S203 Not Locking with Fob, but Unlocking ok

[airbag]

Hello, got an issue today with my S203 not locking with the key fob.
It unlocks ok with the fob, but suddenly stopped locking.

Went through some pretty horrendous rain last night on a motorway trip. Besides that all has been as usual.

I also noticed that every time I took the key out of the ignition, the motor was whirring away under the steering column. When I flicked any of the electronic sterring adjustment, or drivers seat adjustment buttons on the door.. this motor stopped.

I did a reset on all of the settings using the dash command.. which solved the motor issue when key taken out of ignition.. but car still not locking with key fob, but does with central locking feature in car (all but drivers door) which I have to do with the key.

I have changed my key fob batteries about 2 months ago.
Question: is my usually normal car now possessed or just kooked!
Thanks for any help,
airbag

 

[television]

It could well be water problems, my car was 10 times worse but dried out now

 

[rf065]

Anytime I've had this problem, it was the keyfob batteries, maybe the new ones were not so new?

Russ

 

[airbag]

Thanks for the replies... no luck with replacing with new batteries. Just got two brand spankers... and its still dead on the locking feature via the fob, unlock works fine.
The central locking seems to work ok when using the dashboard button, so I am assuming my remote CL fob feature is now kaput.
Been a nice sunny day here today also, so had a chance to dry out if it was the moisture.

What a pain.. it all was working fine on Sat night when locking the vehicle up in the rain.

 

[airbag]

ok, heres an update for anyone else with similar issues.
Put the new batteries in the fob, no change.. waited another few hours... (after a dry day)... and all working again.

How weird is that..... Always unlocked ok with the fob, but didnt lock.
Must be water issues,.. does not give me alot of confidence tho....
Thanks for your replies guys.

 

[television]

ok, heres an update for anyone else with similar issues.
Put the new batteries in the fob, no change.. waited another few hours... (after a dry day)... and all working again.

How weird is that..... Always unlocked ok with the fob, but didnt lock.
Must be water issues,.. does not give me alot of confidence tho....
Thanks for your replies guys.

2 things here if you only have one key,, if it does it again, hold the key infront of a digital camera and press the offending button, its possible that the tactile button needs to be re soldered

 

[airbag]

Television,
many thanks for taking the time to post.
It may well just be that. I do have a crack on the plastic where you press the thing... so its well worn
Any ideas how much new fobs are to key in etc if the soldering trick didnt work?

 

[television]

Television,
many thanks for taking the time to post.
It may well just be that. I do have a crack on the plastic where you press the thing... so its well worn
Any ideas how much new fobs are to key in etc if the soldering trick didnt work?

It will always work once re soldered,,buy a key from Ebay and fit your inside into the new case,,From MB they cost £200

 

[airbag]

Television,
I got a new key off ebay.
How do I get the circuit board out of my current one?
It looks like its sitting nice and snug in there. Do you just pluck it out with long nosed pliers?

Thanks for any further info.

 

[television]

Once you have the battery out, you will see a white nylon stip under the PCB there is a peg on this strip holding the PCB into the case,,use a thin knife to lift the peg out of the hole and it will all slide out.

You should the check to see the the tactile locking button is soldered down

 

[airbag]

Hi Malcolm, thank you for the update. It was a bit trickier than expected.. its fine when you know where that small clip is, but until then It took awhile to get out. Next time will be 10 seconds!

I wanted to share my experiences with you and others, as I feel I have really benefited from doing this key swap over.
I basically had an old cracked remote, (after all of these water/battery issues recently..) it now was working well again, but I decided to get another key off ebay, put my guts inside it and to have a nice new key again.

Heres what I did..

• I got one from ebay for £16 (nice brand new looking one with blank metal key part. Even included some batteries which work!) Although it was a W203 model key... This key was different from mine though (as I have an estate model) and my old key only had two buttons, this new one had the 3, button model, one to pop the trunk.
• Plucked out my current key guts (thanks to Malcolm) and put into the new key enclosure.
• Tried it out. All working fine... except.. I now have the added benefit of my trunk opening on the estate when I press the trunk open button on the remote. Now this really got me excited!

I can understand that this could be a negative thing in an estate, as if you bumped this button accidentally... someone could get access to the whole car.
But for me who is in and out of the estate boot all the time, what a bonus to be able to open the boot only from the remote and then close it again (which locks it again without locking the car again).

So .. all round, a great job which cost me knaff all... has enabled me a new feature on my car.
Thanks for your help Malcolm.