D Riving Instructio Ns - Mercedes-Benz 350 SDL TURBO 1991 Owner's Manual

D riving Instru ction s
P o w er assista n c e
W hen the en gine is not running, the
brake and steering system s are
w ith ou t po w e r assistance. U nder
the se circu m sta nce s, a m uch gre ater
effort is necessary to stop o r ste e r the
vehicle.
Brakes
C aution!
W hen driving dow n long and steep
grades, relieve the load on the brakes
by shifting into "3 " o r "2 " . T h is helps
prevent overheating of the b ra kes and
reduces brake pad w ear. Do not exceed
engine speed lim its (see p a ge 57).
A fter hard braking it is a d visa ble to
drive on fo r som e tim e so th e air
stream will cool dow n the brakes
faster.
W arn ing !
A fter driving in h eav y rain fo r
so m e tim e w ith o u t ap p ly in g th e
brakes or th ro ug h w a te r deep
en o ug h to w e t b rak e c o m p o n e n ts ,
th e first braking actio n m ay be
so m ew hat reduced and increased
pedal p ressu re m ay be necessary.
Be su re to m ain tain a s a fe d is ta n ­
ce from ve h ic le s in front.
T he con dition o f the parking brake
system is che cked each tim e th e car
is in th e sho p fo r the required m a in te ­
nance.
B etw een m ainten ance checks, it is a
good p ra ctice to ap ply th e parking
bra ke once o r tw ice w h ile driving at
ap p ro xim a te ly 50 km /h (30 m ph) on a
dry stra ig h t road. A pp ly bra ke lightly
until a slight drag on the w h e e ls is felt.
Keep ap plying bra ke fo r about
10 seco nd s w h ile pu lling the release
ha nd le out be fore releasing the pa rk­
ing brake com p le te ly. T h is practice
w ill keep the parking bra ke at m a xi­
m um efficiency.
W arn in g !
T h e sto p lam p s w ill not co m e on
w hen ap p ly in g th e p arking b rake
o nly. P erform th e p ro ced u re in
th e p rev io u s p ara g rap h o nly
w h e n th e road is c le a r o f o th e r
traffic.
R esting yo u r fo o t on th e brake
p edal w ill ca u s e e x c e s s iv e and
p rem atu re w e a r o f th e brake
pads.
It can als o re su lt in th e brakes
o verh e atin g th e re b y sig n ific a n tly
re d u cin g th e ir e ffe c tiv e n e s s . It
m ay not be p o s sib le to sto p th e
c a r in su fficien t tim e to av o id an
accid en t.
All che cks and m ainten ance w ork on
the bra ke system should be carried
out by an au thorized M E R C E D E S -
B E N Z dealer.
If th e parking brake is released and
the bra ke w a rnin g lam p in the in stru­
m ent c lu ste r stays on, the brake fluid
level in the re s e rvo ir is too low.
B rake pad w e a r or a leak in the
system m ay be the reason fo r low
brake fluid in the reservoir.
Have th e bra ke system inspected at
an a u thorized M E R C E D E S -B E N Z
de a le r im m ediately.
Install on ly brake pads and brake fluid
reco m m en ded by M E R C E D E S -B E N Z .
W arn in g !
If o th e r th an re co m m en d e d brake
p ad s are in s talle d , th e braking
p ro p e rtie s o f th e ve h ic le can be
affe cte d to an e x te n t th at the
sa fety is s u b s ta n tia lly im paired.
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