W204 C class parking brake not working

[Adam95]

Hi

I apologise if this question has been asked before. It’s my first time here and I’ve tried finding a thread with the same issues but had no luck, I found some that are similar but not the same.

I’ve got a 2012 C220 and this morning I released the parking brake as normal but when I pushed down on the parking brake pedal to engage the parking brake it moved a slight bit further than it normally would and I felt a slight knock/click in my foot. I knew something wasn’t right so I pulled the parking brake release handle and the pedal barely moved back, it would normally fly back and make a loud thump. To get it to come back I pulled the parking brake release handle and kept hold of it whilst pulling the parking brake pedal back up with my hand. I tried engaging the parking brake pedal again and it would ratchet but the pedal was very loose and offered no resistance like it normally would. When pushed to the bottom it stays there and does not come back up unless I keep hold of the release handle and bring it forward with my hand (or get my foot under it and pull it back up).

I’ve got no parking brake at all now and use my gears instead. I’ve removed the plastics above the pedals and the springs seem to be in place but I’m not 100% sure what I’m looking at.

Any help will be appreciated as I can’t afford to fork out at a dealership or merc specialist this time of the year.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Hello and welcome. The problem is rarely the pedal , it has a nice easy life inside the car. The problem will probably be at the part where the cable splits into two (below the rear seat) and/or the adjusters/springs in the rear 'drums' in the rear discs.

Search in my posts you will find details a similar set up.

 

[Adam95]

Hello and welcome. The problem is rarely the pedal , it has a nice easy life inside the car. The problem will probably be at the part where the cable splits into two (below the rear seat) and/or the adjusters/springs in the rear 'drums' in the rear discs.

Search in my posts you will find details a similar set up.

Thanks for the response. Yeah it does seem that way, all the springs seem in place. The only thing I’ve noticed is there is some slack in the parking brake cable. I think the slack might be caused somewhere further up on the cable. I’m going to go back out and remove the rear seats to see if anything has came or apart or snapped. If not then I’ve got an appointment booked with a Merc specialist on Tuesday. Just hoping I can find the fault and repair it myself before then.

I’ll take a look at it now mate.

Thanks

 

[Adam95]

UPDATE: I took my car to a local Mercedes’ specialist and they said I would need a complete rear brake assembly including both brake cables. I’ve been quoted £690 + VAT for parts (£276) and labour (6 hours). Is that reasonable as it seems quite expensive to me?

 

[alecmascot]

UPDATE: I took my car to a local Mercedes’ specialist and they said I would need a complete rear brake assembly including both brake cables. I’ve been quoted £690 + VAT for parts (£276) and labour (6 hours). Is that reasonable as it seems quite expensive to me?

Rip off.
Use your local freindy garage and get it done for a sensible price.

 

[Jaysubi53]

UPDATE: I took my car to a local Mercedes’ specialist and they said I would need a complete rear brake assembly including both brake cables. I’ve been quoted £690 + VAT for parts (£276) and labour (6 hours). Is that reasonable as it seems quite expensive to me?

Hey Adam did you get it sorted?

 

[Petrol Pete]

Thanks for the response. Yeah it does seem that way, all the springs seem in place. The only thing I’ve noticed is there is some slack in the parking brake cable. I think the slack might be caused somewhere further up on the cable. I’m going to go back out and remove the rear seats to see if anything has came or apart or snapped. If not then I’ve got an appointment booked with a Merc specialist on Tuesday. Just hoping I can find the fault and repair it myself before then.

I’ll take a look at it now mate.

Thanks

Did you get it sorted Adam ?

 

[PD9]

Exact same issue with mine (W204 C250 2012). It looks like there was never an update. Did anyone else have any fix to this? Parking in gear at the moment and have an MOT due soon, which I’ll fail as parking brake will not meet requirements.

 

[PD9]

Exact same issue with mine (W204 C250 2012). It looks like there was never an update. Did anyone else have any fix to this? Parking in gear at the moment and have an MOT due soon, which I’ll fail as parking brake will not meet requirements.

Jeez, it’s been a while since I’ve visited, but this site on mobile is awful; the ads are crippling.

Anyway… 5 months later, I have managed to get the time to have a proper look at this and remove the foot brake. I’ve found the problem (after following all the other tips - none worked).

I hope this helps diagnosis for owners in future as they troubleshoot their problems as this is one of the first pages that appears when searching for this problem on google, and plenty of people asking above, with no reply; so I’ll close this off.

The actual issue was the cable slipping (it went with a bang) and forcing the metal guide out to create a channel, shearing the plastic cable cover. This was stopping the pedal returning, and completely disabling the hand (foot) brake operation. Pulling up the pedal manually would turn off the handbrake alarm, and allow normal driving, but the handbrake couldn’t be engaged. I just parked the car in gear.

I replaced the entire device part number: A2044201484. Pics of the old and new for comparison.

 

[toteimerced]

YouTube is your friend.

 

[johncherokee]

Jeez, it’s been a while since I’ve visited, but this site on mobile is awful; the ads are crippling.

Anyway… 5 months later, I have managed to get the time to have a proper look at this and remove the foot brake. I’ve found the problem (after following all the other tips - none worked).

I hope this helps diagnosis for owners in future as they troubleshoot their problems as this is one of the first pages that appears when searching for this problem on google, and plenty of people asking above, with no reply; so I’ll close this off.

The actual issue was the cable slipping (it went with a bang) and forcing the metal guide out to create a channel, shearing the plastic cable cover. This was stopping the pedal returning, and completely disabling the hand (foot) brake operation. Pulling up the pedal manually would turn off the handbrake alarm, and allow normal driving, but the handbrake couldn’t be engaged. I just parked the car in gear.

I replaced the entire device part number: A2044201484. Pics of the old and new for comparison.

View attachment 168269

Having seen these posts I will treat my hand/foot brake with kid gloves!

 

[PD9]

YouTube is your friend.

This specific problem not shown on YouTube, however, there is a great video showing how to remove the mechanism. The only part it misses is the cable going to the handbrake release handle.

 

[Bigdrew]

UPDATE: I took my car to a local Mercedes’ specialist and they said I would need a complete rear brake assembly including both brake cables. I’ve been quoted £690 + VAT for parts (£276) and labour (6 hours). Is that reasonable as it seems quite expensive to me?

Hi when i had my w204 i had the same problem but i just got new adjusters and new parking pads and everything was fine after that

 

[Petrol Pete]

Having seen these posts I will treat my hand/foot brake with kid gloves!

Take it from someone who has rebuilt the whole system on a 150K mile W203 C class 'use it or lose it' .

I was once of the 'never use the parking brake' school , Until the return spring in the splitter cassette broke , This is a particularly stupid design from MB . From what I can gather some 203's come with a 'trap door' underneath the rear seats to access the cable splitter to facilitate adjustments , and some do not (mine does).

As a result ALL of them have the same cassette which is exposed to the elements instead of being a sealed unit as it can only be adjusted from below on those cars without the trap door.

When it fails the driveshaft of the car has to be lowered (and some of the exhaust on some models) to replace it.

The 'dust shields' behind the rear hubs are also critical in the operation of this stupid design as they hold the return springs inside the rear drum , when the shield holes corrode the springs fall out and spin around in the drum.

To replace the shields the rear hubs have to be removed , DIY , anyone with any sense will cut the shields to get them over the hubs , MB and other garages will not = extra cost.

What I am trying to say (here in the UK) if your MB with this type of parking brake fails the MOT because or 'weak parking brake' it could be very costly and time consuming.

I have posted this stuff on here before , but here is a pictorial idea of what is going on . You will see the gaping hole in the splitter that lets road crud , thrown up by the driveshaft.





I am going for a lie down now . Looking at this is causing me PTSD

 

[toteimerced]

You should never rely on putting the car in park only, too much strain on a tiny little rod, especially on hills, always apply the brake before putting it in park.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Most parking pawls look a bit like this , and as said, maybe Ok for parking on flat surfaces , depending on the vehicle, but not to be trusted on a hill (IMHO)

What does the law say if my car rolls away and injures someone and it was found that I did not apply my handbrake ?