W204 Steering lock mechanical fault diagnosed

[nrg220]

If you said tapping it released it, now you can start the car? why hasn't the bolt retracted ie unlocked so ok to remove. I was told in the locked position its trouble hence why I changed mine as although ok now its easier to change rather than risk it Locking up and I can't release it

 

[nrg220]

software key

Not sure if you buy the part on eBay as you need a pre programmed key as well specific to your Mercedes and these are a returnable item from Mercedes. Sure £80 is a lot better than £289 but without being programmed it won't work with your car. That's what was explained to me anyway and I have seen this key with ones specific coding.

 

[nrg220]

software steering lock coding key

Not sure if you buy the part on eBay as you need a pre programmed key as well, specific to your Mercedes and these are a returnable item from Mercedes.

Sure £80 is a lot better than £289 but without being programmed it won't work with your car. That's what was explained to me anyway and I have seen this key with ones specific coding.

 

[nrg220]

Just had the steering lock fail on my 2007 C220 Tapped around the column it released. Ordered up a new one had it fitted total £330 and coded.

Needless to say the original only failed the once as drove around for over a week before the new part arrived and it never did it again so pretty frustrating but couldn't take the chance. Its easier to change anyway if its not in the locked position. Love the car but in 40 years of driving its the most unreliable car Ive owned for failed components.

Well done Mercedes as this model W204 was heralded as your return to reliability

 

[Che320]

I had a similar problem last Saturday. Had left the car for 5 days without use. Went to drive home, car started fine. Next morning car started fine. stopped for 1 hour and nothing!

Unlock/Lock/Boot opener worked fine on both remotes. Put key in ignition no click of recognition, tried to start her and nothing! Tried both keys and the same outcome.

Attached battery pack to jump points under the bonnet, nothing.

Had the AA he did a battery check and re-checked the fuses after I had, all looked fine. He could not get it to start.

Flat bed truck came along, and it went onto the back. At this point I thought the steering was locked as had parked it on full left hand down but as we pushed it back steering was not locked.

Dropped it off at Mercedes, they thought at first EIS as I had thought having read numerous posts on different Merc forums.
Have just had a call from Merc saying that battery was at 1 Volt and new battery had worked. They will replace battery and run fault diagnosis again.

Would it have made a difference to attach battery jump pack to car battery rather than points in engine bay?

Just seems odd that Battery checked out okay with AA and now with Merc saying it was dead.

Btw, car is 2008 C-Class 320CDI which thankfully came with a years warranty. I bought it begining of March this year and have already put 3500 miles on it trouble free.

Any feedback welcome
Thanks

 

[france79uk]

Hi all, Re non starting on w204 series after looking on here and googling it certainly appears to be a common complaint. Quite often due to one of the following reasons:- Faulty EIS module or Faulty steering lock or rarely but sometimes the key itself. One dealer told me 8 out of 10 times it`s the EIS module, another dealer that most of the time it`s the steering lock that`s the problem. Somewhere else that its a Motorola chip that`s suspect. I notice on e-bay that there are a considerable number of sales made for the little electric motor that sits inside the steering lock module? mainly from China and Hong Kong saying original parts, that`s a worry. The question is that does anyone know from experience themselves what it is that nearly always goes wrong? the motor in the steering lock? something else in the steering lock? the Motorola chip in the the EIS module? or is it (unlikely I think) any of these things any time and randomly. If for example it`s nearly always the motor then it may be a good idea to have one to hand for repair. No reprogramming needed then I guess. Also what percentage of W204 models have this problem and is it mileage related, ie motor wearing out after so many starts and high mileage. Would be very grateful if someone with first hand knowledge has any information.
many thanks

 

[nrg220]

Reply to you

I wouldn't try and make it too complicated. It's apparent these locks fail and its not mileage related as my 2007 C class had only done about 40,000. Fortunately I have a good qualified independent who knows his stuff. Mine failed the once and got it going with some thumps, but its a dead in the water fault so bit the bullet and replaced the steering lock, nothing else needed. The part about £280+ with programming returnable key so it ain't cheap but the risk of it failing completely somewhere in the back of beyond makes it worthwhile. Stupid idea where the car is dead for a steering lock. Don't listen to too many people, chances are replace the steering lock module and be on your way, DONT buy of eBay or secondhand whatever you do.

 

[nrg220]

PS. Any good experienced Mercedes Parts person will be able to tell you the most common faults as they order the parts. Found them to be a mine of useful data but only the experienced ones

 

[ronny22]

Same as everyone

Car: C-class C220 sport 57 reg

Hi guys I have now suffered the problem you guys have just had it happened on Tuesday 21st finished work go to my car and fail, it wont start called the AA etc.. they checked the battery said it was fine then towed to my house
rang up all the mechanics i can get hold of in my town, only one said to they can do it whereas the rest said go to the dealership

the one mechanic who said he can do it needed me to buy the part as he cant
so when i rang Mec up to see if they have the part explained why i needed it they said nope we cant just give it you like that as it can be used for theft etc...

so basically they want to do the diagnostic and figure out the actual problem and fix it themselves, had no other choice then to let them so payed £102 to tow it to the dealership and awaiting the call from the prevoiuse post
i suppose am looking at £600 that will come out my wallet
so ill end up spending 700ish i think including my towing money i payed

that's pretty much my monthly wage gone this month, its gonna be tight this month for me as iv got other bills to pay

Iv got friends with BMW's and i know they have the faults too but not as much as Mecs do GOD

 

[ovidiublue]

mercedes E212 C204 Steering column failure no ignition

Steering column lock failure is very common leaving you stuck, not able to turn ignition on or even turn the wheels(if it fails in lock position). We've seen them for a while and developed repair or replacement in the same day at the location of the vehicle without the requirement to recover the vehicle. That's a big help for vehicle owners who get in this situation. We cover M25 and slightly out.

 

[nrg220]

Steering column lock failure is very common leaving you stuck, not able to turn ignition on or even turn the wheels(if it fails in lock position). We've seen them for a while and developed repair or replacement in the same day at the location of the vehicle without the requirement to recover the vehicle. That's a big help for vehicle owners who get in this situation. We cover M25 and slightly out.

How do you do that then as software programmed key for that specific vehicle needed as well as the bolt unit so what's the charge

 

[ezeoke]

Hi, I have the issue at the moment. Do you mind getting in touch? ezeoke at icloud dot come.

 

[ezeoke]

Just had the steering lock fail on my 2007 C220 Tapped around the column it released. Ordered up a new one had it fitted total £330 and coded.

Needless to say the original only failed the once as drove around for over a week before the new part arrived and it never did it again so pretty frustrating but couldn't take the chance. Its easier to change anyway if its not in the locked position. Love the car but in 40 years of driving its the most unreliable car Ive owned for failed components.

Well done Mercedes as this model W204 was heralded as your return to reliability

Hi, who fixed yours? I am in Reading-Berkshire looking for someone to fix mine.

 

[ezeoke]

How do you do that then as software programmed key for that specific vehicle needed as well as the bolt unit so what's the charge

Any answer on that? I need help asap. My c200 steering is locked.

 

[nrg220]

Hi, I have the issue at the moment. Do you mind getting in touch? ezeoke at icloud dot come.

Hi

A Mercedes technician did mine , not sure he would do it as he only looks after mine and a couple of others. He is in Spain though visiting his Dad and you need fixing now as your not going anywhere . All you need is someone local who knows Mercedes, if they are up to date then its not a difficult job but nothing is if you know. but don't think you could use Joe Bloggs garage

Have you tried the tapping round the column with plastic mallet trick??

 

[dazzler01]

Hello, I have just taken ownership of a W204 220cdi and had exactly the same fault, cost the garage £475,mine was intermittent though, they had it for a week as well. The fault had been caused by fitting jump leads to the battery whilst the key was in the ignition !

 

[nrg220]

Struggle a bit to take that on board, jump leads whilst key was in ignition? Failed steering lock?

 

[Marcus1212]

Can anybody help ive been quoted as per below

My cars in at mercedes now.. Not happy at all either. Warranty after care expired and all of a sudden i get steering lock failiure.

Ive attached details of there quote below but feel its weel over priced & why do i need a new key?? I supplied both my keys and the milege is 75000 for a 2009
c class. So why do i need a coding key?


Further to our earlier telephone conversation regarding the necessary repairs to your Mercedes-Benz C180,

We have diagnosed that the Steering Lock has failed and requires replacement. Please see below the estimate for repair:

Parts:

· Steering Lock £ 243.00
· Coding Key £ 170.00

Labour:

· Replace & Code £420.00


Above prices are subject to VAT @ 20%

£166.60

TOTAL £999.60

I look forward to hearing from you in due course.




Any help is really appreciated as im at my wits end with mercedes quotations

 

[190]

Sorry I can't help with the resolution but I'm very interested in the cause and have researched this from the point of view of wondering if the lock failure can be pre-empted. You know how internet forums are and I would be interested in comments on the accuracy of the following points that I have found mostly on MB world:

1. The whole £600 exercise is often triggered because of the failure of a small electric motor inside the lock that looks like it cost MB 50P to source and there was a bad batch of locks which was resolved in 2010 models

2. Once the lock fails to operate a few times a software flag is set which then means the lock will no longer even attempt to operate. In others words MB set out to deliberately immobilise your car once the lock starts to struggle and expensive recoding will then be needed as well as replacing the lock.

3. Low battery voltage can lead to the lock struggling to work and thence to failure as in 2. above.

4. Very cold temperatures can lead to the lock struggling to work and thence to failure as in 2. above.

5. It's possible to purchase a lock emulator which resolves the problem for good.


Comment:

If placing any additional loads on the lock e.g. low battery voltage or very cold conditions are a contributory factor then they are something to be avoided if possible along with anything else that puts load on the lock.

Does the steering lock latch when the wheel is turned like the old manual key operated locks and would releasing a latched lock put more load on the motor. If that sounds like an obvious question it's because I have never turned the steering wheel after removing the key and have no intention of ever doing so - just in case.

 

[nrg220]

My cars in at mercedes now.. Not happy at all either. Warranty after care expired and all of a sudden i get steering lock failiure.

Ive attached details of there quote below but feel its weel over priced & why do i need a new key?? I supplied both my keys and the milege is 75000 for a 2009
c class. So why do i need a coding key?

Further to our earlier telephone conversation regarding the necessary repairs to your Mercedes-Benz C180,

We have diagnosed that the Steering Lock has failed and requires replacement. Please see below the estimate for repair:

Parts:

· Steering Lock £ 243.00
· Coding Key £ 170.00

Labour:

· Replace & Code £420.00

Above prices are subject to VAT @ 20%

£166.60

TOTAL £999.60

I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Any help is really appreciated as im at my wits end with mercedes quotations

I would say they are taking you for a bit of a ride, the usual is about £600 with a dealer. You do need a coding key but not at £170 especially as its a return item. It loads your original keycode up to the lock then is returned to MB to be used again with some other poor soul. Your about £300 top heavy I would suggest. I used an Indy £330 all in so if you keep the car look around your local area and find a good one