can tighten the cable underneath the car.

Is the ratchet function engaging?

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'90 300SE 298k
-300K and it gets put into retirement.
'80 300D 255k Purchased new by family in 1980.

Had a:
1973 220 (gas)
1980 300SD
1992 400E

The ratchet function is engaging, and I have not checked the cable for tightness and the back brake assembly, it is definitely on my agenda now. I forgot to mention that the roll back and forth in the parking gear does not always occur. There are a few times when I get to my driveway and I put the car in parking and it doesn't roll back at all, but most of the time it does and it doesn't seem to me that having owned other automobiles that it is a normal roll back or forward distance, unless my model mercedes was originally known for that far rolling. Remember all this has nothing to do with the parking brake working, or not. I just don't use the parking brake beacuse it does not work. The reason to have the parking brake working from the beginning was to stop the car from rolling so much when in park mode.

I have had this on a few MB -- I do not know why -- MB always has said that it is "within spec". My SL was very bad -- especially in reverse

My car has the same problem. I'm not sure if the brake pads need to be replaced or if the emergency brakes need to be replaced/adjusted. If anybody can chime in, that would be great.

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'94 SL500 Tourmaline Green, 120K miles as of February 27, 2005.

http://home.earthlink.net/~boudreaux...ictures/17.jpg
Updated photo September 2004

All cars roll some before the pawl catches. Some more than others. There is an easy fix here- get your parking brakes back in workin order.

You can tighten the pads at the rear wheels or tighten the cable. Do the first before the second.

I did this on my SE, not sure if its different on your cars. The rear brakes are tightened by turning something behind the rear wheels. I inserted a screwdriver and turned it one notch at a time. The cable is tightened by turning something under the car, can't remember what it looks like. Mine was behind the exhaust so I lowered it to gain access. Had to jack up the rear of the car. It was located in the middle of the underchassis, if I remeber correctly.

Sorry I can't give more specific info..this was a while ago.

Someone here knows the exact procedure.

__________________
'90 300SE 298k
-300K and it gets put into retirement.
'80 300D 255k Purchased new by family in 1980.

Had a:
1973 220 (gas)
1980 300SD
1992 400E

The reason the car would roll more sometimes than others is because it depends how close the pawl is to catching the next window before it engages. If it is almost lined up with a window or already lined up, there will be very little roll at that time. If there is a larger amount of distance it has to the next window engagement, then the car will roll more before th pawl engages the next window. This is normal behavior for park.

As stated above, you can adjust the parking brake.

__________________
Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

When the pawl fully engages when parked on an incline, it will be hard to shift out of park.

Before shifting into park, shift the transmission into neutral, engage the parking brake and make sure that the car is not moving (when you release the brake pedal). Then shift the trans. lever into park. That way your parking brake takes all the load off the transmission and if ever your car moves, the parking mechanism inside your transmission will automatically engage.

Also, after starting, always shift to either R or D and then release the parking brake. That way the shift out of park will never be hard.

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1986 300E (3/2002) Rear ended and totaled (10/2009)
2000 Xterra (5/2000)
1992 400E (11/2009) -Sold
1986 300E (12/2009) - Sold
2004 E500 Wagon (6/2013) - Sold

The thing about the car is that the emergency brake pedal is engaged all the way to the floor, the car still rolls a little on the direction of the incline. Is this something to worry about?

I don't want to engage the emergency brake so hard that I won't release when I pull the handle.

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'94 SL500 Tourmaline Green, 120K miles as of February 27, 2005.

http://home.earthlink.net/~boudreaux...ictures/17.jpg
Updated photo September 2004

yes its a problem. your parking break needs adjusting.

mine takes 2 clicks. Nothing more, only less if I want less preassure like on a flat road!