Here is the story, we have a 1997 Mercedes-Benz E320 with approximately 30000 miles. Yesterday when my mom was driving the car, she said that the parking-brake light would come on (this happened twice) both times she just pulled the parking brake release and everything was fine. She said the car was not acting weird when the lights came on meaning, the car wasnt feeling slow and the car didnt jerk back to life after she pulled the release for the parking brake.. so who knows if it was even activated

now lets go today.. she was driving the car in the morning everything is fine and then later in the afternoon as she is pulling into a parking space in lowes slowly, all of a sudden the car jerks forward. (NO THE CAR WAS NOT JERKING FORWARD BECAUSE SHE ACCDIENTALLY PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR 100& Positive) she said that she was pretty much in the space all she had to do was fully press the brake, put it in park, and turn off the car. the jerk she says wasnt from the accelerator being activated but rather what seemed like a temporary loss of brakes. she said she tried pressing the brake fully when it jerked but nothing happened... the car went forward and hit the car parked accross ( a large truck) there was minimal damage to the truck but apparantly the mercedes is pretty messed up (leaking coolant..) she said in that second where she tried to press the brakes and nothing happened it was very easy to press the pedal down..

I have driven this car many times and as you apply full pressure on the brakes it is pretty heavy.. this makes me wonder if some part of the braking system has failed? the cars last major service was about 4? months ago and it was recently put through the State Inspection which is required for all cars every year in our state. (about 3 weeks ago.) so can anyone offer some ideas? the car had to be towed to the bodyshop but I think it would be could to get it checked out by an independant Mercedes Mechanic first to see if we can try and figure out what exactly has happened.
If brakes were temporarily lost and it was easy to press the pedal does this have something to do with the master cylinder? she said the car was leaking white fluid? what fluid in the car is white? I said before that it was coolant because that is what the officer told her but I thought coolant was blue?

Please, anything you guys could tell me would be good.. I am posting this hear because I know collectively you guys may have some ideas..

 

Sure sounds like a master cylinder failure. BTW I think MB uses a different coolant so it is not green or blue if I'm not mistaken

 

thanks by the way, do you know if there is a seperate brake warning light and parking-brake warning light? I am wondering if the parking-brake warning light encompasses all brake warning function lights or if there is another warning light..
thanks you
by the way its a 97 E320

secondly, what should a technician look for to find if the master cylinder has failed? is it obvious, I ask this because our Mercedes dealer is 1 hour from our house where the accident happend so the car is undriveable and is sitting at the bodyshop lot which happens to be a chevy dealer... do you think they could tell if the master cylinder has failed or do I need to have someone else come look at it..
Thank You very much

 

1. Coolant: it can be blue, green, or rust ... The best way to check it is to look at the coolant in the radiator or in the vase expansion.
Anyway, I haven't seen a white fluid !!! Unless your coolant is just water or the mix with coolant (blue or green) is very low, so it's just white. Normally, it should be at least 50% (water and coolant)
2. Master cylinder: if it failed then there's no pressure when applying on the brakes. In your case, you feel heavy pressure when applying on the brakes therefore it's not a master cylinder problem.
My guess is something with the ABS. You need to talk to an expert. Good luck.

 

thanks for your reply.. what I meant was when I had driven it before, a few months back the pressure was heavy like it should be.. now (two months since I have driven it) according to my mom very little pressure was required to get the pedal down which is why I would think there is a master cylinder problem.. the bodyshop where the car is currently sitting told my mom the master cylinder was leaking yesterday... so I guess we will see where this goes from here..
any advice on what course of action we should take? nothing was said when it was serviced recently, about three months ago and it was recently put under the yearly state inspection and it passed without any problems? what should we do
thanks

 

I'd check the brake fluid first, then have someone check the lines for leaks (if there is a leak you could also suck air into the lines) bleed the lines and try it.
Most of the cars only have one light for the brake system, if the parking brake is on or if there is a brake failure, even if the brake fluid is low or gone.
This should be done before oving it anywhere, if this checks fine then tow to the dealer and get on their case.

 

thanks, as of right now the car is still at the bodyshop since the dealer is an hour away.. the master cylinder is leaking according to the bodyshop and anyways even with the bad brakes, the car has to much damage to be driven. it will have to be towed to the dealer.. what do you think we should do? this braking failure caused an accident albeit a minor one but if it had been at high speeds things could have gotten ugly..

my question is how can a 50 thousand dollar car with 30k miles have such a failure? especially when it has been looked over twice in the past three months, once by the mercedes dealer and another time by the local inspection station..

is there any kind of compensation that can be had from this? I am not necessarily talking about monetary compensation but something should be done.. should we call the dealer and explain everything to them or have it taken to a mercedes specialist? the car is out of warranty anyways..

Thank You for any advice..

 

I think the first step would be to get a letter from the body shop stating that they know the collission was cause due to brake failure, then get the dealer to accept that master cilynder should last more than 5 years or 30 k miles (which it should). That should get you some evidence or how ever that is called.

 

I would not have any repair work done till MB and or the dealer inspects the ML. I would report this to both the dealer and MBNA in writing. I thought that all master cylinders were dual chambered and that a failure would still give you some braking. If necessary hire an attorney. This could be negligence on the part of the mfg or the dealer that last serviced the vehicle.

 

Neal,
I agree 100% with Pocholin and Sosh. Don't fix it until you talk to Mercedes.....
About the master cylinder, I have a very good experience about that. Believe or not, it happened to me 3 times (with 3 cars). When it failed, it's almost (99%) impossible to stop the car: no pressure at all.... The 1% is: you have to use both brakes at the same time, also you have to press (pump) the brakes thousand times and you have to be lucky too. It's very, very dangerous.

The 3 cars that I had a problem with the master cylinder:
1. Alfa Romeo 5 years old, about 50k miles.
2. Alra Romeo less than 4 years old, 60k miles.
3. Ford Mustang GT model 1995, less than 1 year old, 7k miles.

So, unfortunatelly, my point is: it doesn't matter how old the car is, when it happens, it happens.....

The 2 Alfa Romeo, I paid for the repair. The Ford, of course, they fixed it free for me because it was under warranty....
Talk to Mercedes, I guess they may fix it free for you. Good luck.