So it happened again, my rear brake pads flew off and the calipers locked up leaving me stranded in New Jersey. This is the third time this happened what do you guys think is the problem causing this? I didnt recieve any error messages on the dash, Im having it towed back to NY tonight should I have the calipers replaced as well as the pads and rotors? whats your take on this?

 

how the heck do brake pads FLY off?


who installed them?


ALi

 

With the correct OEM pads, installed correctly this can't happen. Perhaps cheapo pads and someone not knowing what he was doing with the install. I guess you are not using OEM parts or dealer maint. You have created a dangerous situation, not only to yourself but to others on the road.

 

Don't you think you are being a bit harsh? Obviously there is a problem here. No one would botch a brake job three times in a row. That is why he is asking. More detail would be helpful. MAYBE the PADS are coming off the backing plates in which case it is certainly not Uncle Benzfault. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to get these in properly. I doubt that it is as simple as an inept install.

 

You mean the pads might have been installed without putting the locking pins in? That would be the only option I could see pads coming out. But even then, shouldn't they touch the wheel first?

What happened to brake calibres? Or was it actually calibres getting out? Wrong parts could be one option.

Any photos showing what exactly happened?

 

Heres the whole situation, The first time this happened I took it to my mechanic who only uses OEM parts. He changed the brake pads in the rear and cut the rotors down and everything was good for about 3 months It was only the passenger side rear, then one day when im driving to work in the morning I felt the car shaking a little bit and then the grinding noise starts, thats when I knew this happened again, now it was the driver side rear.

So now im stuck in New Jersey (because I commute back and forth from NY) with a messed up rotor and I have to get to work, so I take it to a friends shop in Jersey where he also said " the last person who installed this pad didn't know what he was doing" so he also cut the rotor down put in new pads in the rear and I was good for another month until the passenger side rear went out again. So again Im stuck in Jersey on a sunday where no dealer is open and every mechanic cant get any parts because it's sunday, so I have the car towed back to NY and I spoke to a brake shop over here and they told me from what im explaining it seems that the caliper is seizing up and locking which wears down the pad until it's on the back plate then from the heat causing it to snap off. So I might have a caliper issue but this is so wierd I never had this kind of a problem with any vehicle I ever owned.

 

You simply need a different mechanic.

"Cutting down" rotors is not approved by Mercedes, but it's a nice labor sale for a dishonest mechanic.

Find someone with Mercedes experience.

 

No I am not being too harsh. This guy is going to kill or severly injure himself and others if this keeps up. Looks like he cheaped out on his maint, hes even admitted that his rotors were turned, twice a proceedure not reccommended by MB. Wonder how far under min thickness they are. He says OEM parts were used but I question that. I have no sympathy for him being stuck where he is as its his fault for permitting maint to be done by someone who is quite inept. Only reason that he would permit this is that he is cheap. This time it backfired, next time he could hurt or kill someone.

 

I understand what Sosh is saying, but would the rotors being turned like this be the cause of pads flying off?




ALi

 

Sosh if I wanted to be cheap I would go out and buy a 320 like you did. If you went through the different experiences I did with MB services you wouldn't go back either, and just for your information my very first brake maintenance was done by MB and this problem happened after that, not to mention I had a noise coming out of the driver side suspension which they couldnt figure out after 4 visits between 2 MB dealers. The mechanic that install my brake pads the first time found the problem and fixed it and when I took the car back to show MB they had nothing to say, so dont sit there and tell me im cheap and avoiding MB service. I go where the job is suppose to get done, I dont blame the mechanic for this problem it's obvious there's something wrong with my calipers or the pistons because im not even getting a error message, from what I know if the brake pads are low you should receive a red warning on the dash! Now as far as the rotors being cut down that was the option that both mechanics suggested i go with only because they said the rotor are still good which I had installed about a year ago. Plus the rotors have nothing to do with the pads coming off.

 

No that would not cause his problem however the fact that his mech did turn them against MB's policy shows mw that he doees not know what he is doing and the owner that permitted it also has no clue

 

The turning of the rotors will not cause your problem but its still against MB's policy and they along with you should know this and so should you. As far as something being wrong with the parts I sincerely doubt it but incorrect assembly is the likely cause. As for the light coming on this only occurrs when the pad is worn to the point that it needs to be replaced it will not be triggered by incorrect assembly or the locking clips being missing. Are you certain OEM parts were used?? Have you seen and identified them?? Are you certain all the parts were correctly installed??

 

I just noted that you have "custom powdercoated callipers" Perhaps that has something to do with this that is not a stock OEM part its either aftermarket or modified.

 

You are 100% right.

I have owned and operated many cars and trucks since 1971 and driven more before that and not once did this happen to me. These include Toyota Corollas to a Rolls Royce.

The most important maintenance is brake. You need to stay alive to drive.
The second is engine oil change.

 

Thank you. I too have had over 70 cars since I began driving in 1957. This includes 5 MB's that I have owned since 1998 and several prior to that. In addition I have presently 2 cars that are 42 and 43 years old with disc brakes and never have I had an issue like that. This guy does not have a clue. Powder coated cxallipers?? Thats right sacrifice safety and reliability for what you think looks better!! Do not think that MB has any liability here at all.

 

The explaination from the brake shop is crap!!! If the caliper is seizing that caused the tha pads to wear totally gone, you would have a hard time to drive the car due to the seize, and you would know immediately that something is not right. Go to another shop to get it done right.

 

Not really if they were stuck on in a position that would only apply light braking and it makes some sense to me as by his own admission he has "modified powdercoated callipers". Powder coating can cause these problems if it gets into any of the areas that would bind up the pistons and in the powder coating process heat is applied that could warp the calliper. Only a 1/1000 off could create this problem and this guy as I said before does not have a clue and might not recognize a dragging brake.

 

I have found that using only MB parts on our E500 works well and I have never had any issues. I do the brake jobs myself. The brake pads, sensors etc come out of a box that has the MB hologram on it. I open the box and verify the correct parts. Power coating is nice and I have been tempted to do it on my Corvette, but stayed with the gunmetal gray because I didn't want to experiment with my brakes. Although I am sure Bremo power coated calipers and brakes would work.

I noticed there was no warning on the SBC,, this mearly means that the sensor wires were not cut due to brake pad wear. The sensor measures wear of the pad surface not if the pad separates from the backing substrate. Failure of the bond between the pad material and backing plate really has nothing to do with turning rotors. I agree MB stated replace, not turn rotors, but from the engineering persepctive, if after turning the rotors are still within MB specifications for wear limits they should be ok. (I still don't turn MB rotors due to heat warp issues with thinner rotors). So I really don't suspect the rotor turning as a root cause of the problem. However I am highly suspect of MB pads failing the bonding attachment of the pad to the backing plate. It is my suspension (not verification) that the pads are not genuine MB pads but a subsitute pad not up to MB quality specifications. So no matter how good a "mechanic" is he / she is no better than the pads installed. If someone did not use the MB parts as advertised they would be responsible for the results IF they clearly sold them to you as MB parts.

So summary. I would want to hold the pads in my hand and see the box they came it to be sure they were genuine MB parts. For your next brake job I recommend you HOLD the PADS IN THE BOX in your hand and verify MB parts,, Also since you have turned the rotors,, BUY NEW ROTORS and CONFIRM also they are MB parts. For your calipers, if they aren't leaking, sticking and center properly it is your choice to change them.

Somewhere someone in this chain of events isn't presenting all "the facts and nothing but facts.