HOW-TO: Replacing 500E/E500 Brake Fluid

[Trae]

Ok, Speedi Bleed has been ordered toady!

 

[Jlaa]

I was about to bleed the brakes but I was stopped right at the first step when the SP bleeder valve stripped, so I resorted to a bolt extractor which initially appeared to work until I realized that no fluid was coming out. Now I have a broken bleeder valve stuck inside the ASR unit. This car was originally a Florida car so it seems that almost every bolt that touches aluminum has corroded and welded itself in. I decided to abort the bleed job for the day and order a new bleeder. As for getting the old bleeder out, Im thinking Ill have to drill it and use a bolt extractor or easy-out. Any suggestions?

[EDIT]: The bleeder valve is $41.44! I think I may just forget about trying to replace this valve. It could turn into a bigger can of worms if I damage the threads of the ASR unit trying to drill the old valve out or, worse yet, contimate the ASR system with metal debris from drilling.

UGH! @emerydc8 did you finally find out a way to fix this? Do you have the part number to the ridiculously priced bleeder valve? [EDIT - 000-420-49-55 -- ABSURD pricing at $43!]
Even with a flare nut wrench, I rounded off this bleeder screw. $@%$@ - is this because of galvanic corrosion? ABS pump being aluminum and bleeder screw being steel?

 

[TerryA]

UGH! @emerydc8 did you finally find out a way to fix this? Do you have the part number to the ridiculously priced bleeder valve?
Even with a flare nut wrench, I rounded off this bleeder screw. $@%$@ - is this because of galvanic corrosion? ABS pump being aluminum and bleeder screw being steel?

View attachment 161691 View attachment 161689 View attachment 161690

@Jlaa, YEP! It’s probably never been bled in 30 years. I had the same problem on my 84-500SL on a caliper. I had to purchase a whole new steel brake line because I messed up the whole fitting.

 

[emerydc8]

I never did anything about it and at this point, balancing the risk-reward factor, I'll probably just leave it because I could create a real mess if I started drilling and the shavings got into the hydraulic system. I just checked and there is zero leaking. Of course, I will be interested to see what you do about yours! You are in a better position right now than me because you haven't yet broken off the bleeder valve inside the unit. Hopefully you get a 10 mm extractor and it all comes out in one piece.

 

[Jlaa]

Do you need to buy a used ASR/ABS pump? I have a few......

@gerryvz I would like to get a spare in case mine starts leaking after I sheared off the bleed screw (just like @emerydc8 did). I will contact you privately, thank you.

 

[gerryvz]

Here's a video from FCP Yurro on how to use the Motive Power Bleeder. This is for non-ASR cars, so you will need to follow the HOW-TO instructions for E500E cars with ASR. But it's a nice, quick overview on operating the Motive unit itself.

 

[Whitemamba23]

Great write up here but for some reason my ABS/ASR SP valve has no fluid coming out of it.

1. ABS/ASR pump was removed and reinstalled after powder coating the bracket. All lines were removed

2. Reservoir removed and replaced

3. All 4 brake lines replaced, new calipers installed, brakes bled in proper order.

4. Turned car on and opened SP valve but no fluid is coming out.

Any ideas?

Brakes were bled using the 2 man method. No fancy tools here

 

[gsxr]

Port SP should release pressure built up by the ASR pump itself. My guess is, after the reservoir and pump R&R, you aren't getting fluid into the ASR unit from the little precharge pump below the reservoir.

I'm also not sure if you can properly bleed the system without a pressure bleeder, if you have removed/replaced either the reservoir or the ASR unit. The $60 for a Motive bleeder is money well spent...

 

[Whitemamba23]

Port SP should release pressure built up by the ASR pump itself. My guess is, after the reservoir and pump R&R, you aren't getting fluid into the ASR unit from the little precharge pump below the reservoir.

I'm also not sure if you can properly bleed the system without a pressure bleeder, if you have removed/replaced either the reservoir or the ASR unit. The $60 for a Motive bleeder is money well spent...

Thank you. I’ll try that

Was hoping to have the car ready for Cars and coffeee Mercedes day on Sunday but not looking likely now -___-

 

[Whitemamba23]

might as well shoot my shot, does anyone have a power bleeder that I can borrow for half a day in SoCal?

 

[gerryvz]

might as well shoot my shot, does anyone have a power bleeder that I can borrow for half a day in SoCal?

Amazon.com

Better yet, spend the 20 extra bucks and get the "deluxe" European bleeder with the red aluminum cap, which makes things just a bit nicer (the basic black-cap bleeder is 100% functionally identical, just slight hassle when attaching the black cap to the brake fluid reservoir).

 

[emerydc8]

It could be the SP bleeder valve broke off inside the ABS/ASR unit. The external part of the bleeder valve will still turn but no fluid will come out. This has happened to at least two members here. Can you completely remove the valve?

 

[Whitemamba23]

I was able to get a little bit of fluid out so the SP isn’t broken off. Pressure bleeder coming in tomorrow and will hopefully do the trick.

It could be the SP bleeder valve broke off inside the ABS/ASR unit. The external part of the bleeder valve will still turn but no fluid will come out. This has happened to at least two members here. Can you completely remove the valve?

 

[Trae]

Just bought this from Uncle Kent. Will let you know how it works. $58.75:

Pressure Brake Bleeder

Will work on all Mercedes from 1968 to 1995 - Also select 1960's models and most later chassis up to 2006 see list below. 25-minute video instructions are now included. Our pressure bleeder is modified and put together here in our shop. We take a specialized pump sprayer and add a reliable pressure gauge and a modified cap that will screw on the top of your master cylinder reservoir.

Pressure Brake Bleeder | Slick D.I.Y. Hardware Product | MercedesSource.com

mercedessource Product - *Note: this pressure tank can now perform a cooling system pressure leak test as well . Kent's 2-in-1 invention. See below to purchase the pressure testing cap. When used for bleeding or flushing your brake system, a single person can do a rapid fluid flush! No mess and...

mercedessource.com

Please buy a Motive or other bleeder. This one started leaking after five or six fluid changes.

I ended up buying a Speedy Bleed.

 

[Trae]

Yep, I had to replace the master brake cylinder today, and Speedy Bleed is the bomb!

You can open the exact pressure you want on the system up to 30psi. using tire pressure. The tire only looses a few pounds for the entire procedure.

I used 27psi. and followed Gerry's "how to change brake fluid" instructions.

 

[nocfn]

Trae - did you eliminate the squeak of the brake pedal?

 

[Surf Blau]

I finally got around to (try to) renew the brake fluid on the 036 myself last night, and read up on this how-to first. Weirdly I also had a really hard time loosening the SP-valve, even though I opened it without any problems last year (and bled fluid from it). When I finally got it open (had to carefully removed the blue protective cap to fit proper tools on there), there was no fluid coming out of it - no pressure, no nothing! I have a current ASR-fault which I am hoping to clear after renewing the brake fluid, but now I’m starting to wonder if the system has been bled wrong somewhen in the past which is causing it (or has damaged the pressure valve of the ASR-system)..

Due to unforeseen issues (dinner) I wasn’t able to finish the job yesterday evening, but will keep searching for causes today. I can activate the pre charge pump manually using HHT-WIN, and will try to do so today and see if there is any fluid coming out of the SP-valve when doing so.

 

[emerydc8]

I hope your SP bleeder valve didn’t sheer off as happened to a few of us above.
The external part of the bleeder valve will still turn but no fluid will come out.

 

[rayhennig]

I hope your SP bleeder valve didn’t sheer off

I'm afraid of that so I haven't bled the system. Only at the calipers when replacing pads.

We tried removing the SP on a spare ABS/ASR unit. Sheared off and it broke the removal tools. Complete failure.

R

 

[Lowman]

I finally got around to (try to) renew the brake fluid on the 036 myself last night, and read up on this how-to first. Weirdly I also had a really hard time loosening the SP-valve, even though I opened it without any problems last year (and bled fluid from it). When I finally got it open (had to carefully removed the blue protective cap to fit proper tools on there), there was no fluid coming out of it - no pressure, no nothing! I have a current ASR-fault which I am hoping to clear after renewing the brake fluid, but now I’m starting to wonder if the system has been bled wrong somewhen in the past which is causing it (or has damaged the pressure valve of the ASR-system)..

Due to unforeseen issues (dinner) I wasn’t able to finish the job yesterday evening, but will keep searching for causes today. I can activate the pre charge pump manually using HHT-WIN, and will try to do so today and see if there is any fluid coming out of the SP-valve when doing so.

Du hadde på tenning ,hakk 2 ,når du åpnet SP luftenippelen?

 

[Surf Blau]

I hope your SP bleeder valve didn’t sheer off as happened to a few of us above.
The external part of the bleeder valve will still turn but no fluid will come out.

No, I was able to free it up using a deep socket, but it was pretty close to being stripped even with a specific brake bleeder wrench!

I know for sure as fluid runs freely when I activate the primer pump through HHT-WIN. Which is what I ended up doing to get all of the old fluid out.

 

[Surf Blau]

I'm afraid of that so I haven't bled the system. Only at the calipers when replacing pads.

We tried removing the SP on a spare ABS/ASR unit. Sheared off and it broke the removal tools. Complete failure.

R

What’s weird is that I had it open last summer, and back then it came loose immediately! I know I didn’t tighten it with the amount of torque it took to open it up again this time, so it must be galvanic corrosion for me as well..

 

[Surf Blau]

Du hadde på tenning ,hakk 2 ,når du åpnet SP luftenippelen?

{You had the ignition on, notch 2, when you opened the SP air nipple?}

Yes, ignition was on 2 the whole time. After running the primer pump for a few seconds, there was a tiiiiiny, tiny amount that came out when trying to bleed the SP-valve, but as mentioned above I ended up using the pump to push out all of the old fluid..

No change in ASR behaviour though, but this made me wonder whether the primer pump is perhaps clogged up a bit, as the pressure from the SP-valve was no more than when bleeding a brake caliper..