RECALL: 2019-2020 MB/Freightliner Sprinter - Brake Caliper May Leak on Vehicles Equipped With Electric Parking Brake

[430 hp 70]

Just had the "check brake pads" message come on at 38k yesterday. Restarted it yesterday afternoon and again this morning and it's gone. Visually there appears to be at least 5mm left.

Anyways, does anyone get a loud groan when braking while backing? These brakes have been way louder from day one than any vehicle I've owned, but the groan is unacceptable. I'm wondering if mine might be contaminated. Calipers don't appear to be leaking and performance is still good.

Going to make an appointment tomorrow morning and see what they say. Pretty surprised that they're not installing new pads given the possibility of contamination.

 

[Eric B]

They will only install new pads if you pay them to … it’s kind of hilarious since they remove the pads to swap them to the new calipers … I brought a set of new pads w me (bought them from that dealership’s part department previously) when they did the recall the second time, and the SA was like “we are going to comp you the $75 labor rate for putting in new pads” …

any chance you have a little sand / dirt between pads and rotor because of a weekend Offroad outing, that might account for the noise you’re hearing @430 hp 70

 

[Roamers]

when they did the recall the second time

I assume all is good now.

1) noticeable difference in apply and release time?
2) did the SA mention anything out of the ordinary with the redo?

 

[Dendisch]

... My brother had an appointment scheduled that got canceled 2 days before because the dealer couldn't get parts.

Lucky guy, he has a dealer that is caring about his customers.
Dropped my van off for the recall last Wednesday. Was told it would need to stay overnight because its a major job. Was told on Thursday that they didn't get the parts. Supposed to be there on Friday. It's Monday now...
The explanation for not having the parts before the schedule recall work was that MB has a parts shortage and they don't allow dealers to preorder the parts. What???
The only reason why I'm not completely upset is because luckily I didn't need the van during the last few days and I got a loaner car from them.

 

[lindenengineering]

There appears to be an issue with these calipers across the board.
Jaguar cars have just announced a recall on these as well.
Dennis

 

[Roamers]

Lucky guy, he has a dealer that is caring about his customers.

He got it done last week. Since his dealer picks up and drops off, I don't think he's driven it yet

 

[Eric B]

I assume all is good now.

1) noticeable difference in apply and release time?
2) did the SA mention anything out of the ordinary with the redo?

Second time around and a couple thousand miles later - no issues …

SA & the Sprinter head tech both say they appreciate the videos I provide beforehand…
It avoids any “my van makes a noise” … “I don’t hear the noise - cannot duplicate” back and forth BS

No they didn’t say WHY there was an issue, they just agreed with my finding that it was taking way longer than before for the van to apply & release e-brake, so they just threw another pair of calipers on there …

Since I was back there within a day of the recall, that’s when I asked them to comp the labor for the install of my new pads while they were at it the second time around … you know for going back and forth to dealer on a daily basis - here they don’t provide loaners for us Sprinter folks … just a Lyft/Uber ride so it’s a bit of a hassle …


@Dendisch bummer about the service you are getting, when I got the letter saying parts available for recall, I called and made an appointment specifically for that campaign, so parts were available when I brought the van in … hopefully you get sorted soon

 

[Dendisch]

@Eric B I finally did ge the van back, recall completed.
The last four words on the service report sound a little bit as if it will be temporary...

 

[Eric B]

@Dendisch and now that you have the van back, did you notice anything odd about engaging / releasing the parking brake ? or is it all back to the way you've been used to so far ?

Interesting that there is a counter for the number of times the parking brake has been engaged ...
wonder if they have a set number at which they plan to replace it next time ... 1000times ? 5000times ?

 

[Dendisch]

@Dendisch and now that you have the van back, did you notice anything odd about engaging / releasing the parking brake ? or is it all back to the way you've been used to so far ?

Interesting that there is a counter for the number of times the parking brake has been engaged ...
wonder if they have a set number at which they plan to replace it next time ... 1000times ? 5000times ?

It's as stated on the report: "Okay at this time". Seems no difference to before. I'm also surprised about the counter. The brake engages automatically at the end of every trip. Even if driven only a few times per day it will exceed 10000 within the van lifetime. A delivery van which stops every few minutes might reach 500000 times.

 

[Roamers]

@Dendisch and now that you have the van back, did you notice anything odd about engaging / releasing the parking brake ? or is it all back to the way you've been used to so far ?

Interesting that there is a counter for the number of times the parking brake has been engaged ...
wonder if they have a set number at which they plan to replace it next time ... 1000times ? 5000times ?

We used to do the durability testing so our customers didn't have to.

 

[Eric B]

Definitely not van lifetime … lol … since we’ve already had to replace them (twice for me) … what I meant is maybe they have an expected use / number of times the engagement/disengagement mechanism is good for before they expect it will begin to be prone to failure …

Kind of like all those new gas cars with start/stop functionality … there is going to be a run on starters for those in the not too distant future IMO

 

[430 hp 70]

Any chance you have a little sand / dirt between pads and rotor because of a weekend Offroad outing, that might account for the noise you’re hearing @430 hp 70

No sand. The sound is intermittent, but has been around the last 5k or so. Pretty embarrassing. Though not as bad as the cross traffic sensors locking the brakes up when not needed.

I confirmed with my dealer that pads aren't included as well. I guess nothing should surprise me.