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W204 Steering wheel lock remove to repair DIY
08-08-2020, 07:11 PM
#26
I feel your pain domwild; after owning a VW and a Beemer before this I was living under the illusion that "ruthless German efficiency" stretched across all their car makes.
I was wrong, fixing the steering lock on a Merc tests patience, wallet and skin!
I too tried a replacement motor (requiring of course a specialist tool for opening the bloody motor box). Didn't work...
I can vouch for the emulator working though, once I had paid the obligatory 300 spodulacs to a numpty in a van that had the "special" sauce equipment for mating it to my ignition key and EIS.
I like to think that I'm pretty good with my hands, maybe not Mclaren pit standard, but decently competent - this job diminished me, made me question all that I held dear as I lay at an impossible angle, upside down with my face buried amongst the detritus of 13 years of filthy feet.
I got to the point at one stage of seriously considering scrapping the car on the basis of the cost of all the specialist sockets, spanners, "thingy " removers, emulator, EIS etc. Days turned into a couple of weeks as I waited for yet another thing to turn up via Amazon and all the time I was wondering what a pleasure it would be if I woke up one morning and somebody had towed it.
It all worked out OK in the end with the secret being to pull the bottom piece out from the rubber boot rather than trying to mate the universal joint up in-situ.
I've got the same issue as you now, my steering wheel airbag light is on and needs sorting to get it through the MOT.
You would have thought I'd learned my lesson.. but no, I fell for the "you've come too far now" psychosis and instead of driving it to the nearest breakers yard, I had a crack at replacing a broken front headlamp.
Oh brother, those Munich mirth makers took me down another ring of the inferno with that one!
I was wrong, fixing the steering lock on a Merc tests patience, wallet and skin!
I too tried a replacement motor (requiring of course a specialist tool for opening the bloody motor box). Didn't work...
I can vouch for the emulator working though, once I had paid the obligatory 300 spodulacs to a numpty in a van that had the "special" sauce equipment for mating it to my ignition key and EIS.
I like to think that I'm pretty good with my hands, maybe not Mclaren pit standard, but decently competent - this job diminished me, made me question all that I held dear as I lay at an impossible angle, upside down with my face buried amongst the detritus of 13 years of filthy feet.
I got to the point at one stage of seriously considering scrapping the car on the basis of the cost of all the specialist sockets, spanners, "thingy " removers, emulator, EIS etc. Days turned into a couple of weeks as I waited for yet another thing to turn up via Amazon and all the time I was wondering what a pleasure it would be if I woke up one morning and somebody had towed it.
It all worked out OK in the end with the secret being to pull the bottom piece out from the rubber boot rather than trying to mate the universal joint up in-situ.
I've got the same issue as you now, my steering wheel airbag light is on and needs sorting to get it through the MOT.
You would have thought I'd learned my lesson.. but no, I fell for the "you've come too far now" psychosis and instead of driving it to the nearest breakers yard, I had a crack at replacing a broken front headlamp.
Oh brother, those Munich mirth makers took me down another ring of the inferno with that one!
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domwild (08-09-2020)
08-18-2021, 07:27 AM
#27
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2011 W204 C250 CDI
I have just fixed mine in my E250 CDI Coupe.
I removed the steering column to get at the locked ESL.
Drilled a 5mm hole in the side of it as a Youtube Vid shows.
Manually unlocked it by turning the cog clockwise.
Removed the 4 pins in the ESL housing and took the lid off.
Put it back into the locked position and replaced the motor.
Reassembled everything but didn't put the ESL back into it's origional position.
I Zip tied it up out of the way under the dash.
Once Bitten.
All works perfect.
I do have an Airbag, Traction Control and Park brake lights come up.
I will disconnect my Battery overnight and see how it goes.
$60 fix for me including Overnight express post on the motor.
Cheers, Rob.
I removed the steering column to get at the locked ESL.
Drilled a 5mm hole in the side of it as a Youtube Vid shows.
Manually unlocked it by turning the cog clockwise.
Removed the 4 pins in the ESL housing and took the lid off.
Put it back into the locked position and replaced the motor.
Reassembled everything but didn't put the ESL back into it's origional position.
I Zip tied it up out of the way under the dash.
Once Bitten.
All works perfect.
I do have an Airbag, Traction Control and Park brake lights come up.
I will disconnect my Battery overnight and see how it goes.
$60 fix for me including Overnight express post on the motor.
Cheers, Rob.
08-18-2021, 06:11 PM
#28
I have just fixed mine in my E250 CDI Coupe.
I removed the steering column to get at the locked ESL.
Drilled a 5mm hole in the side of it as a Youtube Vid shows.
Manually unlocked it by turning the cog clockwise.
Removed the 4 pins in the ESL housing and took the lid off.
Put it back into the locked position and replaced the motor.
Reassembled everything but didn't put the ESL back into it's origional position.
I Zip tied it up out of the way under the dash.
Once Bitten.
All works perfect.
I do have an Airbag, Traction Control and Park brake lights come up.
I will disconnect my Battery overnight and see how it goes.
$60 fix for me including Overnight express post on the motor.
Cheers, Rob.
I removed the steering column to get at the locked ESL.
Drilled a 5mm hole in the side of it as a Youtube Vid shows.
Manually unlocked it by turning the cog clockwise.
Removed the 4 pins in the ESL housing and took the lid off.
Put it back into the locked position and replaced the motor.
Reassembled everything but didn't put the ESL back into it's origional position.
I Zip tied it up out of the way under the dash.
Once Bitten.
All works perfect.
I do have an Airbag, Traction Control and Park brake lights come up.
I will disconnect my Battery overnight and see how it goes.
$60 fix for me including Overnight express post on the motor.
Cheers, Rob.
Well done! I will have to do it again as I am 180 degree out with my steering wheel. I have also tied the ESL to the column. Same problem with the Airbag, etc. warning messages plus no horn. I am selling the ESL motors on Gumtree, would have cost you about $20! No worries! I bought many ESL motors from China during their lock down just to get them. Let us know how you fixed the Airbag, etc. errors without having to go to a stealership with their Sun diagnotstics.
