Brake pipe renewal. Front to back on 211. Advice please.

[Baldbloke]

It is a 2007 E class 320 cdi estate.
The longest pipe is heavily corroded at the rear O/S and needs replaced. I have taken off the covers and see that it is only the last two feet of pipe that has any corrosion. The rest is as new but appears to be one piece from the flexi-hose at the rear right to the brake pump in the engine bay. Trouble is the heat shield at the front makes it look a nightmare to fit replacement pipework so will cut out the corroded section and attempt to flare the sound steel pipework and join in a short length of replacement Kunifer to the flexi-hose.

Should I encounter any difficulty in bleeding out the system given that I will need to empty that long length of pipework?
Do I do the bleed with the engine off, or on, to activate the pump?
Will it involve having to use Star because of the pump or can I do this job as normal (engine off) and use my wife on the pedal and me on the bleed screw as normal?

 

[bob6600]

2007 should be a facelift with no SBC

 

[merc85]

You may struggle flaring the Oe Steel pipe unless you have a extremely good flaring tool.

 

[Baldbloke]

2007 should be a facelift with no SBC

Cheers. It's possibly an accumulator then?

 

[Baldbloke]

You may struggle flaring the Oe Steel pipe unless you have a extremely good flaring tool.

Yes, I have had this problem before but managed as long as the pipe can be gripped adequately.

Any problems that anyone know of by doing it myself and manually bleeding out?

 

[Lyserman]

You will need a pressure bleeder to bleed the brakes.
And this is taken directly from the MB WIS:

The SBC brake system must be bled, menu-assisted with STAR
DIAGNOSIS, after exchange or removal/installation of:
The SBC hydraulic unit,
The operating unit,
The suction line,
The pressure reservoir,
A brake line,
A brake hose,
A brake caliper.

 

[DSM10000]

You will need a pressure bleeder to bleed the brakes.
And this is taken directly from the MB WIS:

The SBC brake system must be bled, menu-assisted with STAR
DIAGNOSIS, after exchange or removal/installation of:
The SBC hydraulic unit,
The operating unit,
The suction line,
The pressure reservoir,
A brake line,
A brake hose,
A brake caliper.

The OP says the car is a 2007, no SBC on the facelift version.

 

[DSM10000]

Do you need to drop the fuel tank to route the rear pipework?

I know you do on the C Class and when a friend had the rear pipes on his E class replaced I am sure that was the same.

 

[Baldbloke]

The OP says the car is a 2007, no SBC on the facelift version.

Correct, no SBC thank goodness, but my fault for originally suggesting there was a pump before seeing the servo.

 

[Baldbloke]

Do you need to drop the fuel tank to route the rear pipework?

I know you do on the C Class and when a friend had the rear pipes on his E class replaced I am sure that was the same.

No I only needed to renew a section of the long run of pipework that ran from the engine bay to the O/S/R brake caliper. The pipework over the rear axle was sound. I cut out 4' of effected corroded pipework from the rear flexi-hose forwards, and joined it to the sound original steel pipework. Then just bled it out through the caliper bleed nipple. All pretty simple.
Changing the entire run of pipe would have been a nightmare as the engine bay has the V6 engine, and the pipework that runs behind heat shields between the engine and bulkhead has little room and appears to be fastened from inside the cabin. A lot of extra unnecessary work.

 

[Lyserman]

In that case, I would recommend getting a pressure bleeder because once you use one you will not want to go back to the press, release method.


Tony