New member in the Isle of Man

[Mike Percival]

Hi, my name is Mike Percival. Having just bought a 2000 ML320 I thought I would join this forum as a source of (hopefully) good advice.
I intend to do as much of the maintenance as I can, including brakes. I have noticed that on left hand bends the hand brake warning light and beeper come on for a short time, I assume this is indicating worn brake pads at the rear?
Thanks for any advice and help!

 

[LostKiwi]

Hi and welcome! Great driving roads in the IOM. Fond memories of my trips there. Also the Ancestral home back in the 1700s.

 

[Blobcat]

Hello and welcome

 

[John Laidlaw]

Welcome Mike from (kind of) just across the water!
Could equally be a faulty sensor, have you measured the pads?

 

[SmartAmg]

Welcome, Mike.

 

[Mike Percival]

Welcome Mike from (kind of) just across the water!
Could equally be a faulty sensor, have you measured the pads?

Not yet, I think it would probably be a good idea to replace all the pads anyway, start with a clean sheet! To be fair, the hand (foot) brake does go a long way down, so pads are quite likely.

 

[LostKiwi]

Not yet, I think it would probably be a good idea to replace all the pads anyway, start with a clean sheet! To be fair, the hand (foot) brake does go a long way down, so pads are quite likely.

Parking brake and foot brake use different pads. The parking brake is a drum brake inside the disc.

 

[McDonald]

Welcome Mike, there are some very wise folk on here. They know these cars.

 

[LesTaylor]

Welcome to the forum Mike, my car has a pull to the left too; every time it comes to a petrol station...
Hope you get your brake problem solved soon...

 

[Mike Percival]

Parking brake and foot brake use different pads. The parking brake is a drum brake inside the disc.

Aha, thanks for that. Talk about a complicated system. You could never accuse the germans of over engineering anything could you?
In that case I'll take a look at the parking brake since that's the one flashing on and off on left hand bends!

 

[A.J.]

Hi Mike, welcome to the forum

 

[LostKiwi]

Aha, thanks for that. Talk about a complicated system. You could never accuse the germans of over engineering anything could you?
In that case I'll take a look at the parking brake since that's the one flashing on and off on left hand bends!

Have you checked fluid levels? The same light is used for low fluid as well.
If fluid is low check pad wear as if pads are low it will cause fluid to be low too.

 

[Mike Percival]

Have you checked fluid levels? The same light is used for low fluid as well.
If fluid is low check pad wear as if pads are low it will cause fluid to be low too.

Good tip, the fluid was down so my plan to replace all brake pads is probably a good one. For the moment I have topped it up and will replace the pads as soon as they arrive.