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2008 ML350 W164 DIY Brake Job & Hydraulic Line Failure
Greetings, I have a 2008 ML350 W164 that I am putting four new Bosch QuietCast rotors and brakepads on as it has 125,000 miles on it. Ironically, on my last drive prior to the brakes, my brake pedal went soft and I barely made it back to my house. A few days later I was ready to do the brakes and figured it was only a brake fluid level issue, moved it to my repair spot and noticed a large puddle of brake fluid on the ground. I was fortunate that I parked almost where I wanted to the first time as when I tried to go from P to D to reposition things, the pedal went to the floor and it would not shift out of P with a message press brake to shift... So here I am stuck in a non-ideal location without the ability to shift to N to roll it around to a better spot. Is there a way to get the car from P to N without brakes? Or how do I fake the car out to think I have pressed the brakes. I would think it was a brake pedal location switch for the release but perhaps it senses if the brakes are applied. As I go through this thread I will post my four brake rotors / pads projects as already I have found the videos lacking in details, especially on the rear brake shoe release prior to attempting to pull off the rotor.
First things first, any secrets to going from P to N without pressing brakes? Picture attached of my brake lines, this is on the rear drivers side just where the brake lines enter the exposed wheel well area (too bad MB did not spring for SS brake lines!).
Rear brake lines as they enter wheel well drivers side rear.
Greetings, I have a 2008 ML350 W164 that I am putting four new Bosch QuietCast rotors and brakepads on as it has 125,000 miles on it. Ironically, on my last drive prior to the brakes, my brake pedal went soft and I barely made it back to my house. A few days later I was ready to do the brakes and figured it was only a brake fluid level issue, moved it to my repair spot and noticed a large puddle of brake fluid on the ground. I was fortunate that I parked almost where I wanted to the first time as when I tried to go from P to D to reposition things, the pedal went to the floor and it would not shift out of P with a message press brake to shift... So here I am stuck in a non-ideal location without the ability to shift to N to roll it around to a better spot. Is there a way to get the car from P to N without brakes? Or how do I fake the car out to think I have pressed the brakes. I would think it was a brake pedal location switch for the release but perhaps it senses if the brakes are applied. As I go through this thread I will post my four brake rotors / pads projects as already I have found the videos lacking in details, especially on the rear brake shoe release prior to attempting to pull off the rotor.
First things first, any secrets to going from P to N without pressing brakes? Picture attached of my brake lines, this is on the rear drivers side just where the brake lines enter the exposed wheel well area (too bad MB did not spring for SS brake lines!).
Rear brake lines as they enter wheel well drivers side rear.
@Hooray! have you tried depressing the brake pedal and shifting into N? With the ignition on.
Why not make the repair where the vehicle rests now? Not ideal, understood.
@Hooray! have you tried depressing the brake pedal and shifting into N? With the ignition on.
Why not make the repair where the vehicle rests now? Not ideal, understood.
Thanks, I should have been clearer in my original post. I did try pressing the brake pedal (to the floor) prior to shifting out of P, the brake lights come on (contact switch as pedal engages) but there must be another sensor that tells the computer the brakes really are not engaging and it prevents me from shifting. I could dump in a qt of the new MB DOT 4+ brake fluid I bought at the local stealer ($28) but you are right, my best best likely is go borrow a flange maker and tube bender at the local Pep Boys and splice in a new hard line.
I did confirm that this is the feed to the driver rear brake so only will require a 2' section of pipe. Both lines at those 90 degree bends look pretty poor although only one is leaking.
@Hooray! Is there a reason you don't want to replace parts with M-B OEM parts? That is the method I would use. It might require calling around a few dealers to find the right part(s) in stock. Or is this a bulk length of metal tubing?
@Hooray! Is there a reason you don't want to replace parts with M-B OEM parts? That is the method I would use. It might require calling around a few dealers to find the right part(s) in stock. Or is this a bulk length of metal tubing?
I use original equipment MB parts everywhere unless there is a better alternative. The Bosch QuietCast rotors are finished with an anodizing like coating so they dont rust like normal rotors that are basically bare metal against pads. I am told they go 1-2 years before the coating wears off and then they are down to metal like any rotor but all the areas that normally rust on a brake job are still anodized and no rust. Some wax the gray finish off brake areas as 80% shows through my 5 spoke wheel design.
Today did passenger rear, went like clockwork as I knew the mine fields:
As all videos state, remove caliper.
Remove carrier; I required a 6-point impact socket, short on lower bolt, long on upper bolt with a 3/8" ratchet and a 24" pipe over the handle. The last mechanic put my bolts on way tight, 59lp is the spec and these were on TIGHT! Got them off just the same but so tight, my 12-point 18mm socket could not handle the torque.
Suspend caliper with a bungee around the spring, etc to keep from hanging on hydraulic hose and up and out of the way of top carrier 18mm bolt.
DO NOT try to pry off rotor, loosen star bit rotor mount bolt a few turns; hit bearing / rotor interface with liquid wrench (wait).
Hit rotor you are about to replace hard with hammer on outer edge all the way around; harder if really rusted like mine; HARDER still if still in place.
If you are in P, the driver side will be locked up solid; the passenger will be free-wheeling (2-wheel gogo). This is good, you have the option to align the small rubber plugged hole with the parking brake shoe adjuster; German engineering at its finest, barely can see in the hold to align the adjuster wheel and then blindly rotate with a flat head screwdriver and mild tap with a hammer; on the drivers side you are moving star adjuster down to pull parking brake shoes into a smaller circle for more clearance to remove rotor; on passenger side you are pushing adjuster stars up to do the same "tighten" of the adjuster and reduce the show circle size. This gives you enough room so you can whack the rotor and loosen it from the rusted hub interface and then still pull the rotor off without catching on the shoes. On the drivers side, I was not able to rotate the old rotor by hand to align with the adjuster and the rotor caught on the shoes and pull the show retaining pins/springs out of the disk shield holes (was ugly, I had to gently push the torn metal about the pin holes back in place and insert the pins gently so they would go back together. On the passenger side, being able to free-wheel the adjuster hole with the adjuster, once I figured out move the adjuster up (vs. down) to ease the space between show and rotor, no problem. Rotor came off without catching shoes.
In my pics, you will see I wire brushed and used brake cleaner on the carrier and the visible part of the caliper back to the wear sensor and hit them both with Rustoleum 2000 F high temp flat black stove pipe paint. I was always impressed that the mechanic that did the brakes on my first car, a 1976 Olds Omega with the smallest V8 ever built (yup, that was a thing, but so smooth and cool sound); he did my brakes and painted the calipers and carriers flat black. When I asked him why, he said, most people dont, but when I see the finished product through the rim, the satisfaction outweighs the 10 min to hit them with paint; hence I have done the same ever since on every car I have owned.
On way back on, no issues, I used purple ceramic high heat brake lube sparingly; you have to install a new wear indicator on the inner passenger side pad, no issues, I hit it with bulb silicon grease used on my Yamaha Nytro sled; I could not fit my torque wrench in the opening (maybe you can from the bottom on a MB lift) so I put on my 18" breaker bar and went heavy, not coming off! I put anti-seeze on the inside rim of the bolt head and blue lock tite on the threads, not coming off I am sure and I can release it with an 18" breaker bar vs. my modified 32" nutty torque wrench / pipe removal "tool".
More to come as I figure out how to fix the hydraulic brake lines... PITA... I may find some high end ss braided hydraulic hose and do the two rear brake feeds with that vs. hard line which unless they are ss are pure garbage in New England salt.
Nice work @Hooray! . Do you live in a high salt-using area? Seems like a fair amount of corrosion for 125k miles. When were the rear brakes most recently replaced?
Nice work @Hooray! . Do you live in a high salt-using area? Seems like a fair amount of corrosion for 125k miles. When were the rear brakes most recently replaced?
Yes, Maine is a high salt area for sure, winters are brutal and my ML350 is a daily driver. I purchased it 5 years ago with 75,000. I never touched any of the brakes and was surprised to get 50,000 out of them. Unsure when the prior owner did brakes but I suspect they must have done pads at least just prior to my purchase. I know they had some issues with it that caused them to say enough is enough (power steering rack, passenger side rear shaft from diff to hub, oil leaking from PVC valve). Literally until March, I did very little but wear items and oil. I just did the Service C when I was repairing the air intake lever that broke giving me a rough idle (also did one coil, plugs, air filter, cabin filter). Now on to brakes all the way around, then I have a few other odds and ends to do along with front and rear differential oils, just did transmission last year.
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