AllenChicago

July 22, 2024

From reading comments in online forums, I just realized that my brake pads are gluing themselves to the rotors! (2024 GLC300 3,000 miles) I go through the car wash, drive 4 miles home.

The next morning, I put the car in gear to leave the driveway. I have to put a little extra pressure on the accelerator to get the car to move, and then there's this loud BANG! sound emanating from the brakes. If my wife's in the car, she jumps.

Since I go through the car wash 3 times a week, this brakes-stuck-to-rotor phenomena really makes me nervous that an entire brake job will be needed before the car gets to 10,000 miles.

Is there a way to stop the "parking brake" from auto-engaging the rotors every time we turn off the engine? A hidden setting...or a "hack" that a mechanic can employ?

Thanks in advance for any constructive replies.

-Allen in the Chicago region.

superswiss

After the car wash, do some proper braking to dry the rotors and pads and then they won't do this. This happens because you park the car with wet rotors or pads and so they seize to each other. The parking brake automatically engaging is a safety mechanism, so you don't end up like Anton Yelchin getting crushed by your own car if you get out and forgot to put it in P.

W205C43PFL

Ya I recommended doing as mentioned, if you really do not want the parking brake engaged for whatever reason, you need to pull (lift) the button while turning off the engine, you must do this everytime.

SEC1939

By The way if you open the drivers door when the vehicle is in D it will automatically go to the Park position

superswiss

Yes, there are several safety mechanisms, including the transmission automatically going to P. P may not be enough to hold the car if stopped on an incline, but OP lives in Chicago, so it's flat as a pancake there. As mentioned by @W205C43PFL the other option is to release the parking brake manually after it engaged automatically. At the AMG Driving Academy they asked us to do that for example in order to avoid the hot brake pads from imprinting on the rotors. So similarly, if the car is parked with wet brakes, this may be necessary to do. Washing the car 3 times a week seems a bit excessive, but FWIW whenever I wash my car I go on a quick highway sprint and brake hard on a couple of exit ramps to fully dry the brakes.

Gitzer

Every time I wash the car (yes, I wash it myself, but not three times a week - wow!) or park (in my garage) after a heavy rain, I pull off the parking brake.This greatly reduces or eliminates that popping sound.
i learned this trick from my 2016 GLA that had the same issue. It’s nothing new to MB.

superswiss

BTW, same thread in the GLE forum might have some additional inputs.

https://mbworld.org/forums/gle-class...g-parking.html