The saga is almost over - 2005, C220 CDI Classic SE, S203.208 (Estate), OM646.963 Engine

[NBurns]

Do Amazon do a 10 day delivery so you can extend the job a bit longer?

,.......No.



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[NBurns]

with single piston calipers the manufacturer made it really easy....

before unbolting the caliper (loosen the hydraulic pipe till its nice and free, then lightly nip it up) unbolt the caliper and suspend on a bungee - place a carrier bag over the caliper and get in the car, you'll find there's a pedal - you press this a few times and the piston falls out, you then nip back and clamp the flexi brake hose to stop too much fluid coming out...

beforehand use a wire brush to remove as much crap and rust from everywhere

on twin piston calipers an old pad for the side that's moving easily and a block of wood thinner than the disc and try a similar idea to above.... but try to get BOTH to pop at the same time or fun ensues

rebuilding it should all go together by hand with no tools needed to get the piston back in..... make sure its DEAD square and it'll go in easily, 1 thou on the p1ss and it won't move for anybody

If the tools can be used again then it will be a good investment. Besides, my son gave me a £50 Amazon gift card for Christmas.



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[davidsl500]

If the tools can be used again then it will be a good investment. Besides, my son gave me a £50 Amazon gift card for Christmas.



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Keep it for something you really need not something that will sit in a cupboard for years unused.

 

[NBurns]

Keep it for something you really need not something that will sit in a cupboard for years unused.

Well yes. I am pretty sure I would use most of the tools I've bought in the last six months.



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[Blobcat]

Well yes. I am pretty sure I would use most of the tools I've bought in the last six months.



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Can you locate them though? Seems to be quite a few missing according to this thread when you need them.

Brake calliper tools aren’t exactly things you need to use regularly unless you’re in the old car servicing business...

 

[RhodieBill]

I just use a 150mm g-clamp if required. (But 9/10 not). I think about a fiver on Ebay - free delivery.

 

[joderest]

Ok, if one were just replacing pads, a decent lever will push the piston back in.
In this instance, getting the pistons out could well be a problem if they are corroded in, but if they are at that stage a simple seal replacement may not be the best way forward, as the bores may be corroded.
Lets hope not, when i did my callipers on the ML, i was lucky, just used a large set of pipe grips and a cloth over piston and worked them backwards and forwards also pulling up and they popped out. Getting them back in was also a doddle, after cleaning up and wiping with a little bit of clean brake fluid, put the piston in the hole and just a steady hard push and they popped in, then installed dust cover.
I have done hundreds of brake jobs in my life and i have never bought tools to do it, just modified other tools to work, i made a piston pusher out of an old bit of alloy bar, drilled and tapped a hole in it and used a bit of studding with two nuts on either end, bar grips behind the arms on the calliper, wind in the nuts with other end in piston and it pushes it back, if its the type that needs turning at the same time, i again use the pipe grips.
Brakes are one of those things that you need to take your time over and make sure its all good, as they are the only things that will stop you, unless you count the car in front when they fail !!!!
I am sure you will do a decent job, you are nearly there.

 

[Botus]

I've let some fluid out by mistake already though.

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put some back again.... if you have a seized piston the only way it'll move is with hydraulic pressure - that'll create shed loads more force than anything else will

 

[NBurns]

put some back again.... if you have a seized piston the only way it'll move is with hydraulic pressure - that'll create shed loads more force than anything else will

What even more than compressed air, as I've seen in one video?

 

[NBurns]

Ok, if one were just replacing pads, a decent lever will push the piston back in.
In this instance, getting the pistons out could well be a problem if they are corroded in, but if they are at that stage a simple seal replacement may not be the best way forward, as the bores may be corroded.
Lets hope not, when i did my callipers on the ML, i was lucky, just used a large set of pipe grips and a cloth over piston and worked them backwards and forwards also pulling up and they popped out. Getting them back in was also a doddle, after cleaning up and wiping with a little bit of clean brake fluid, put the piston in the hole and just a steady hard push and they popped in, then installed dust cover.
I have done hundreds of brake jobs in my life and i have never bought tools to do it, just modified other tools to work, i made a piston pusher out of an old bit of alloy bar, drilled and tapped a hole in it and used a bit of studding with two nuts on either end, bar grips behind the arms on the calliper, wind in the nuts with other end in piston and it pushes it back, if its the type that needs turning at the same time, i again use the pipe grips.
Brakes are one of those things that you need to take your time over and make sure its all good, as they are the only things that will stop you, unless you count the car in front when they fail !!!!
I am sure you will do a decent job, you are nearly there.

Yep, absolutely. And if I had my own beautiful double garage then I would probably do the same as you and make something up myself. Yes I can be creative when I need to be in solving issues, however when you are dicing with the elements outside on a stone driveway, it's not so easy. And as some of my newer tools have gone 'missing' in Hedge End, I have had to think outside the box and borrow her late husband's tools instead. Now his Garage WAS a full mechanical one and more. Full bench, angle grinder, vice, compressed air system, drills, portable work benches, g clamps, boxes full of nuts, bolts, screws, etc. Every time I ask if there is something she might have, she say's 'Oh I might have'!!!

 

[LostKiwi]

As BC said. Bit of wood and a prybar/screwdriver.
No need to spend money on caliper tools (especially as you seem to have a habit of losing tools)..

 

[d215yq]

As BC said. Bit of wood and a prybar/screwdriver.
No need to spend money on caliper tools (especially as you seem to have a habit of losing tools)..

Or even two bits of wood. For mine 18mm wide was perfect as the aperture with the piston extended was 40mm so put them together with a nut and bolt in a hole drilled through one to seperate them. In the end i didnt bother with the bolt and seprrated them by crossing them and levering them apart. Youd have to be doing a lot of brakes to bother buying those special tools...

 

[joderest]

I do not have a garage.
I work on a cold concrete drive.
I have a shed I store my tools in.
If I had a large double garage my wife would never see me.

 

[alexanderfoti]

I do not have a garage.
I work on a cold concrete drive.
I have a shed I store my tools in.
If I had a large double garage my wife would never see me.

You could do what I did, and put my wife in an office next to the double garage

 

[joderest]

Hmm.
I would have to move house.
Her that rules does not want to move house.
Hence never going to have a garage.
Anyway with replacement knees fused back and past retirement age it's a bit late.

 

[RhodieBill]

Talking about Garages - the ones you have at home - it really, and I mean really, pis -ses me off when I see a perfectly good garage used as a storage space for JUNK! If it's sitting in the garage you don't need it, put it on Freecycle or give it to charity people!!! This sort of abuse of space should be made illegal!

 

[joderest]

Have to agree.
When i was a lad, i lived at an address in London with parents, It was a flat but i had a garage in a block, it was very large, big enough to get a car in and work round it, i spent many long nights in there re spraying cars and taking engines out, doing clutches etc etc. I had my own spray gun and compressor, it was where i learnt every thing i know now, great times. The other residents of the block thought i was a bit mad, until they wanted their car fixed or a dent taken out or some rust repaired.
I think it counted as a mis spent youth time.

 

[LostKiwi]

Talking about Garages - the ones you have at home - it really, and I mean really, pis -ses me off when I see a perfectly good garage used as a storage space for JUNK! If it's sitting in the garage you don't need it, put it on Freecycle or give it to charity people!!! This sort of abuse of space should be made illegal!

Our garage was too small to fit our cars in. We converted it to a home cinema room.
Now just need to convince MrsLK to build a double garage to the side of the house....

 

[Botus]

What even more than compressed air, as I've seen in one video?

gases can be compressed, liquid can't, one works the other might not (the car came with fluid and a pedal, you need to buy a compressor and connections...)

 

[Chrishazle]

At our old house I waited 15 years for replacing the car port with a garage to get to the top of the "to do" list, but when it did - 26ft deep, 20ft wide with a single 16ft roller door, pit across the bottom end, epoxy painted concrete floor, power galore - loved it! 10 years later had to sell the house, new owners use it for storage!! Now stuck with a small single garage and no option to enlarge it.