Electronic steering lock fault

[buggalugs]

W204, 2008, power but no ignition, no noise (there's a slight click) from steering lock when key inserted.

RAC man advises it's a dealer only job.

Dealer advises that since the ignition won't come on they can't diagnose it, so they're effectively going to start replacing very expensive bits at random until it works again, worst case will be somewhere about £1000.

What the fk? a £1K steering lock on a 7 year old Mercedes? I feel like I'm being bent over a barrel and seriously interfered with.

It's not even like I'm replacing something that's been bugging me and I'm going to go wow the car is so much better now, its just 1K into thin air, on some daft electronic bks.

Has anyone else had this?

[TheEnd]

Some info here-

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/engine/135963-w204-...

You can try shaking the wheel when turning the key, in case the solenoid part is jammed against tension.

[buggalugs]

Mine seems unusual in that the lock is not engaged, I guess it didn't lock when I parked it up. He said the computer says no because if it can't be sure what the lock unit is doing then it would be a safety issue.

The RAC man spent ages smacking the unit to no avail I remember two or maybe three times over the last year the car hasn't responded when I put the key in, and then I had a moment of confusion thinking should I be pressing the brake or not pressing it or something, tried again and it's been fine. Maybe that was an early warning.

[sja]

I feel your pain, would a specialist be cheaper.. Wondering whether to replace before failure.. My car spends a lot of time at rail stations and airports, failure there and towing etc would me massive inconvenience, never mind the extortionate cost of repair.

[buggalugs]

The RAC bloke was really good at the time, rang round a couple of specialists he knew but they all said it was a dealer only job. Having googled it a bit more now there is someone who says they can repair the lock and the other unit if you post them off. I was 50/50 at the time whether to get the RAC to drop the car at the garage or at home to look at myself. But with a 5 month old at home there's a not a lot of time for that kind of shinanigins at the moment.

Have been driving my MX5 round for the last week since it happened - really enjoying it just wish the boot was a bit bigger!

[TheEnd]

There's a load of motors for them on ebay for about £10-15 which suggests they are common to break, and one place mentioning a £300 repair.

I would imagine there might be guides for repairs too in some places.

[chiefski26]

Try this company -


http://www.replacementmercedeskeys.co.uk/?gclid=CN...

[buggalugs]

Back from Merc after nearly 3 weeks - they tried replacing just one of the bits to start with but still no start so it ended up being both a lock and ignition switch. Chap said that when it's needed two goes to start a couple of times in the past the ignition switch was likely the issue.

Also apparently they have to order some kind of programming key in to enable them to program the new units to the car. I had the MX5 to knock about in so not a huge issue.

Apparently though the steering lock was off when given to them it snapped on while they were pushing it around But luckiy it was in an easy position to remove so they didn't need to get the angle grinders out.

If I didn't have a new baby and the house upside down in DIY projects I would have been up for some upside down action under the dash and posting units off etc. but as it is that's not an option. So 'twas £750 in total.