Parking brake problems addressed 2004 C320
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2005 C320 coupe
Parking brake problems addressed 2004 C320
I purchased an 04 C320 coupe this past March. It has the manual transmission, which is what I was seeking in a fun sporty European car. This is the most fun I have ever had driving any car in my 27yrs of driving... and I have had a lot of different cars.
But on to the parking brake issue. I am posting this in hopes it helps others out with this problem. When I got the car the parking brake did not work, when engaged it made no difference at all the car still rolled freely. that was the only problem with the car and it still is. I finally decided to look into it considering it is a manual transmission and if the kids are in the car while not running they could accidentally hit the shifter and knock it out of gear and send it rolling. I searched forums to find some answers and saw the notes about the linkage under the back seat. I decided to take it to my mechanic and it had multiple problems that appeared to happen in a chain reaction. The linkage under the seat was corroded and locked up in the engaged position, the rear e-brake shoes were completely destroyed, the padding worn off and or falling off in pieces. The e brake pedal under the dash was broke where the cable attaches. So, with all this our thinking is the previous owners brakes locked up with the linkage under the seat, they didn't know what to do to get moving so possibly started yanking and pulling on the ebrake to release the brakes thus breaking the cable attachment to the pedal. Then when that didn't solve the problem they just rode with the brake shoes engaged until the shoes totally crystallized and fell apart thus letting the car free since the brakes were worn down to nothing. So, we are in the process of installing new shoes and springs, another ebrake pedal I purchased used, and using penetrant on the linkage under the back seat and replacing the linkage bolts that had corroded. After all this we should be back in business with a working e brake. Hope this helps others that may run into this problem. The amazing thing to see is when you look under this car how well Mercedes covers most of the bottom with the plastic panels to protect the underneath of the car. But there is no protective panel over the linkage under the back seat. If that had been covered the first in a chain of problems could have been avoided.
But on to the parking brake issue. I am posting this in hopes it helps others out with this problem. When I got the car the parking brake did not work, when engaged it made no difference at all the car still rolled freely. that was the only problem with the car and it still is. I finally decided to look into it considering it is a manual transmission and if the kids are in the car while not running they could accidentally hit the shifter and knock it out of gear and send it rolling. I searched forums to find some answers and saw the notes about the linkage under the back seat. I decided to take it to my mechanic and it had multiple problems that appeared to happen in a chain reaction. The linkage under the seat was corroded and locked up in the engaged position, the rear e-brake shoes were completely destroyed, the padding worn off and or falling off in pieces. The e brake pedal under the dash was broke where the cable attaches. So, with all this our thinking is the previous owners brakes locked up with the linkage under the seat, they didn't know what to do to get moving so possibly started yanking and pulling on the ebrake to release the brakes thus breaking the cable attachment to the pedal. Then when that didn't solve the problem they just rode with the brake shoes engaged until the shoes totally crystallized and fell apart thus letting the car free since the brakes were worn down to nothing. So, we are in the process of installing new shoes and springs, another ebrake pedal I purchased used, and using penetrant on the linkage under the back seat and replacing the linkage bolts that had corroded. After all this we should be back in business with a working e brake. Hope this helps others that may run into this problem. The amazing thing to see is when you look under this car how well Mercedes covers most of the bottom with the plastic panels to protect the underneath of the car. But there is no protective panel over the linkage under the back seat. If that had been covered the first in a chain of problems could have been avoided.
