W210 key not turning

[rhopkin]

There is no magic wand to wave here , the steering lock is electric and released when the key is inserted. You can try pressing any button on the key while inserting it, other than that it does look like the EIS switch has failed Not a good day for you

Oh geez. Well, thanks to you and everyone else in replying to this thread. Last gasp is I'm giving the battery a full charge over night and then it's a call to "Ralphs" in Estepona or the main dealer in Palmones.

Will let you know how I get on.

 

[television]

At least they do not charge as much over there as they do in the UK,, just a long shot,,in the engine ECU box there is a fan for the ECU do check that the 10 amp fuse in that box has not blown

 

[anyweb]

why do they make modern cars so dam technical,

every time i drive my old 1966 merc i know it's rusty, crashed and in need of love and repair but its so simple, i insert the key, i start it. modern cars seem to be dependant more and more on computers and multiple relays/sam units/ecu's just to get started, it's rediculous

 

[television]

why do they make modern cars so dam technical,

every time i drive my old 1966 merc i know it's rusty, crashed and in need of love and repair but its so simple, i insert the key, i start it. modern cars seem to be dependant more and more on computers and multiple relays/sam units/ecu's just to get started, it's rediculous

You are right,, for the manufactures its income for life,, take the simple MAF cost £1 to make (Components) and £257 from MB, and the chances are we will all need one at some point in time

 

[anyweb]

yeah maybe its an income source for them, but it's a bad experience for the customer,

more and more i see the joy of owning an old car, they have their caveats of course, but we should take that in a separate thread

 

[rhopkin]

Just a thought

Well, recovery vehicle on it's way, Indy charges €35 per hour (Ralphs in Estepona). He has STARS and says one or two things he can check but sounds like EIS.

Just for a laugh, I searched Mercedes EIS on Ebay and some place in Hong Kong came up selling the chips (no whole unit) which cause a "common problem".

Thing is, even if it was legitimate, wouldn't you need to remap the EIS with your key? Not sure how that part works once a completely new EIS is installed.

 

[television]

Sorry that we could not help more the chips cannot be fitted without some very serious soldering gear and the switched are very complex

 

[dieselman]

One thing to check is the actual steering lock motor. If it fails to retreat on key insertion the EIS will remain blocked for other functions.

 

[rhopkin]

One thing to check is the actual steering lock motor. If it fails to retreat on key insertion the EIS will remain blocked for other functions.

Interesting, would it also prevent the key from turning? Mine will not turn at all, it remains stuck at the zero position.

 

[dieselman]

I'm not 100% sure but possibly as there is a microswitch to detect lock withdrawl, which has to be seen to make before other functions are allowed.

 

[television]

When you insert the key, the steering lock motor is energized, the failure of the actual locking motor should not prevent the key from turning as if the ignition switch sent the signal, it does not get any feedback as to whether the motor has run or not, its 20

 

[rhopkin]

Hi all. Thanks once again for all your help, I very much appreciate it.

Having had the car a mere seven days AND doing the epic journey in the worst winter weather I've ever experienced through the UK, France and Spain a week ago, it's probably rotten luck that this has happened so soon.

A car I really loved and hated was my Range Rover 3.9Efi Vogue SE. It was in mint condtion, had everything on it, would go anywhere and made you feel a like a million whilst driving it. Her downside was electrical problems. I mean, for every hour on the road, she was two hours off it being tweaked, fettled and fixed. You name it, if it was electrical it failed at some point and utlimately I was glad to see the back of it even though I loved it to bits.

Our W210 270Cdi may end up being a bit like it. OK, only had her nine days so it's way too early to judge and she is ten years old with 240,000Km, so I'm not going to draw any conclusions yet. But, with the time already spent storming accross Europe in the snow and Ice, I love it and so does my other half. I just hope this car is not another bag of electrical gremlins like the Rangey. If she is, she'll be out on her ear quicker than you can say Japanese Build Qaulity.

 

[television]

On the electrical front the 210 is a fine car, with few electronic faults,,we have had about 10 ignition switches go down on this forum, and most during this last few months.

For what the car cost in proportion to the ride it offers and gives there is nothing to touch it. I do not think that the seller new as the fault does not fix itself

 

[rhopkin]

Yep, point taken. Cars on the back of the truck now so I'm off to Estepona with it. Bit like riding in the ambualnce with a sick patient.

I agree, for the money, it can't be beat. Update you all soon as I et info from the garage.

Best regards

Rob

 

[rhopkin]

Update

Well, I telephoned Ralph's Auto Centre in Estepona where the car was taken Monday. I gave him a day before calling to give him a bit of time to find what the fault could be. He has sent the car to Mercedes Benz in Estepona because he can only see so far electronically into the system. Hmmm?!?!

Not a good start, I specifically asked him if he had ALL the diagnostic equipment for Mercedes prior to the vehicle being sent there. I could have sent it to a Merc garage less than 10 kilometres away in the first place had I known different.

Anyway, he said the Mercedes guy's have told him the ECU could require re-programming if I have removed all the fuses at some point which is a new one on me. I can't see how that would prevent the ignition from turning though and one would have thought the ECU does not contain volatile memory and that information would be stored on non-volatile memory for obvious reasons, such as changing or checking fuses and batteries for example. I’m no expert though.

I also discussed with him at length the EIS faults reported on this forum and all the steps I have systematically gone through to check it but this seems to have gone over the top of their heads (possibly through their heads and out the other side, one does wonder) and they are looking in a different direction. They may be thinking the fault is caused by something else but they were not the slightest bit interested in the steps taken so far. We'll see, I'm not immediately filled with confidence though.

If I approached a radar or Doppler log malfunction on a liquefied natural gas carrier the same way these guy's have approach my car, the captain would throw me off in an instant or you would have seen the resulting mushroom cloud from the explosion on CNN a long time ago

Maybe I'm being a tad over sensitive but my gut feeling (from experience) is I better get my waders on before the end of the week because the BS I'm going to have to plough through to get our car back on the road again will, I fear, be volumes.

I wait with baited breath for the main stealers grand plan on fixing the car and will let you all know when it is forth coming.

 

[television]

So you have the same problems with the arrogance over there, even though it is a well know fault

 

[Alex Crow]

the fuses being pulled will do no harm at all, as you suspect.

i thought the garage rate was cheap! a little too cheap perhaps .

i have heard (sorry to add this so late on) that a reset procedure is possible for 210 eis modules that have timed out - the implication being that they have a cycle log that locks out after x number of ignition sequences. i was told that it involved inserting the key, pressing lock button for 5 seconds, then pressing unlock button 5 times. this came from the top man at my local main dealers - and he should know. he did tell me however that he has never tried this, and was a little suspicious himself as to the chances of it working. obviously it will not repair a failed module either!

 

[television]

Yes there is a sequence where you press the lock button and unlock and insert the key withing 10 sec and press one of the buttons again,,I posted it last week some where and I will try and find it

 

[rhopkin]

Thanks chaps

I tried that with the key, didn't work.

 

[rhopkin]

So you have the same problems with the arrogance over there, even though it is a well know fault

Tell you one thing, I'm very surprised dealers and Indy's do not (I realise some of you actually do) read these forums more often, they would learn a hell of a lot and very quickly. Net result they would sort out customers problems quicker, cheaper and with less hassle to everyone.

.......but that would be common sense, wouldn't it.

Just playing devils advocate