204 front calipers

[sceh]

I need to change the front pads but my MB WIS says remove the calipers to do so. I find this idd since on most cars you remove one bolt and fold the caliper up or down. Am I missing something or is it the same on the W204.

Apologies if this is as dumb as it seems...

 

[Yugguy]

Did my front pads and discs a while back. I suppose you could rotate the caliper on one bolt but I find it easier to drop it onto the pads anyway.

 

[vijilants]

1) Remove the front retaining spring,
2) Remove the two 13 mm carrier retaining bolts,
3) Disconnect wear sensor,
4) Remove carrier and pads and clean carrier and the points where the pads slide.
5) Remove the two slide pins, clean and lubricate with the correct lubricant.
6 )Reassemble with new pads making sure that you lubricate the points where the pads slide on the carrier and a little on the back of the pad where the piston makes contact with the correct lubricant.

Note that you can reinstall using new bolts which have thread lock and the pads are marked as to which goes on which side.

 

[grober]

With modern Mercedes using stability control where each wheel can be selectively braked, its important that each individual caliper works flawlessly. Thats why the rear calipers are much bigger than they used to be and why brake caliper maintenance rather than just a quick pad change is more important

 

[sceh]

THanks for all your replies. It is easy to remove the caliper and it took me ten minutes each side.
regards

 

[tonysmb]

It wasn't a dumb question, the majority of calipers used to be like that but some have always required the complete removal of the caliper to renew the pads.

 

[markjay]

I have always removed the caliper (and tied it to the suspension to prevent stretching the flexible hose) on every car I worked on. It never occured to me that undoing just one bolt would be sufficient....

 

[Robster220]

as above a good clean sometimes with the wire brush when removing the pad guides etc, and proper lube to put it all back together, I have seen so many times a quick pad change that binds the brakes due to seized sliders or build up of rust under the pad guides jamming the pads

 

[Gazwould]

What do you call proper lube !!?

 

[Robster220]

I use pbc by fuchs lol
copper grease is crap

 

[Yugguy]

Do not use copper grease on moving parts. It is not a lubricant it's an anti seize compound.

 

[vijilants]

What do you call proper lube !!?

Personally I use Castrol red rubber grease on the sliding pins and Mintex Ceretec on the areas of the caliper housing where the pads slide.

This time around I did the pads myself. The previous owner had them done by Mercedes however the pins were near seized and rusted as they clearly had not been removed and lubricated on the last pad change.