Sam_Julier
$50 Site Donor 2024
Just received from PMB Performance. Restored Girling front calipers for the 240 wagon.
Sam
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Sam
Remanufactured calipers
- Thread starter JHZR2
- Start date
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Those look fantastic!
Originally Posted by Astro14
Given a choice between Cardone/NAPA/whoever and new ATE from Mercedes, I would go new, every time.
www.Mboemparts.com
OP has Bendix calipers and those are over $1K each, the later W126 cars also got them. Mercedes is doing a decent job keeping parts for their older cars around. If those were ATE calipers, you can still get rebuild kits in the blue ATE box from any competent wholesaler(Worldpac and IMC).
Cardone has ticked me off with calipers recently. For a heapbox Mitsu, one caliper had the wrong bracket. So I ended up ordering an unbracketed caliper body instead to use the OE bracket. One had stripped threads and looked like it was sloppily resealed. The next one was better but the threads were still an issue. I had to use a thread restoring file to repair the banjo bolt, and the bleeder screw hole was Heli-coiled. Freakin' Cardon't.
Given a choice between Cardone/NAPA/whoever and new ATE from Mercedes, I would go new, every time.
www.Mboemparts.com
OP has Bendix calipers and those are over $1K each, the later W126 cars also got them. Mercedes is doing a decent job keeping parts for their older cars around. If those were ATE calipers, you can still get rebuild kits in the blue ATE box from any competent wholesaler(Worldpac and IMC).
Cardone has ticked me off with calipers recently. For a heapbox Mitsu, one caliper had the wrong bracket. So I ended up ordering an unbracketed caliper body instead to use the OE bracket. One had stripped threads and looked like it was sloppily resealed. The next one was better but the threads were still an issue. I had to use a thread restoring file to repair the banjo bolt, and the bleeder screw hole was Heli-coiled. Freakin' Cardon't.
If a rebuild kit is no longer available and you want to retain as much of the OE parts as possible, you could try rebuilding the OE unit with parts from a reman unit.
I ended up doing that, not intentionally mind you, when a reman caliper I had installed seized after about a year of service. Fortunately (due to procrastination) I still had the OE unit in the basement so I ended up taking the best parts of both to refurbish my OE caliper.
(Bit of background: one of my OE calipers (dual pot units) had a seized piston due to a torn dust boot so I replaced both sides (due to age) with reman units. After a bit over a year of service one of the reman calipers seized. Upon disassembly of the seized reman unit, it seemed that the pistons were too "snug" of a fit for the caliper body. You had to align things absolutely perfectly in order to insert the piston into the caliper body. The piston to bore fit was quite a bit tighter than the OE caliper and its pistons. Fortunately, the diameter of the reman pistons matched the OE pistons perfectly so I ended up refurbishing my OE calipers with parts from the reman calipers.)
I ended up doing that, not intentionally mind you, when a reman caliper I had installed seized after about a year of service. Fortunately (due to procrastination) I still had the OE unit in the basement so I ended up taking the best parts of both to refurbish my OE caliper.
(Bit of background: one of my OE calipers (dual pot units) had a seized piston due to a torn dust boot so I replaced both sides (due to age) with reman units. After a bit over a year of service one of the reman calipers seized. Upon disassembly of the seized reman unit, it seemed that the pistons were too "snug" of a fit for the caliper body. You had to align things absolutely perfectly in order to insert the piston into the caliper body. The piston to bore fit was quite a bit tighter than the OE caliper and its pistons. Fortunately, the diameter of the reman pistons matched the OE pistons perfectly so I ended up refurbishing my OE calipers with parts from the reman calipers.)
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted by Astro14
Seals fail over time, too... if you're lucky, the pistons won't be rusted.
But you're going to have to pull them off to find out.
Given a choice between Cardone/NAPA/whoever and new ATE from Mercedes, I would go new, every time.
www.Mboemparts.com
That's the crux of the matter - the wild card of rusted pistons.
This is a CA car, rust free, so it shouldn't be an issue. But one never knows what they'll find.
Originally Posted by nthach
OP has Bendix calipers and those are over $1K each, the later W126 cars also got them. Mercedes is doing a decent job keeping parts for their older cars around. If those were ATE calipers, you can still get rebuild kits in the blue ATE box from any competent wholesaler(Worldpac and IMC).
IIRC the late w126 calipers are different to fit vented discs. The w123 has solid discs all around.
So the cost structure may be different, but you're right, MB is only supporting new Teeves (ATE) calipers.
Rebuild kits are available for both.
Originally Posted by dk1604
If a rebuild kit is no longer available and you want to retain as much of the OE parts as possible, you could try rebuilding the OE unit with parts from a reman unit.
Yes, could go that way. Again, the wild card is the piston. Wish there was some standard brake rebuilding guide that listed sizes and shapes of pistons, and replacement parts. I'd doubt that the piston Bendix used here is all that different from what they used elsewhere. But how would one know?
Granted, it is a big assumption that the piston is bad. Perhaps I can rebuild as -is. But the piston did seize...
So I don't know what to expect, and would prefer to be somewhat ready if the issue arises in one of the four calipers (might as well do them all, no??).
Seals fail over time, too... if you're lucky, the pistons won't be rusted.
But you're going to have to pull them off to find out.
Given a choice between Cardone/NAPA/whoever and new ATE from Mercedes, I would go new, every time.
www.Mboemparts.com
That's the crux of the matter - the wild card of rusted pistons.
This is a CA car, rust free, so it shouldn't be an issue. But one never knows what they'll find.
Originally Posted by nthach
OP has Bendix calipers and those are over $1K each, the later W126 cars also got them. Mercedes is doing a decent job keeping parts for their older cars around. If those were ATE calipers, you can still get rebuild kits in the blue ATE box from any competent wholesaler(Worldpac and IMC).
IIRC the late w126 calipers are different to fit vented discs. The w123 has solid discs all around.
So the cost structure may be different, but you're right, MB is only supporting new Teeves (ATE) calipers.
Rebuild kits are available for both.
Originally Posted by dk1604
If a rebuild kit is no longer available and you want to retain as much of the OE parts as possible, you could try rebuilding the OE unit with parts from a reman unit.
Yes, could go that way. Again, the wild card is the piston. Wish there was some standard brake rebuilding guide that listed sizes and shapes of pistons, and replacement parts. I'd doubt that the piston Bendix used here is all that different from what they used elsewhere. But how would one know?
Granted, it is a big assumption that the piston is bad. Perhaps I can rebuild as -is. But the piston did seize...
So I don't know what to expect, and would prefer to be somewhat ready if the issue arises in one of the four calipers (might as well do them all, no??).
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