When I start my car a parking brake light comes on and the message "Parking Brake See Owners Manual" comes on. There is no drag on the car along with no codes when read with a Snapon scanner. When I try to release the parking brake and electronic noise from the rear starts then the yellow park light comes on. I believe there is a code but I'm not looking at my scanner right now. Has anyone ever gotten the red message?
Parking Brake See Owners Manual with a red park light
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If anything is going on with your parking brake, the electric motor is on its way out. I would not use the parking brake until you have the electric motor changed out. It may have not failed yet, but the car has detected a high than normal electrical load and sent you those messages. See this post on how to change out the electric motor, which can be found on Amazon or Ebay. Also see photos below. The first is showing the original motor and the second is the replacement motor on my car.
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Urgent help needed. URGENT HELP NEEDED PLEASE ANYONE...
Gm guys , I appreciate all you guys do here. my car currently displays this, pic attached. What can be the problem Can the vehicle be driven safely with this light illuminated? Lastly, when I’m driving and and once I push gas rear passenger wheel kinda off squeakes, as soon as I let go of the...
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I am a new owner of a 2009 MB S550 4matic W221. The original owner stopped using the electronic parking brake after aprox. 5 years because it got stuck. Instead of fixing it, they just decided NOT to use it. Now the vehicle will be parked on an incline/hill and needs the parking brake to wok, not just for the hill, but form my understanding to reduce the wear/tear on the transmission selenoids, particularly when parking on any grade.
After engaging the parking brake, the parking brake did not release - yellow and red "brake" on dash, as well as red "PARK, Parking brake, See Owner's Manual". I had to manually release the parking brake via the cable in the gas filling compartment. The diagnostic scanner was showing a positive force of 69.4 N on parking electronic force sensor. When I switched off the electronic brake via the driver dash switch, I DID hear what sounded like a motor spinning for about 2 seconds and then stopped. Again, I had to manually release the brake from the gas filling compartment. The scanner also produced a 5160 code, "check mechanical components for proper operation and installation". I would like to think the problem is in the drum parking brake, cable or some "mechanical" component. I was able to pull the cable from the brake housing on both rear brakes and seemed ok. So my thought, is the next step is investigating the drum parking brake mechanisms. Any help or direction would be great, such as been there did that and it's xyz (cables, motor, etc.)
Anyone know why the parking brake motor or system is failing? I hate to replace a component only to have to replace it down the road again in 50k miles or 5 years.
There is a video on you tube video (Notices for W221 Series eletronic parking brake change ...), where a gear mounting spring is replaced with the new parking motor. The spring looks like its function is to hold on the concentric gears to the motor housing (see picture below). Is the new spring needed and is this the cause of early failure of the parking motor?
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When you replaced your parking brake motor and you had the assembly out of the car, did you replace the old mechanical push/pull cables with new cables? If you did not replace the cables, did you lubricate the original cables, because my thought is that over time the cables become more difficult to push and pull, which may have decreased the life of the motor and caused an early failure of the motor. I would expect any parking brake system, including the motor to last 20 years or more. Who would expect them to last only 5-10?
After engaging the parking brake, the parking brake did not release - yellow and red "brake" on dash, as well as red "PARK, Parking brake, See Owner's Manual". I had to manually release the parking brake via the cable in the gas filling compartment. The diagnostic scanner was showing a positive force of 69.4 N on parking electronic force sensor. When I switched off the electronic brake via the driver dash switch, I DID hear what sounded like a motor spinning for about 2 seconds and then stopped. Again, I had to manually release the brake from the gas filling compartment. The scanner also produced a 5160 code, "check mechanical components for proper operation and installation". I would like to think the problem is in the drum parking brake, cable or some "mechanical" component. I was able to pull the cable from the brake housing on both rear brakes and seemed ok. So my thought, is the next step is investigating the drum parking brake mechanisms. Any help or direction would be great, such as been there did that and it's xyz (cables, motor, etc.)
Anyone know why the parking brake motor or system is failing? I hate to replace a component only to have to replace it down the road again in 50k miles or 5 years.
There is a video on you tube video (Notices for W221 Series eletronic parking brake change ...), where a gear mounting spring is replaced with the new parking motor. The spring looks like its function is to hold on the concentric gears to the motor housing (see picture below). Is the new spring needed and is this the cause of early failure of the parking motor?
When you replaced your parking brake motor and you had the assembly out of the car, did you replace the old mechanical push/pull cables with new cables? If you did not replace the cables, did you lubricate the original cables, because my thought is that over time the cables become more difficult to push and pull, which may have decreased the life of the motor and caused an early failure of the motor. I would expect any parking brake system, including the motor to last 20 years or more. Who would expect them to last only 5-10?
The release portion of the e-brake is dependent on the two springs and the movement of the parking brake shoes at each wheel. (Please see photos of the parking brake assembly below). You need to remove the brake caliper, mount, and rotor to get to the parking brake. Once off, check the brake shoe have movement. You might have to remove the brake shoes and grease the back of the shoe where it contacts the rear plate to allow for free movement. To get the shoes out, remove the star wheel adjuster, two springs holding the two shoes together, the parking brake spreader, and the shoe retaining pins and springs. The two shoes will drop out.
To service the e-brake, you have to remove the entire unit along with the cables going to each wheel. You have to unhook the ends of each of the cables at the parking brake spreader and remove the emergency release cable at the fuel filler port in order to get everything out. It is a difficult job to unhook from the parking brake spreader but it can be done with the rear axle hub in the way. Once this is on the bench, you can take it apart, look over everything and troubleshoot potential issues.
You cannot pull out the cable from the sheath to lubricate. In my case, they moved freely. Also the motor reduction gears, mine were all fine and the grease was not gummy. I had no issues with the spring at the end of the reduction gear. My issue was that the motor was dying and needed replacement. It has been over 1-1/2 years and my e-brake is working fine.
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To service the e-brake, you have to remove the entire unit along with the cables going to each wheel. You have to unhook the ends of each of the cables at the parking brake spreader and remove the emergency release cable at the fuel filler port in order to get everything out. It is a difficult job to unhook from the parking brake spreader but it can be done with the rear axle hub in the way. Once this is on the bench, you can take it apart, look over everything and troubleshoot potential issues.
You cannot pull out the cable from the sheath to lubricate. In my case, they moved freely. Also the motor reduction gears, mine were all fine and the grease was not gummy. I had no issues with the spring at the end of the reduction gear. My issue was that the motor was dying and needed replacement. It has been over 1-1/2 years and my e-brake is working fine.
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Jagpilot,
Thank you for the quick reply and great pictures. Your experience and wisdom are greatly appreciated!
I now have the parking brake module out and I have the motor out of the assembly and there are signs of motor burnout/failure. First, there is black residue in the shape of an oval on the white gear housing that matches exactly to the mating metal slot on the front of the motor face (the motor side with the shaft and gear). Second, there is additional black residue located on the outside of the gear housing away from the motor interface. I assume it was blown inside the module, when the motor was beginning to fail and burning out. In addition, I smelled the familiar electrical burnout from the motor vents. Third, when I tested the motor. I disconnected the motor positive and negative leads. I applied 5V, from an adjustable DC power supply, to the positive side of the motor blade and connected the negative lead from the power supply to the negative motor blade. The motor worked a couple of times but then stopped. I could not revive the motor, even with 15 amps at 5V.
I separated the motor from the gear train assembly and provided 5V, which took ~10 amps to turn the motor shaft and gear (motor gear not connected to gear train assembly). From my understanding, to turn the motor, it should take ~ 5 amps at 5V. I believe the evidence shows the motor is in a decline to failure and probably didn't have enough torque to pull the parking brake cables and actuate the parking brake in the drum brake. Would you agree or is there another test you would recommend?
I have ordered a new motor from Amazon, however it will take 2-3 weeks to arrive. So please let me know if you have another test for the motor.
w221 Parking Brake Motor Senyar Parking Brake Actuator Motor,Car Handbrake Module Motor for S Class W221 2006-2013
I will add an update when I get the new motor and install it into the parking brake module.
Thanks again Jagpilot!
Thank you for the quick reply and great pictures. Your experience and wisdom are greatly appreciated!
I now have the parking brake module out and I have the motor out of the assembly and there are signs of motor burnout/failure. First, there is black residue in the shape of an oval on the white gear housing that matches exactly to the mating metal slot on the front of the motor face (the motor side with the shaft and gear). Second, there is additional black residue located on the outside of the gear housing away from the motor interface. I assume it was blown inside the module, when the motor was beginning to fail and burning out. In addition, I smelled the familiar electrical burnout from the motor vents. Third, when I tested the motor. I disconnected the motor positive and negative leads. I applied 5V, from an adjustable DC power supply, to the positive side of the motor blade and connected the negative lead from the power supply to the negative motor blade. The motor worked a couple of times but then stopped. I could not revive the motor, even with 15 amps at 5V.
I separated the motor from the gear train assembly and provided 5V, which took ~10 amps to turn the motor shaft and gear (motor gear not connected to gear train assembly). From my understanding, to turn the motor, it should take ~ 5 amps at 5V. I believe the evidence shows the motor is in a decline to failure and probably didn't have enough torque to pull the parking brake cables and actuate the parking brake in the drum brake. Would you agree or is there another test you would recommend?
I have ordered a new motor from Amazon, however it will take 2-3 weeks to arrive. So please let me know if you have another test for the motor.
w221 Parking Brake Motor Senyar Parking Brake Actuator Motor,Car Handbrake Module Motor for S Class W221 2006-2013
I will add an update when I get the new motor and install it into the parking brake module.
Thanks again Jagpilot!
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One more question, after installing the new parking motor and installing the parking module back into the car, do you know if the parking brake module will need to be reprogrammed at a MB dealer or certified MB shop or is it possible that I can do it throught the S550 driver interface controls or will the original programing work?
See attachment, line 15.
One quick test is to connect the motor to a battery and run at full power with no load. If it smokes within a few moments, it is a dying motor. After reinstalling the parking brake module, it does not need to be reprogrammed. It will start working immediately. I ordered mine from Ebay. I see one that gets delivered in a couple of days on Amazon.
Also, see this video on how to disassemble the parking brake module and how to test the motor. See:
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