Druskiiw212

I recently tried to replace my rear brakes on my 2013 Mercedes e350. The rear rotors are stuck on I’ve tried the heavy hammer trick. I’ve recently found out you have to manually retract the parking break through one of the lug nut holes to release the brake rotor. Since the car is in park I can’t spin the rotor. How do you put the car in neutral with the break caliber being off? If I push on the break pedal with the brakes caliber off will that create a problem?

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

Is the parking brake off? The rear brakes are drum and brake shoes. Unless frozen for some reason, releasing the parking brake should release the brake shoes. You may also need to move the parking brake to maintenance (or transport) mode, a.k.a. Fitting Position.

kajtek1

Do you have electric parking brake?
When in P the rotors still should have some play to rotate?
Parking brake shoes can wear groves inside the drum, what will make them hard to remove without loosening the adjustment, but that seldom happen and most of the time the rotors come straight out.
If the rotors are corrosion-frozen on the hub, I use PBlaster for a day, or 2 to fee it.

Druskiiw212

I don’t have electric brakes. I can turn the rotor slightly left or right but then it stops. So I should try just walking it more with the hammer?

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

First, do not apply the brakes with the calipers off.
Second, have you removed the screw that holds the rotors on? Below is an example for illustration purposes only.
Third, Google how to move your tranny to neutral with the engine off. (But why does it need to be off?). You may need to put the caliper back on if you must apply the brake to move the shifter to neutral.

If you can move the rotor slightly left or right, then I doubt it is stuck to the brake shoes. You may need to whack the rotor to get it loose, but only when you are absolutely sure the parking brake is disengaged and the rotor screw is removed. You may want to soak around the axle hub with your favorite penetrant.


Remove rotor screws to remove rotor. You may have only one screw.


Apply penetrant around the hub.

Here are some options if you don't have a favorite.

kajtek1

Hammer should be last resolve. Did you manage the disks to move at least a bit horizontally?
If not- follow with liquid wrench.
If the parking brake shoes hold on groves- it still will allow for some horizontal movement and the stop will be soft.

Druskiiw212

I was able to the front but just couldn’t do the back. I put everything back together and dropped it off at a brake shop. I didn’t want to break anything. I was slamming that hammer all night

S-Prihadi

Next, add anti seize. So next job need no hammer or tracker or whatsoever. Apply very very carefully and just a light film the anti seize.
First time I tried removing my front rotors, I need to use a tracker. Now no more

benidB

I too encountered quite the resistance when I tried to change the brake shoes for the first time since they were installed in factory 😅 almost 10 years… and the brake rotor just didn’t want to be removed, it was catching against the brake shoes somehow. I was able to rotate the rotor, albeit with some effort. I also hammered it a lot with a rubber hammer but still, I mostly removed it by force, by pulling it out the first time. After changing the brake shoes, I could remove the rotor easily without any issues.

Im not sure if I did this then, I think I did, but you should first adjust the brake shoes to the minimum position, so that they don’t catch the rotor at all. Obviously the parking brake should not be engaged.

if you do these 2 things(release parking brake and adjust parking brake shoes) , and also if you removed everything else( caliper and the t30 rotor screw) then you should be able to remove the rotor easily.

kajtek1

So to make it clear, the only time parking brake drums can develop grooves is when the car was driven with parking brakes on.
That NOT suppose to happen, but if it does, all it takes is flat screwdriver, find the position of PB adjuster and release the tension.
It is difficult only the 1st time.