jastoronto

Hi all,
I drive 2003 E320 with 93,000 clicks on it. I bought her from dealer in 2006 October and it was star certified. It had 27,500 Km on it. It gave me excellent service and its a beautiful machine. I just replace water pump myself 2 months ago as it was leaking and bearing was making noise. I did front brake pads myself this summer with help from You tube videos. I replaced rear brake pads 3 weeks ago. Last week when I pulled her at gas station and when I restarted the engine a Red warning came on instrument panel reading - Braking effect reduced, increased braking distance, visit workshop. I could hardly stop the car. ABS and EPS yellow light was also illuminated. It would not even shift gear and was beeping. I removed the ignition key and waited 2 minutes. Warning was gone and I drove slowly and came home. I read all these threads about SBC pump and how it had a 10 years Warranty. I am 3 years over. I called dealer and they suggested me to bring the car in and shop rate is $148 per hour.
I am not driving her to work. But test her on streets and go for grocery with my left foot on emergency brake, lol. There is only one malfunction - check brake visit workshop which has been there for a while. Even new brake sensors did not take care of this malfunction. Red warning comes every 3 - to 4 days as above and ask me to start the engine - Red warning is gone after engine is started. It comes only when car has been parked over night and before engine is started. Brakes work fine as if car was brand new. SBC pump runs as usual on unlocking the car and opening the door. Also on pressing the brake paddle it gives chime that means it is pressurizing the system.
Just to make sure that I did the brake job right, I opened up rear brake Caliper AND PADS AND RE DO the brake job. I also replaced Auxiliary Battery after 13 years. Although it was showing 12.4 volts when cold.


I read on this Forum that SBC pump is designed or programmed to give warning after 300,000 actuations. Other members reported that they replaced it after 80K or 90K under warranty as it happened within 10 years.


Do you think that I need a new SBC pump? Is any chance MB dealer will cover it under warranty even if I am 3 years over? Can I write to MB head office as there was a recall on this pump as it was a problem equipment and they increased warranty from 5 years to 10 years. I guess new pump will cost me 3,000 or more including labour.


Do you think there is some other problem and I have messed up my rear brake job? Then why did warning came after 2 weeks of driving? Why is warning going away after I start the car? I am planning to take her to local high end car mechanic shop this week. By the way it is not displaying any code when I check with a code reader using Torque -OBD Check program/APPs.
By the way check engine light came when I replaced the Water pump because I hit a vacuum line when removing the engine belt using a long ratchet. I connected it back and check engine light was gone.


Any help would be highly appreciated. regards, Jas


PS I change oil my self and do other regular maintenance too. Last time I visited dealer was in May 2007 when they replace plugs and brake fluid etc. I live in Canada.

kajtek1

Maybe I misread, but once you are saying the red warning pop suddenly and put car into limp mode, the other time you say the brake malfunction is there for some time?
This way, or the other you need to have car scan and number of SBC push read.
I heard it was 400k on early models, extended to 500k later, but no official bulletin confirming that.
If you plan DIY new/rebuild pump, you better find independent guy with SD as this will take resetting computer later on. OBD will not do.
How old is the brake fluid?

jastoronto

Thanks for your reply my friend May God bless you.
Yes 1 Malfunction has been there for over six months- brake malfunction visit workshop. I replaced front brakes that time and one of the sensors was eaten up due to wear out pad, sensor wire was broken too. But it did not reset the malfunction. I had also replaced brake paddle switch a $ 13 part.


The brake fluid is 6+ years old and it looks clear/transparent in fluid reservoir.
Since I replaced the Auxiliary barratry 5 days ago, car does not go in the limp mode. It gives Red warning and tells me to start the engine and once the engine is started the red warning is gone. Brake works fine. I drove good 35 minutes on quite streets last night using brakes intensively.
I will take it to mechanic on my day off this week. Thanks for your advice. By the way I visited San Francisco in 2012 with my family and its a great city.

kajtek1

Considering dry weather in CA, I am giving brake fluid 4 years intervals, but 6 years is a stretch no matter what, especially if the myths about SBC being very sensitive to fluid are truth.
Sounds like you are accumulating ignored issues and that sooner of later has to kick you in the back.
Have the car scanned and prepare to write big check.
And yes, my whole family confirms Bay Area is very good place to live. We moved 10,000 miles to be here