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2003 E500 BRAKE-Service Brake-Visit Workshop in whitem letters

24K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  Cliviscus 
#1 · (Edited)
2003 E500 BRAKE-Service Brake-Visit Workshop in white letters

I know this subject has had it's share of posts, although I have not seen any recent articles on this. I have read most of these going back to 2010.
I replaced my rear brake pads and sensors about two weeks ago. The other day I had this warning show up. After reading the posts, the most likely suspect was a faulty sensor.
I went to my local MD Dealer and purchsed a new sensor installed with no change in warning.
I have also read it might be a brake light switch.
I have called my indy to see if he has the diaognostic tool.
My SBC seems to work fine and the pedal feels the same as allways.
My inservice warranty date was 02/2013. I hope it is not the SBC!!
Any ideas?
:surrender:
 
#2 ·
I know this subject has had it's share of posts, although I have not seen any recent articles on this. I have read most of these going back to 2010.
I replaced my rear brake pads and sensors about two weeks ago. The other day I had this warning show up. After reading the posts, the most likely suspect was a faulty sensor.
I went to my local MD Dealer and purchsed a new sensor installed with no change in warning.
I have also read it might be a brake light switch.
I have called my indy to see if he has the diaognostic tool.
My SBC seems to work fine and the pedal feels the same as allways.
My inservice warranty date was 02/2013. I hope it is not the SBC!!
Any ideas?
:surrender:
I had the same message a couple of weeks ago. It was intermittent. I changed the brake light switch and haven't seen it since. A 20 minute job if you are taking your time. The switch isn't that expensive.

I had bought one a couple of months ago and put it in the car just in case. Worked out well.
 
#4 ·
Thank-you for the feedback MarkZ and RoadKing.
My fluid level is up, plus I unpluged the level switch to be sure it is working. It does.
I guess I will change the Brake Lite switch and hope for the best.
Pretty wierd since the brake lights come on when the pedal is depressed.
I take it just the four torx bolts is all I need to take out to get to the switch correct?
I have also read there is a second bulb for the brakes in case the switch goes out. Mystery to me how all this stuff works.
The stealer is not much help unless you want to throw them a couple Ben Franklins.
My Indy does not have the MIS software for the code.
Thanks again.
 
#5 ·
Yes, remove the torx bolts, it may be 3 of them, and a white plastic piece that also unscrews near the pedal holding that same panel. You don't need to remove the panel, just lower it. With a flashlight, you'll see the switch. Twist it and it will come out. Replace, and reinstall. Easy.
 
#7 ·
I had the white "visit brake shop" message come up a few months ago. I took it to a german car specialty shop, who said it was the SBC brakes, and to go have it fixed for free by the MB dealer (since it was still within 10 year window). So I took it to MB, who confirmed it was the SBC and changed it under warranty.
 
#9 ·
I bought and installed the Brake Switch. "BUMMER" did not fix the problem.
My 10 year as I mentioned for the SBC warranty period was up Feb. 22 of this year.
I went to one of our local MB Stealers and he told me there is no wiggle room with MB on this time frame.
He also mentioned that he can reset my SBC on the computer to more or less reset the tolerances, or time so the warning does not pop up any more as long as the wear was not over spec. He said that would run me $160.00 to $200.00. I guess that is my next step.
Does everyone agree that I should move forward on this fix?
Thanks to everyone hanging in there with me.
 
#10 ·
I'm not sure I understand what he's proposing to do.
There is a 300k cycle counter that if exceeded; a warning shows up and the SBC must be replaced.
There are numerous Chinese reset modules to get rid of the C249F code which is the death sentence for the SBC pump. It costs around $180.
Unless your dealer is a Daimler software engineer who used to work in Stuttgart; I doubt his claim that he can open up the tolerances and make sure that the wear limit is not exceeded. All he's gonna do is reset the counter.
The obvious answer to your question is : Don't do it, this is a safety item, the savings is not worth anyones life.
There were some strong reactions along these lines from a few veteran members answering the same question a couple of weeks ago.
However, outside of fear, no one has any facts to support a total ban on resetting the counter. Also, no one knows what the system will do if resetting the counter results in a SBC unit failure, will a warning light up when braking power is reduced by 10% or 20% or ????
Will the system fail completely without warning?(I doubt it).
If one knows the B10 life of the pump, one can ascertain the likelihood of failure at a certain cycle count. Unfortunately, the only people that know are not talking.
 
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