List of problems!

[MercedesBean]

Hello! I am new to these forums and I would really appreciate some advise with what to do with the following problems.
Number 1 and the most annoying of all is the seizing brake issue. When I first bought my 99 c280 sport around a year ago it had problems with the brakes. Turns out it was the master cylinder. I replaced that and drove for a couple months and everything went fine until all brakes started to seize. One time the front the next the back and it would not happen every time. It was pretty random. I decided to change all the brake calipers, rotors, pads and fluid and the problem went away for a couple months again but today when I was driving I noticed the brake pedal was quite hard and the car felt a bit sluggish. I got out and touched the rims and holy shit they were hot and I could smell burning. If anyone has any idea of what is going on please tell me! This seems like a curse that never goes away. Thanks again.

[Vetruck]

Can I get some more information on the car:

Where is the car from? Country/ State- Reason I am asking is for climate conditions to judge the aging of the car

How many miles on the car.

Do you drive in salt road conditions? meaning snow

When you say "seize", are you refering to the wheel brake hanging up and staying on after you release the brake pedal?

[MercedesBean]

I drive the car in Canada, Ontario and has around 250,000 km (155,343 miles) and yes it drives in salt road conditions. and yes thats exactly the problem. It feels as if the wheel brakes don't fully disengage putting extra drag causing the car to feel sluggish and the wheel to gain temperature. I would like to point out that the brakes where changed after the winter and i have the same problem.

[Vetruck]

First thing I would recommend is change out all of your rubber brake lines. What happens to the brake lines is they start to come apart "inside". Cold temps and bad conditions makes the rubber hard- combined with a little higher mileage ( age and extended use) the inside of the rubber lines start to break down.

I will describe this more clear and explain what and why this is a problem. As the pedal is pressed, fluid obviously is forced one why through the hydraulic system, as it is released, it flows back the other way. The differences is the fluid when pressed lows under pressure/force and swell in size when flowing that direction. This swelling in one way force, and then "unswelling" to release in the reverse flow is what breaks down the size and shape of the inside diameter of your brake lines. They start to "frey" internally and act somewhat like a bunch of little reed valves (or one way direction valves) as they straighten out in forced flow, yet collapse and frey in shapes of little triangle blockage tabs of rubber preventing release flow. This is a very common problem in GM cars like old Camaro's and Firebirds. I have witnesses this hundreds of times working on those cars over the years (years 1982-1992 cars). It generally happens around the same mileage and years age that your car is now experiencing- thus my guess is you have the same issue.

Dean

[MercedesBean]

Ah makes sense. I noticed that the rubber lines were a bit cracked but I never thought anything of it. I will change out all the rubber brake lines and hopefully that solves the problem. Thank you! I have another problem with my 202 that I can't seem to figure out is the vibration I get on the highway. At around 120km/h I get a annoying vibration I got new tires and they were re balanced which helped a bit. I checked the drive shaft and the flex plates and they seem to be in good condition. Perhaps it has something to do with the transmission as I also get vibrations going into second gear.

[Denlasoul]

Motor mounts, trans mount and lower control arm bushings are some culprits you should look at.

[walterk55]

Salt - high mileage - both are the roots of your problems. You should also look for frame and body rusting.

[MercedesBean]

The rust is not bad at all on this 202 surprisingly. I have checked under the side skirts and bumpers and there is little rust. I have some surface rust here and there due to chipped paint but frame looks to be rust free and the body has no heavy rusting. I changed out the rubber lines so the braking issue has not re occurred so far. I reset my transmission ecu and I believe that has greatly reduced vibrations. I have an odd issue that started to occur. My spare key does not open/close or start the car and my main key is slowly starting to have the same problem. The emergency/credit card key starts the car no problem but now I have to use the metal key to open the car. I changed the batteries in both keys which solved the problem for my main key for a while but the spare never worked. Any idea what is going on? Thanks!