W202 Brakes

[Chris C36]

Trying to squeeze two questions into one thread heer really hence the vague title!

Firstly, have just had a flick through my Haynes manual to look at the procedure to change the front brake pads on a C36. Haynes say that you need to replace the caliper guide pins when refitting the caliper whereas my local Merc dealer seem to think not. Has anyone had any experience doing this or know of a reason why the pins should need changing?

Secondly, my car is an N reg C36 and is therefore pretty close to the facelift date. Have been looking at prices for front discs and there are two different sizes listed, one for a pre September 1995 car and another for cars post this date. As mine was delivered in April 1996 I would have thought that it would be a revised model i.e. larger discs however I was under the impression that later cars also had the 5 speed auto box whereas mine has the 4 speed. The dealer was of little help and said that I would need to tell them which discs I required. Now to the actual query... is there any way of knowing which disc is required without physically removing the wheel and measuring the diameter of the discs on the car at the moment?

Thanks in advance

Chris

 

[concordepilot19]

I change the pins in case the old ones are fatigued in any way. It gets mighty hot down there at times and a pad coming out would not be a barrel of laughs. Having said that, have you ever heard of such a failure ?

BTW, does anyone know if pins can wear, and whether that can cause a slight noise when coming to a halt or taking off again ?

 

[racall]

Dont forget to replace the wear sensing wires when you get the pads.i bought some pads the other day and they don't include the said wires,might save you a trip back to the store.

 

[Will]

Trying to squeeze two questions into one thread heer really hence the vague title!

Firstly, have just had a flick through my Haynes manual to look at the procedure to change the front brake pads on a C36. Haynes say that you need to replace the caliper guide pins when refitting the caliper whereas my local Merc dealer seem to think not. Has anyone had any experience doing this or know of a reason why the pins should need changing?

Secondly, my car is an N reg C36 and is therefore pretty close to the facelift date. Have been looking at prices for front discs and there are two different sizes listed, one for a pre September 1995 car and another for cars post this date. As mine was delivered in April 1996 I would have thought that it would be a revised model i.e. larger discs however I was under the impression that later cars also had the 5 speed auto box whereas mine has the 4 speed. The dealer was of little help and said that I would need to tell them which discs I required. Now to the actual query... is there any way of knowing which disc is required without physically removing the wheel and measuring the diameter of the discs on the car at the moment?

Thanks in advance

Chris

Hi Chris,

Not a C36, I know, but when I bought parts to change the discs and pads all round on my 1997 C230K Sport, I bought new pins, bolts, clips, pad wear sensors etc etc. These parts were all insignificantly cheap (from MB main dealers) and so I felt it worthwhile to replace.

The 'facelift' that people generally refer to on a W202 (like you say, the 5-spd auto box, ELCODE keys, electronic boot release etc) was, IIRC, in 1997.
Despite this facelift, there have been other changes/modifications over the years - one of the reasons that I prefer buying most parts from MB (they can check on their EPC).

Obviously the discs for an AMG may be very expensive - and if that were the case, I think I would also be looking elsewhere too!

If the discs are listed for post September '95 models, and yours in an April '96 I reckon you would be pretty safe getting those.

But - the obvious solution really is that if you are in an doubt, pop the wheel off and measure the disc. Surely the best way to be certain, and will take literally 5 minutes!

Good Luck,

Will

 

[Chris C36]

Thanks for the replies, as mentioned I may as well get the new guide pins for the calipers bearing in mind the tiny cost.

As I mentioned in the first post the disc sizes changed in Sept 95 which gives 6 clear months before my car was delivered so I would assume I would have the later ones. Is there anyway I can get a build date for the car? All I have got is the spec sheet showing the delivery date.

I think taking the wheel off and getting a tape measure out seems to be the safest solution!

 

[Will]

Just measure them!

Or to be absolutely sure - get them from the main dealers?.

Will

 

[nickmann]

Thanks for the replies, as mentioned I may as well get the new guide pins for the calipers bearing in mind the tiny cost.

As I mentioned in the first post the disc sizes changed in Sept 95 which gives 6 clear months before my car was delivered so I would assume I would have the later ones. Is there anyway I can get a build date for the car? All I have got is the spec sheet showing the delivery date.

I think taking the wheel off and getting a tape measure out seems to be the safest solution!

There's 2 ways to get the build date - it should be all over the place on teh car itself - practically every little white parts label has a build date on it. Mine are all within 3 days of each other so that's what I assume is my buid date. Also, you can put your VIN into the website that got added to the useful sites section a week ago and it will tell you the build date IIRC.

Even better than that though is the dealer. Park outside, and tell the parts guy your want discs etc for "that one over there in the carpark". Relax and drink coffee whilst he scurries outside to get your VIN. Might be quicker in the long run than time spent typing questions, and then getting the wrong gear from GSF etc. I'm not trying to be smart, but its happened to me with GSF before so I've been using the dealers since.