I've owned my 2006 roadster since new and just experienced the same thing coming from winter storage a few months back. No leaks anywhere, and the reservoir is completely full. I can pump up the brakes while parked, but they don't stay that way.

A local independent MB specialist shop says the increased travel is still "within parameters", which still doesn't give me much confidence. I have no idea how or why this has happened after storage.

 

Happened to me two years in a row. The first year I had the system flushed and new fluid installed. Fixed. This year the pedal was spongy again.
I was going to have the system bled again but after a little driving the pedal came back to normal. I think I will have the brakes bled again NEXT
year, after I take it out of storage.

 

I store my car every winter and it happened to me three years ago. When I parked it for the winter the brake pedal was fine, when I took it out of storage 5 months later it had a real spongy brake pedal. It was firm if you pumped it several times. I bled the brakes and the pedal was back to normal. There were no leaks and it only happened one year out of five.

 

Replace/bleed the brake fluid, once new DOT4 fluid is there I think you'll have good braking action again. Good luck!

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Yes until next year when he takes it out of hibernation. There are many other threads about this issue.

 

STOP STORING YOU CARS FOR MONTHS AT A TIME! I keep saying it over and over "Cars that are not driven, develop issues".

My former rule was that the car was started, the top put down and up, and the car driven for at least 20 miles every three weeks. My current rule is every week.

 

 

 

I believe the manual calls for periodic brake fluid changes. I actually have three, one being my son's 2007 and it has had spongy brakes in the past. The last time they were bled and the problem went away. I also considered buying the Mercedes stainless steel brake lines which will not expand under pressure. However, both my 2005s have great brakes (and have been flushed at least once).

 

I store my car for five months at a time, I start it up every month, put a maintainer on the battery for a few day every now and then, move the car back and forth. It never leaves the garage.
I just have the soft brake pedal issue which I believe is air in the ABS system pump module.
How to fix that without going to a stealer with the DRBIII, can the Autel Maxicheck Pro do the trick and cycle the valves in the ABS module on our cars as it can on others?

 

I have the maxicheck pro, with both the Mercedes and Chrysler downloads and neither allows the abs to cycle like videos found on youtube!

 

 

I got the soft pedal too, immediately after I did a pad and rotor swap. I didnt do the s.s. lines yet, so i had no loss of fluid whatsoever....but just squeezing the caliper too far cause it for me(nope I didn't open the bleeder while squeezing either....doh)

 

I purchased my 2005 Roadster last September and drove it for less than a thousand miles before putting it into storage for the harsh Michigan Winters ( won't drive this car on the salted snowy/icy roads) I do try to get it out once a month if the roads are clear and dry which doesn't happen often in Michigan during the winter. It drove well and the brakes worked fine. When I took it out of storage in mid march this year the brake peddle was soft but was able to be pumped up. Took it to my mechanic who bled the brakes to no avail. He suggested changing out the master cylinder which I had done. The brake pedal goes down 3 to 4 inches before engaging and does not pump up however the car does stop. But will it stop in a hard braking situation? Is there something else to be done to get the pedal back to where it belongs?????????

 

The car will brake properly in a emergency situation with the soft pedal feel, i have had this situation happen to me. I believe there is a fix for this on a mb forum page, i read you have to remove the pads, put a block in the caliper that is thinner(almost to the point that the caliper pistons will come out of their bores, but dont let them come out) press the brake, the pistons move out, then you loosen the brake line, remove the block from the caliper, push pistons in JUST far enough to get the pads in(and the spacing between pads needs to be just enough to slip onto the rotors, do not push the pistons all the way back in or you'll be right where you started) tighten brake line, clean up fluid that came out. I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS PROCESS WILL WORK AS I HAVE NOT TRIED IT YET!, it's just what i read, they went on to say that it feels like air in the line, but it isnt, its a seal that moves when you push the pistons in all the way and you dont loosen the brake line. Hope this helps, as i said it's just what i read

 

I studied this a year or so ago and reported my findings in the following post. CLICK
I did not do anything about it though, my pedal has a lot of travel but the brakes work just fine.

 

Thanks for letting us know your findings onehundred80, i must of missed that thread, thanks for the link

 

It is easy to miss one post in all the posts written about this subject, back in the day I would have done something about it. These days I am just not so keen, I find it easier to yap about something, or plan exactly how to do something and then move on to plan another project.
This year I have spent three times the time making a one piece double DIN faceplate than I did last year making a face plate and a faceplate with the switches in the arm rest.

 

Has anyone photoed the block procedure as posted by BadSRT2005 or made a drawing of the plan? It sounds interesting but I'm not sure I understand the procedure. Some drawings or photo's would be helpful.

Jim