wingless

My parking brake would never fully retract when released. I would need to pull both the pedal and the release to extinguish the indicator.

The cover was removed, the cable lubed and cleaned. The system works fine now.

The merged image shows the progression of the service. Don't forget to clean the cover seal. I used WD-40 and towel paper to clean the gasket and all the internal surfaces.

No adjustment was required, just cleaning and lubing.

C230 Sport Coup

I did this the other day, and now my parking brake works perfecto!
Didn't lube it though, just tightened till all the slack was out.
Now when I put the P brake on, it actually holds the car.

I'm trying to get in the habit of putting on the P brake, shifting to neutral,
letting off the brake, then putting in park, so I don't put pressure on the transmission.
Wow, you have some rust in there...
mine was fairly clean.
Took advantage of having that piece of felt out to clean the whole area.

Only tool needed was a crescent wrench.

wingless

My parking brake worked fine. It was always used each time the vehicle was parked. It just stopped retracting at the pedal.

The New England roadways undergo an annual ritual, designed to refresh memories of summers at the beach, even though snow is the order of the day. This is accomplished by covering the roadways with more sand and salt than snow. The downside is the corrosive effect this has on vehicles.

C230 Sport Coup

I paid my east coast dues as a kid, so I feel ok in saying,
'another reason to live in california'.

I never want to see a snow shovel again as long as I live.
Tahoe included. Give me sun, sand, mountains, scantily clad women,
and fresh lime margies. Oh wait I had ALL those things, just today.

Oh yeh, and cars that don't rust in a year of ownership from salt and sand.

czachari

but what does tightening involve?

C230 Sport Coup

Screwdriver and crescent wrench.
Tightened it while it's off, take up the slack, that should do it.

Outland

Sorry. Not been around much. Too much prep work for a business trip to Deutscheland.

Yeah, aint that parking brake a piece of crap? Mine made four trips to the dealer for that thing. Playing the what loaner will I get this time game was kinda fun, and since I have several vehicles I would usually let stuff sit until cooler weather, and drive the dealer's car in the sand and salt season.

Sounds like you got some great advice here! I never even knew about the underseat access panel. Cool.

cla 1000

Lool. I am not on the forum as much as I used to be either. I had thet problem taken care off over a year ago.

czachari

Once I fugured what size the bolts were .

Still, everything was clean inside. I used WD-40 to wipe it clean and then put some lithium grease in there. But, I couldn't figure out how to make the thing tighter. So, even though it's working good I have to push the pedal all the way to to fully engage the brake. How do I tighten it?

cla 1000

Tighten that center screw.

czachari

Now, if only someone could tell me how to remove the lower B-pillar plastic trim, that would be great

b_lum81

sorry to revive an old thread but does anyone know if the back seat adjustment of the parking brake is the same for a CLK (W209)?

mk4mike

i just performed this diy-fix on my clk. Was pretty straight forward, the only thing that took me a while was putting the rear leather piece that covers the seatbelts. The clips holding it in are a little tricky to get back into place.

Now my parking brake releases perfectly and i dont have to keep yanking on it to get the brake light to switch off!

After speaking with a friend of mine who is a mb tech he informed me that the parking brake automatically tightents itselft there i dont think its a good idea to start tighening up the slack from this end. Apparently the slack needs to be adjusted in the foot mechanism. so leave that one to the pro's

That being said if your parking brake it getting stuck! its an easy fix with some WD40!

Mike

mk4mike

Wow your bolts look quite rusted out! mine were brand new looking.
I didnt realease how little sound proofing there is between the seats and the access hole. Im going to throw down some dynamat to quieten down my exhaust.

KalC240

Ok I thought I have a parking brake issue until I read the front wheels are not connected to the parking brake.

My problem is I noticed, with car raised on jack, while turning by han, the front left wheel does not turn as freely as the right front wheel.

Thr right wheel turns about 25 times before coming to a stop, while the left (driver side) only turns about 5 turns and stop.

Are my brake pads binding? Can I adjust the brakes so the wheel turns ok?

Boom vang

Some things are over-engineered and other are severely under-engineered. This is the latter and not sure why it is open to the elements from below and thrown up by the spinning drive shaft. This has caused me lots of problems especially in a winter environment with lots of salt causing corrosion of the of the arm and pivot points. I have had to free it, lube it and service every second year

This item should be sealed off or made with non rusting steel

A very stupid design, the engineer responsible should be shot

Glyn M Ruck

The pads might touch the disc slightly more on one side or one bearing might be adjusted slightly tighter than the other. The RHS front wheel always takes a hammering due to road conditions. If LHS turns 5 times it's not too tight. If you hold both wheels at 12/6 o'clock & give them a tug & there is no play I would leave well alone.

longbowgilly

Hi,
This is my first post here and its already a thank you for you guys!
I have been having the parking brake problem where I have to flick the pedal up with my foot as the light won't always go off, I sometimes have to use my hand to move it if I'm wearing the wrong shoes though!
Anyway, now I have discovered that the bit I am looking for is located under the rear seat, can anyone enlighten me as to how I get under there???
I don't actually get in the back of it very often and have no idea how to lift the rear seats (C200K coupe)

pcy

Look at the front face of the rear seat. You will see 4 bolts with plastic caps. Remove those caps, remove the bolts, and just lift up the seat.

Muftie

Could someone please tell me where the adjustment can be made on a parking brake of a C180 03 model. Is it under the bake seat. ?
Thanks

Razar

I know it is an old post, but just wanted to say thanks, fixed the handbrake problem like in 10 minutes Will pass my NCT (MOT) in no time tonight now

drho2004

old thread but close to what im looking for! I found the adjustment behind the rear seat and was unsure how to adjust. i moved that nut either clockwise and counter and didnt feel a difference. but my biggest problem is the release lever near the steering wheel. it is just extremely loose. it doeskin 'pop' back like it once did. i tried seeing what made it hold etc by removing the fuse box near the steering wheel but there doesn't seem to be an adjustment. any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

stangar2

I bought a 2003 C240, 139K miles. The emergency foot brake could always be floored, so I knew somat was wrong. After a few months, I tackled it. I took off the passenger side rear wheel and brake disc, held in place with one star screw. SURPRISE, no emergency brake shoes. Completely devoid of any parking brake parts. Drivers side parking shoes were OK, parking shoes were hardly worn. (Brake pads were good).
Amazon had the emergency brake shoes, Rock Auto the springs. The adjusting star wheel assembly (at the top) and the spreader bracket that spread the shoes (at the bottom) and its stubby connecting pin to the cable clevis, was from MB dealership. (>$20). Lubed all parts with wheel grease.
Connected the cable to the spreader bracket. I assembled the smaller spring and the star wheel assembly first (3 parts)with the star wheel closer to the car front ( on both the left and right brakes), so the shoes can be expanded over the wheel flange hub. The smaller (upper) spring is assembled so that it is on the inside of the shoes with the spring hooks facing the car outer. Shoe retaining springs added next, using needle nose pliers to compress and give the spring a quarter turn. These springs hold the shoes in place against the back plate. So far so good. Connecting the larger and lower shoe spring was the most difficult PITA. Glad my mother was not listening. There is probably a trick or tool to make connecting that spring easier. It is assembled on the exterior of the shoes with its hooks facing inward. (Maybe I should have added the star wheel assembly last?). I replaced the brake disc and discovered NO improvement, foot brake pedal still floored. OH dear dear me!!
Removed the rear seat, held in place with 4 nuts below the rear seat front surface. Remove 4 plastic covers to access the nuts. Seat is then easily remove by pulling it forwards and exposing an insulation pad. Beneath the insulation pad there is a central metal cover about 8” x 8”. Remove it to expose brake cable connections. The passenger brake cable was disconnected. (In retrospect I think that made it easier to manipulate and attach the cable clevis to the spreader bracket).
The parking brake cables attach to a floating fulcrum lever via a keyhole shaped hole on the rear facing surface of the fulcrum lever.
How to adjust: Release the foot brake and place car in neutral.
First, the shoes can be adjusted with a flat bladed screw driver thru the holes in the wheel hub, or if just adjusting, thru a wheel bolt hole, to rotate the star wheel. Which way does the star wheel turn to expand the shoes??
Passenger side (US cars), the star adjusting wheel is at 11 o'clock and shoes are expanded by moving a flat bladed screw driver from a 12 o'clock to a 6 o'clock position to rotate the star wheel.
On the drivers side, the star wheel is at 1 o'clock and is expanded by moving the flat screw driver from a 6 o'clock to a 12 o'clock position.
Expand the shoes to where you cannot turn the disc, then back off until disc does not drag.
Secondly, adjust the central nut on the stud that protrudes thru the floating fulcrum lever in the brake mechanism beneath the rear seat, to remove slack in the cables. Next, apply the foot brake to check it out.
BINGO . Time for a beer.
NOTE!! I elected to forgo replacing the drivers side shoes as they were in good condition and I had had enough with that lower spring connection. Anyone want a new set of parking brake shoes and springs for one wheel??
Total cost less than $70.

Timcoeries

How do I adjust the Parking brake on my C180k 2005?

KSKarl

Again, thanks to the forum
Parking brake was inoperative on my recent purchase -- pedal goes straight to the floor with no resistance. Found the cable disconnected at the pedal. But no way could I pull the cable up enough to hook it back up again.
By backing off that adjustment under the rear seat I got enough slack to reconnect the pedal. Counted turns as I loosened the adjuster and tightened it the same. Pedal now meets resistance at half stroke and I can check another item off the list...