w210 e430 possible EIS fault. Key does nothing in ignition...

[UtterPiffle]

Hi all,

Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction here.

I have an old w210 e430 in the barn. I left the key in the ignition when the car was in the barn for about 3 months, and the battery obviously went flat.

Put on a new battery (fully charged), and the key now does nothing. You don't get that electrical click from the steering lock when putting the key in or out. I cannot turn the key. The steering lock is disengaged. I have two keys that both use to work, but the same fault exists with either.
I can lock/unlock the car with the remote buttons from either key, but I know that part is a different circuit powered by the key battery.

Can anyone help please? I wonder if I've burnt out the coil that powers the key when you put it in the ignition barrel?

 

[bob6600]

It may have 'ghost' faults that need clearing although does sound like an EIS fault.

You say the steering is unlocked? Maybe the ESL is playing up. Have you tried disconnecting the battery again and reconnecting?

 

[4life211]

Replace the battery in key .

 

[DSM10000]

Replace the battery in key .

How will this help?

The key is recognised when the in-built chip is activated by an induction circuit in the EIS.

The batteries in the key are only there to provide power to generate the RF signal to lock or unlock.

 

[renault12ts]

+1^

 

[4life211]

The key fob has ir light in top.When you set the key in ignition the ir comunicate with eis by sending and getting info

 

[DSM10000]

The key fob has ir light in top.When you set the key in ignition the ir comunicate with eis by sending and getting info

Any communication between the key and EIS is carried out by the key chip being activated by induction, the key fob batteries play no part in this. It would be nonsensical for a manufacturer to design an ignition system that relied on healthy key fob batteries as part of the system to start the vehicle.

The IR transmitter is detected by the receiver on the door handle and is there to allow you to open or close all windows from outside the car (not that this system has ever reliably worked!)

 

[Auto-mobile]

The key fob has ir light in top.When you set the key in ignition the ir comunicate with eis by sending and getting info

Wrong.

Have you tried leaving the key in the ignition and then going back to the car to see if it works? You would be unlucky to have caused any damage, could be out of sync.

 

[190]

Just curious, is it harmful in any way to leave the key in the ignition for shorter periods, say a few hours or a few days.