Actually I did not run the donor engine or allow time to charge. Good thinking. I'll try that and look at those fuses. Many thanks! Off to save mom...

maybe your started is done. but do check fuses and charge the battery proper.

IGB, I owe you a beer. Or my mom does. New battery from Farm & Fleet $99.95 :D

Add my to the list of ESL problems
 

Had the car for 5 years. Not a single issue and over 93k miles. (besides tail lights, which were fixed) Replaced the battery about a month ago. This morning, I stopped on my way to work to get gas, and after I was done filling, put the key in, and nothing. The steering wheel is permanently UN-locked, so I guess that is good.

Buttons on key unlock doors, trunk, etc... In the ignition though, I turn the key, no warning lights, no start, nothing. Completely dead. Key is recognized as it reminds me to remove it, and allows the ignition to turn.

Maybe I am just paranoid, but the key seems to fit sloppy now, like it is loose.

I have owned Mercedes vehicles for over 25 years, and my vehicles have always been well taken care of and reliable. This though, may be it. After reading all of the problems with this ignition, and Mercedes basically ignoring the problem... if I do not get any owner loyalty discount or coverage for this problem it WILL BE MY LAST MB.

bdog, I certainly do not have your experience with Mercedes as I have had my 2012 for about 2 months and 2500 miles, but it seems a little harsh that after owning Mercedes vehicles for 25 years and finding them reliable enough to keep buying them and then admitting that your current car has been pretty much bullet proof for 5 years and almost 100K miles, you would just wrote off the company just like that.

5 years is a long time and a year over the end of the warranty. You can debate if the part in question (if that is even the reason your car isn't starting right now) is failing in some cars sooner than what you would typically expect for something like that, but I would have to say that 93K miles is a lot of miles and some things do start to fail.

See what the end diagnosis is and let everyone know the outcome before completely writing the marque off.

Glad I can help. Just my way of paying back this great forum... :y

Great point. But in addition, it should be noted that during the past 25 years period, Mercedes Benz has had quite a ride as far as reliability, and customer satisfaction. With both categories having been on the upside; in particular, te C-Class has rated at "average" or "better than average" in terms of "quality" & "overall performance and design" (ratings HERE).

I understand that to most, it is their own experience that counts, but more importantly, it seems that most people posting in this thread are under a huge misunderstanding and a great sense of entitlement to something that defies logic or common sense. I've asked this question in this thread several times and have received no answers... But I will pose it again just to make the point:

Can you name one single car manufacturer (or as a random example -a coffee maker manufacturer- for that matter) that will cover a part failure at any time past the manufacturer's warranty?

Just ONE! I haven't heard of any. And to anyone who as had a different experience, (and one that has been established as standard procedure - meaning it is offered to whomever asks) please offer some details. Yes, manufacturer's might offer a once in a great while good will gesture to someone based on particular circumstances but to do so each and every time, is unheard of. And expecting a different answer is only designed to leave you disappointed with a sour/bitter taste in your mouth.

The main premise of manufacturers offering warranties is that if all these parts end up working and remain in god condition throughout the period covered under warranty, then they are deemed reliable enough where the manufacturer is not to be held liable for their failure. And yet some people here, have driven their cars for twice as long as the warranty would cover, and yet still expect to get the manufacturer to cover it. Based on what argument? Or what premise?

Furthermore, anyone who tried to say its a "common" problem is only fooling themselves. For Mercedes Benz to decide to use this part on 141 of its model, only to have us document a failure rate of 0.02% (a very rough estimate I made in a previous post in this thread) is actually a testament to that part's high reliability not the other way around. Even if the error rate in my estimate higher by 10 fold, it still stands at 2% which by any standard, is acceptable and not high!

And lastly, for those saying this will be their last MB, by all means, go try your luck with other makes, and when you run into parts failure after the end of the warranty, come back and let us know which of those other makes was willing to cover your repair bills.

Sadly for you, and assuming you did in fact trade your C-Class in for a BMW, it appears that BMW has recently admitted having "violated requirements to issue a timely recall of vehicles that did not comply with minimum crash protection standards, to notify owners of recalls in a timely fashion, and to provide accurate information about its recalls to NHTSA.

But that is not all.... Because according to this: "NHTSA imposed a $3 million civil penalty to BMW in 2012 for similar violations", BMW is a "repeat offender" of the same thing that you are so desperately trying to pin on Mercedes....

You can read the full article HERE: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fines BMW $40 million for failing to meet safety requirements

Hello
I m new to this
I have 2012 c350
From past 2-3 days wheb i cold start my car with the push to start the engine would crank for a split second and stops. I have to wait few seconds and push the button second time to start the car.
Do ineed a new battery ? Or is it the starter ?
Thanks

Could be either... It could also be your alternator not properly charging the battery...

I would test the battery first, alternator second, and then worry about the starter.

Thanks for replying
It started normally this morning had no issues
U still think it could be battery ?
Could something wrong with engine or crankshaft?

Same problem car won't start, electrical working
 

Our 2008 c300 with 100,000 miles won't start. I read all the 12 pages and agreed we were experiencing the ESL problem. I decided to try post #68 suggestion to release the steering wheel adjust and bang things around. I did that up and down and side to side and also wiggled the gear lever. Tried to start again WHILE TO STEERING WAS IN UNLOCKED position and banged it around a bit more and what do you know - car started. Locked steering wheel and restarted. Now my question is - what does this mean and should I still get ESL replaced? Would this indicate it is not an EIS problem?? Thanks for any help. I have service scheduled for the 9th but may make it earlier if I can drive car via towing.

Welcome to MBWorld...

[QUOTE=Glamgrrl;6696858]Now my question is - what does this mean/QUOTE]

Understand that any answer would be speculative at best. It could mean that the locking mechanism got stuck, then again, your description you stated that the steering wheel was unlocked. So it may be an EIS problem. Or it could be something else. I will say that if the steering wheel is unlocked, then wiggling it is not likely to get ELS to release because there is nothing to release when it is not locked.

As for wiggling the fear lever, it would seem to me that the command to release the gear level will occur after any functional switching between EIS and ESL has already been done. So I am not sure how wiggling that part will aid in overcoming an no crank/no start caused by other EIS or ESL failure.

To get it replaced without further validating that it is faulty may end up being pointless. I mean what if you replaced ESL and it ended up being EIS that was showing signs of failure? Or vice versa.

I can tell you that it happened to me once, a few months back... and yes, every time I would go to start the car, I was anxious and concerned about where I was and whether it will start ore not. 15,000 or so miles later and it has yet to fail.

ESL and/or EIS failure generally generates a fault code that is stored but can only be retrieved by MB's STAR diagnosis system. Of course, as any dealer will tell you, any diagnosis is charged at the minimum rate which usually ends up being one hour labor charge. Whether they are able to pull a code that relates to either ESL or EIS failure is something only they an answer for you.

Good luck and please keep us updated.

Adding myself to the list. Went to the gym last Wednesday, came out of the gym and nothing. All electronics work but no turnover. Steering wheel is locked. Tried shaking and pounding steering wheel and column, and randomly starting is over the next two days and still nothing. Got it towed to the dealer on a flat bed Fri, and they diagnosed as EIS failure Monday. Hoping they are right and not ESL. Quoted me just north of $1,000 for the repair, but I have just about 3 months left on my CPO warranty so fingers crossed that it will be covered, even if they end up doing both. :wall:


Edit for additional details: 2010 C300 105k miles

Came back to update, got my car back today. Took two days to get the part and do the labor. Ended up being covered by my CPO warranty thank god. They told me on the phone it was EIS, but the invoice says they replaced steering lock. Car is running all good now, glad to have it back. Not many 2010 c300s i've seen on here.

Same problem
 

JBailey, I just ran into the same problem. Was it the electronic steering lock? Did that fixs the problem?

I got the "take key out of ignition" of death right now and the "tick, tick, tick" sound of terror.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...ad56f95aa.jpeg

That is rough man... Hopefully it's just a low battery or something!... Not the EIS trouble...

My 2008 C350 wouldn't start
 

My 2008 C350 wouldn't start. I got the familiar signs of EIS/ESL issues in this thread. After a few days of talking to a friend that's a MB tech and reading the forums I thought id try the basics like getting a new key fob battery and moving the steering wheel. No luck there. In desperation I stuck my finger in the fob socket and the tip of my finger was all black. Got some rubbing alcohol on a qtip and thoroughly cleaned the socket out. Inserted the fob afterwards and I immediately hear the steering column unlock and the car started. It's been two weeks now of daily driving and no more issues. Praying that a dirty socket was all that it was.

I had the same issue last month. My initial thought was the battery then the fuses. Called a mobile mechanic to come out and check the battery for me since the car would not move. It was not the battery and the fuses were fine. I did finally called to have it towed to the dealer. It was the steering lock in my case although others thought it was the EIS. The part was $360 dollars and the rest was labor and towing. In my area it cost $1100.00 Hope this helps.

You are lucky. $2100 for me....the car has two recalls which are cost free....:nix:

For what its worth, here are 2 pictures of what I assume you are describing as the "fob socket":

1. This is the "fob socket" in its state when no key is inserted:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...2a5f056e1f.jpg

And, this is the "fob socket" in its state when a key is inserted into position.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...5038c2262d.jpg

As you can see, the part that moves to cover the openning when the key is removed is not a flap type door, but instead, is a piece of black non-transparent plastic, that the tip of the key sits on, keeping it flat and pushing it farther into the ignition lock module. So there is no need to stick your finger there, or use a q-tip as you artempt to clean this mysterious black substance you happen to find there.

Now, for your suggestion that your car would not start presumably because some mysrerious black substance somehow ended up on that part of the ignition lock possibly blocking some sort of signal that they key was attempting to transmit to the ignition lock, and when you cleaned that part, lo and behold, your car started after showing no sign of life for two straight days, could possibly be based on your seeing that the tip of the key has a round translucent piece of plastic which would lead you to believe that to be a part of some visual signal that the ley uses when engagjng theningnition lock... Fact is, that translucent piece of plastic at the tip of the key fob does actually transmit an infrared signal, but this has nothing to do with the cycle of attempting to start the car/engine. Instead, that signal, is utilized as part of the "Summer openning procedire described here:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...ee3be65923.jpg

Even if anything that needed to be wiped in order to enable any part of the starting cycle, it would be your key and not what you concluded was a "dirty socket"...

The "Take Your Key From Ignition" message that appears on the dashboard is not necessarily indicative of a failed EIS or ESL. That message is programmed to appear on the dash whenever the driver's side door is open while the key fob is still in the ignition.

Also, I am not aware of any "tick, tick, tick" sound that would be related either....

Any one know if there was a recall for this on the 2008 C230?


Reason I ask is I just bought a 2008 C230 last month and I asked the dealer about this issue and if it had been replaced in the car I was buying. My MB dealership said they have never heard of this issue. :bs:



I did a recall search on the interwebz about my car and found no recalls for it really.

You can search by your particular VIN # on the NHTSA website.....