£1400 spent and still wont work!!!!!

[zeff]

Hi you lot....can anyone help!!!!!

Ive put several posts on here about this problem so rather than going over it from the thread to the needle can I ask any of you that think they may have valuable input to have a look over these to see what you think.........but in a nut shell.......

After months of silly electric faults my CLK 320 (2000 'W') refused to allow the key to turn so was hauled off to an indy........about 4 weeks ago where it still is!!!

the diagnostic port was not talking to the star and it was found that the K40 fuse/relay unit had suffered water damage, so it was replaced, the car still didn't work but several things including the OBD port were now talking to the STAR, the ECU was checked and found to be swimming in water. It was sent away for repair but it came back as unrepairable.....so a 'kit was bought for £250 from a breakers with the ECU, EIS, steering lock and key but it turned out to be from a 1999 not a 2000 and even though I had given the indy all the numbers and he had checked with Merc that it was compatible it wasn't!! so £1250 was forked out for a new ECU from MERC, this should cure the fault right...WRONG!!!

the indy phoned today to say that the key still will not turn and that when the ECU went (water ingress had caused a component to blow and according to the firm that specialize in there repair it must have caused further damage to the ECU) it must have taken out the EIS unit as well which is £340 plus another £180 for some dam orange key that's needed to program it!

Im at the end of my rope now, how can another unit have been damaged when the ignition was off? It was taking longer and longer the the ket to turn the weeks prior to the breakdown, about 3 seconds but is that the EIS or the ECU at fault?? (chicken and egg i know!) could the EIS being faulty have damaged the ecu? what if I fork out for a new EIS unit and he then tells me it needs something else such as the steering lock, I paid £220 for a new key a few months ago after I dropped it and now im SKINT !

The indy also said that he can not fully diagnose things as the ignition is off!!

Am I being strung along?? I know that the battery had gone flat, and im calculating that it cant have been on charge for more that 4 hours so could it be that there is not enough voltage in it to start the car or is there some 'synchronizing' that needs to be done regarding the key and the new ECU....

as always your help is appreciated!

 

[drdre78]

hi sounds like you went to bad indy to me.the money you have paid you could of bought new ecu and eis with key green and job done.But did you check your key is work by aiming it in front of camera to see if get red light.All was wrong was eis or key.does he have star machine??

 

[zeff]

hi sounds like you went to bad indy to me.the money you have paid you could of bought new ecu and eis with key green and job done.But did you check your key is work by aiming it in front of camera to see if get red light.All was wrong was eis or key

Hmmm!!, the ECU is brand new and programmed to the chassis from Merc, i bought it my self from the main stealer so i know it carnt be bought any cheaper or from any other source............as for the EIS, well thats the rub, i dont know if that is faulty or if theres some 'techneque' that needs to be aplied to get everything to work or is it plug and play?
P.S, whats the green key??

 

[drdre78]

hi if eis is new you need star machine to enable it and key to active it.You aslo need star machine after you have fitted ecu.I say best bet is find indy who has star machine and do short test.green key is what you need to active the eis when new wont work with out it

 

[zeff]

hi if eis is new you need star machine to enable it and key to active it.You aslo need star machine after you have fitted ecu.I say best bet is find indy who has star machine and do short test.green key is what you need to active the eis when new wont work with out it

Hi, the indy does have star, its only the ECU thats new to the car, the EIS , key and steering lock are the original parts.

 

[zeff]

so.........could i buy a second hand EIS and get the key from Merc to link this to the car.......ive been told by EVERYONE that the ECU the key the EIS and the steering lock are all programmed alike and can not be re coded?

 

[drdre78]

well it usally eis is faulty that why carnt turn key.it is easy to replace with star machine.eis cost around £400 plus green key.£20.well no i would buy new cos then second hand eis will need same ecu to work and key to that car.I would buy it new.

 

[Colt45_GTO]

so the key will not turn in the ignition barrel? i can't see how something electrical would stop that or am i missing something?

sounds to me like the steering lock plunger is seized solid or the lock its self is seized? the key regardless of power or not should turn in the lock providing..
A, its the right key?
B, ign barrel is not seized?
C, steering lock isn't jamming?

 

[zeff]

so the key will not turn in the ignition barrel? i can't see how something electrical would stop that or am i missing something?

sounds to me like the steering lock plunger is seized solid or the lock its self is seized? the key regardless of power or not should turn in the lock providing..
A, its the right key?
B, ign barrel is not seized?
C, steering lock isn't jamming?

yes mate your missing something, its an electronic key not a mechanical one, its all down to the electrics and computers on this car.

 

[Colt45_GTO]

oh ok.. i think they call it progress! mechanical keys have been and are still working perfectly for decades.

good luck with your quest.

 

[dieselman]

oh ok.. i think they call it progress! mechanical keys have been and are still working perfectly for decades.

Wait until your 190 ignition lock jams at position 0. You will curse it then. If ever it starts sticking do not turn it back beyond position 1.

You have been warned.

 

[zeff]

i dont supose there is anyone out there that has a modicum of knowledge on the post i put up............otherwise i may as wey put it up on the blue peter web page!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Alex Crow]

first thing you need to solve is getting the key to turn. how many keys do you have? hopefully 2x or more and both have been giving exactly the same symptoms - this would just about rule the keys out. now how about the steering lock, when you put the key in, can the lock be heard to make any noise whatsoever? even a mild clicking? if the lock is jammed/jamming then the key will not be released to turn in the ignition.

with star you CAN communicate with the ignition module, even if it is 'off'. you need to check live data in the EIS to see if the key is recognised, if the ESL is released etc etc and this will point in the right direction. if it is not possible to even communicate with the EIS then the power supply, earth and communication wiring needs to be checked.

a tip, check the live cables at the positive clamp on the battery, there is an 8mm bolt there that needs to be tight, and if loose can give you the symptoms you have! this often happens after batteries have been disconnected/refitted.

it is hard to see the engine ecu blowing the EIS, but i cannot rule it out.

 

[Alex Crow]

i dont supose there is anyone out there that has a modicum of knowledge on the post i put up............otherwise i may as wey put it up on the blue peter web page!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and that does not help, you have had lots of good help already - people giving their time and knowledge for free deserve a little slack don't you think?

 

[drdre78]

yes blue peter will just break it even more

 

[dieselman]

it is hard to see the engine ecu blowing the EIS, but i cannot rule it out.

I think that would be incredibly difficult as the only connection between the two is the 5v CAN signal.
The only way for one to affect the other would be if , say, 12v was fed up the 5v line from one to the other, even then it would seem unlikely I think.

 

[television]

I think that would be incredibly difficult as the only connection between the two is the 5v CAN signal.
The only way for one to affect the other would be if , say, 12v was fed up the 5v line from one to the other, even then it would seem unlikely I think.

The only way would be for the front SAM to be virtually short circuit, it was full of water hence no communication with the diagnostics, and every test would be meaningless until this was sorted out

 

[Alex Crow]

the EIS/EZS does have large currents flowing through it, all the current for the starter solenoid for instance. it switches circuit 15 (ignition on live) output to the k40 which in turn powers up the engine ecu, this is a 4mm2 wire too, so handles a fair bit of current. the switching of these contacts is mechanical inside the ezs, so not really linked to its electronic or DAS function at all.