Parking brake force

[jgy6000]

I have had my e350 w207 for about a month now and I have only just realised that every time I have been parking the car the hand brake
/ parking brake has not been holding the car. I have been pressing the pedal with my foot, then putting the car in park. The car would then roll slightly and the gearbox would stop it from going any further.

I then tested it by putting the car in neutral, and it turns out that I have to press the pedal with a lot of force for it to hold the car.

Just wondering if this is normal?


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[grumpyoldgit]

No, not normal. Probably needs lubricating and adjusting, or it may even need new brake shoes.

 

[RichardF]

How steep is the slope? MB parking brakes aren't the best.

 

[jgy6000]

The slope is very small, just sitting on the driveway really.

Looking through the receipts it had new rear brake pads but doesn't look like it's had brake shoes.


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[RichardF]

Shoes don't really wear, they only hold the car. It should hold on a gentle slope lubing and adjusting will probably help, as has been suggested.

If the previous owner didn't use it much, this wouldn't have helped.

I think MOT requires the brake to hold on the equivalent of a 1 in 6 hill so it should at least do this with ease.

 

[grumpyoldgit]

Shoes don't really wear, they only hold the car.

Unless the mechanism components were seized somewhere and the shoes weren't releasing properly. (Usually caused through lack of use).

 

[Auto-mobile]

Have you tried applying the park brake then leaving it in neutral to see how much it rolls? Mercedes will always lurch forward a touch taking up the slack in the mechanism.

 

[kid-jensen]

My ML Parking brake is pretty poor, but has just passed the MOT, so presumably adequate.

The previous owner didn't use it at all, so a bit of maintenance is probably required.

Another job for the warmer weather.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

I push mine down about 10 clicks , advice I found on the handbrake pedal not popping up properly . if you push yours hard as far as it will go and handbrake don't hold , you certainly have an issue . adjusting the shoes is pretty easy stuff though .

 

[190]

If these are the parking brake shoes inside the rear disc hubs they are very small and adjustment is critical. I used have problem with mine on the 190e which was a rare MB with an ordinary handbrake lever. I suspect you can get much more force when foot operated.

The only way I got mine to work reasonably well was to ignore the book method of "adjust until they bind then back off 6 clicks or some such number". When I adopted "adjust until they bind and then back off only enough clicks for the wheel to rotate freely" the parking brake worked at lot better. I'm taking about the star wheel adjustment inside the hub here not the cable adjuster. Not sure why it worked better perhaps it put the operating cam in a more efficient position.

 

[Peter T]

IMHO the only way to get this type of parking brake to work properly is to first back of the cables until they are loose, then adjust the shoes as described, then adjust the cables until the shoes bite on the first click.

 

[paul_f]

IMHO the only way to get this type of parking brake to work properly is to first back of the cables until they are loose, then adjust the shoes as described, then adjust the cables until the shoes bite on the first click.

Yes i would agree with this. The same system is used on some Porsche brakes. I have done mine using the same method.

Depending on how old it is, it could be that the 1 to 2 splitter may need oiling as they seize up

 

[jgy6000]

Just thought I would update this. I have been using the parking break and it seems to be a lot better now with regular use.


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