HELP!!

[Womba]

Hiyah - I've been registered here for a few days, getting the feel of the place.

I'm on my second Merc; the first was a 190E, the current one is a W reg C220 CDi.

This is the problem. Today on 'cold' startsthe 'heater plug' light stayed on for a while when driving. On warm restarts the light went out normally. After being parked up for approx 3 hrs I tried to start the car but the steering lock wouldn't come off. I rang the MB local dealer (55 mile round trip) and they told me I must have dropped the kay (I hadn't). I had already ordered a spare from them so I got a lift down and collected it. They told me if the key didn't work that I should leave it in the ignition for 30-40 mins & try again; if still no joy then I would need to get the car transported to them to have a new ignition fitted (£240 + VAT + labour).

The red light on the new key unit stayed on while in the ignition (the old one doesn't) for about 50 mins but the steering still won't unlock / car wint start.

On checking the handbook it suggests that the steering lock sticking on can be an indication of a battery with insufficient charge to power the system.

Any one else experienced this?

If I disconnect the battery are there any problems with the alarm / immobiliser?

(car currently abandoned at friends house approx 15 miles away & I'm due to leave on a buisness trip (without the car fortunately) first thing tomorrow morning)

Any advice / suggestions will be more than welcome.

 

[guydewdney]

stupid question - have you tried jiggling the steering whilst trying to unlock?

how long do you leave the ign in 'on' before styarting to allow the heater plugs to do their job?

I doubt there would be a problem with disconnecting the battery - but in order to have an effect it would have to be undone for about 30 mins. mercs seem more sensitive to duff batteries than most.

 

[mjtray]

Had a similar problem on my E220 CDI and did what Guy suggested....lots of wiggling of the steering wheel and locking and unlocking the steering lock...eventually the key came out.

Took quite a long time and was pretty exasperating as I thought it was stuck for good.

I have no idea why it happened, but it never happened again.

Good luck

 

[Arnie]

I suspect Womba is talking about the newer infra-red type of keys.

The steering-lock is solenoid-operated and so a flat (car) battery may not have enough power to get it unstuck.
Try jiggling the steering, as mentioned, however.

Leaving the key in the ignition socket, should cause the key's internal battery to recharge (through an inductive loop) and so if this is the problem it should be ok after 30-60 mins of charging. Your new key will require coding to the system and the red light may be an indication of this. (See manual about key coding).

However, if none of this gets it unstuck, then more serious intervention will be needed.

Disconnecting the battery should not cause any difficulties, but you could try jumping with a charged battery (carefully connected) if you suspect that your car battery may be low.

 

[Womba]

Thanks for the helpful suggestions guys; I hadn't made my self totally clear; it was the actual steering lock that was 'suck', not the key.

The internal batteries in the key were new (one set in old key 3 days old, the other new key , just that - brand new); the red light went out after 50 ish minutes.

My friend (a 'tinkerer' rather than a mechanic - slightly unfair, but you know what I mean) applied logical thought - "after all, it's only a machine" and decided to try a half remembered solution from the world of 'urban myths' that circulate the pits while his son races stock cars; he cleaned both the lens and the 'eye' with a baby wipe and the car started reluctantly.

When he put the battery tester on it registered both 'poor' (indicator flickering) and 'fair (indicator glowing but not fully lit) - a score of between 0-1 on a scale of 0 - 4 so he replaced the battery with the correct rating (but from Vauxhall rather than Merc, at £39.73 (cost/employees discount - his son works on the parts counter roughly half the price of an 'original'!)

Heating plug light now goes out straight away and car starts first turn on on both keys.