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This whole episode made me despair why I had bought a second-hand Mercedes. I still believed in German quality and 500,000km cars and 1,000,000km trucks; not any more. What is worse, the local stealerships did not change the auto transmission oil and filter at the recommended 60,000km nor at 120,000 so I did it and the oil was black and stank NOR did they change the diesel filter at 60k/120k either. I cut it open and it showed dirt build-up. The only positive feedback was the Varta battery, which lasted 12 years!
I just bought this kit from Amazon to have in case I do end up with ESL problems. I watched Mikeyz' video on youtube and it doesn't seem that complicated as long as it doesn't end up in the locked position. Then again, removing the entire steering column doesn't seem much more difficult if it's in the locked position??
Correct Drivingforce. There is no need to remove gauges, steering wheel (red-face torque, two persons!), air bag, universal at spline, etc., you can pull out the whole lot provided another person removes the plastic cable holder and splits it to open the cable connector while you hold the entire column diagonally to get it through. Then do not make my mistake to cut the 10mm ESL holding bolt via hacksaw, a Dremel or other small cutting disk could have done it in 10 minutes rather than two hours in Australian heat. My mistake was starting it as long as possible believing the electronics are temperamental, while all the time the carbon brushes of the ESL motor were wearing away.
Just another tip: What you bought from Amazon I bought from Aliexpress much cheaper and it is the same stuff. Another mistake: Drilling out the four pins instead of using very small Torx or the conical square end with handle ex Amazon/Aliexpress as per your photo. Australian ECU Repair will soon return the key, iginition lock and ESL (changed box as my drilling caused damage) and I am still trying to get it confirmed what was done to the ESL, did they put in an original motor (?) as they claim they do and did they change the NEC chip with an original and not a Chinese one?
I ended up canceling the order since I realized that in the event that I do have an unexpected ESL failure, it's highly unlikely that I'd be able to attempt this job as I have no garage!!
I'm also wondering--if I wanted to go the emulator route to bypass the ESL altogether, is there any reason I need to wait until the ESL has failed? Does the ESL even need to be removed to do the bypass if it hasn't failed?
I ended up canceling the order since I realized that in the event that I do have an unexpected ESL failure, it's highly unlikely that I'd be able to attempt this job as I have no garage!!
I'm also wondering--if I wanted to go the emulator route to bypass the ESL altogether, is there any reason I need to wait until the ESL has failed? Does the ESL even need to be removed to do the bypass if it hasn't failed?
No, if the ESL has NOT failed you do not have to remove it if you decide to use the emulator. The steps are one, place key in ignition to release lock from steering column; two, reach under driver's side and unplug the cable from the ESL; three, plug disconnected cable into emulator and tie-wrap emulator to nearest convenient spot. Simple 5 minute task (you may have to remove the trim panel under the steering wheel, I can't remember exactly).
You still have to have the key and EIS programmed to the emulator in advance. So follow steps one and two, send the EIS and key to be reprogrammed by the emulator supplier, then follow step three.
Thanks--I may end up going this route just to avoid the hassle of having an ESL failure in the future. But it sounds like the vehicle will need to be out of commission for a little while because you need to send the EIS and key to the emulator supplier. Is there any reason you couldn't buy a new or salvaged EIS and send it along to the supplier with your spare key? Just so you don't end up getting stuck without the use of your car for a week or two?
Edit--I see you added the procedure for the emulator option. I just want to confirm that it's OK to have the battery plugged in during all this?
Edit2--can you remove the EIS without removing the steering wheel/airbag/clockspring?
Thanks--I may end up going this route just to avoid the hassle of having an ESL failure in the future. But it sounds like the vehicle will need to be out of commission for a little while because you need to send the EIS and key to the emulator supplier. Is there any reason you couldn't buy a new or salvaged EIS and send it along to the supplier with your spare key? Just so you don't end up getting stuck without the use of your car for a week or two?
Edit--I see you added the procedure for the emulator option. I just want to confirm that it's OK to have the battery plugged in during all this?
Edit2--can you remove the EIS without removing the steering wheel/airbag/clockspring?
Australian ECU Repairs claims people with emulators had to go back the ESL/EIS/key route due to reliability problems, but that might just be sales talk. Best to ask the emulator chap if a salvaged EIS is a solution as the security info is also stored in the EIS and your second key can then be matched, hope, hope. But then your first key will no longer work! Merc will not sell a new EIS to you, they claim it is something like a "theft prevention provision".
No, you need to take the earth lead off the battery, four screws to remove airbag, then use 10mm hex and red-face torque and two men to take the steering wheel off, then the EIS can be removed via two screwdrivers or the cylindrical tool from Aliexpress/Fleabay.
Thanks--I may end up going this route just to avoid the hassle of having an ESL failure in the future. But it sounds like the vehicle will need to be out of commission for a little while because you need to send the EIS and key to the emulator supplier. Is there any reason you couldn't buy a new or salvaged EIS and send it along to the supplier with your spare key? Just so you don't end up getting stuck without the use of your car for a week or two?
Edit--I see you added the procedure for the emulator option. I just want to confirm that it's OK to have the battery plugged in during all this?
Edit2--can you remove the EIS without removing the steering wheel/airbag/clockspring?
Hi DrivingForce. One Aussie emulator chap is claiming he is giving a life-time warranty, while a local locksmith is giving only one year to change the ELS motor and he is claiming he is installing a genuine German motor and an original ELS circuit board?? As Merc will not even sell you a new ELS claiming you are a thief (rubbish, you can identify yourself as the owner), I doubt a genuine German motor can be bought. This means I have much less than 13 years or 130,000km peace before the Chinese US$4 motor fails due to loss of carbon brushes, so emulator appears to be a better choice. Just don't tell your insurance that your steering no longer locks!
Edit 1: It has been suggested to first of all remove the earth lead on the battery, despite me doing that, now I get constant "ESP fail, RH airbag fail, tyre run flat fail" messages while I drive. Looks like I have to go to a stealershp with their Star diagnostic and hand over a lot of silver, so I cannot advise you.
Edit 2: The EIS or ignition lock can be removed only by making room for it from memory and that means taking lots away, but you do not need to remove the EIS anyway UNLESS you made a mistake during the motor change and re-installation (power to ELS last!) like I did and have to send the ELS, EIS and key to a locksmith (AUS$500).
Looks like this is a second-hand vehicle as modern Mercs no longer lock the steering? By the looks of it they replaced the EIS (Ignition lock) and the Electric Steering Lock (ESL). Normally only the ESL motor fails and the ignition is OK, strange. They say "Steering lock heard actuating", but that may have been in the death throws of it. Replacing the EIS is not common.
Thanks--I may end up going this route just to avoid the hassle of having an ESL failure in the future. But it sounds like the vehicle will need to be out of commission for a little while because you need to send the EIS and key to the emulator supplier. Is there any reason you couldn't buy a new or salvaged EIS and send it along to the supplier with your spare key? Just so you don't end up getting stuck without the use of your car for a week or two?
Edit--I see you added the procedure for the emulator option. I just want to confirm that it's OK to have the battery plugged in during all this?
Edit2--can you remove the EIS without removing the steering wheel/airbag/clockspring?
The ignition (EIS) is rarely the problem. You cannot buy a new ESL (Electric Steering lock) from Merc ("theft prevention"??), but you can buy a second-hand ESL, then send that plus ignition plus key to a qualified locksmith to have the three items matched security wise and perhaps the motor changed. Why the emulator chaps need the dead ESL (lock) I do not understand as the security codes are stored in the ignition lock (EIS) and key (perhaps?)
Marlee, IGB didn't question that you COULDN'T file a notice, anyone can file whatever they want. He simply stated that this issue would not qualify for a safety recall. And based on what you posted I think you prove what he is saying. An issue with a component would not qualify as a safety issue if it just prevents the car from starting. It would be a different situation if it caused the car to stall while it was in motion. That is the key difference.
It does seem to be a known issue and I can appreciate how frustrating it must be to those it affects. And sure it would be nice if Mercedes would address it in some way, but up to this point they have not and after this length of time I doubt they will. Is is a good business practice? That is up to you and other owners and prospective owners to decide. If you feel that upset about it buy a different brand and never buy another Mercedes.
I would be willing to bet that pretty much every brand has something like this where there are known issues where components or systems seem to have problems. Sometime manufacturers do something, but most times not. Like IGB said their only responsibility is to comply with their stated warranty. Anything they would chose to do after that would be gravy. I notice you have a 2009 with 80,000 miles. That's somewhere between 6-7 years and a lot of miles. Hardly seems like something that is defective. Now if you want to debate if a system like that SHOULD last longer, I would tend to agree, but to say you should get it replaced for free, I wouldn't get your hopes up.
What if you found yourself running from an attacker you get in your.car go.to start the engine and .....because of the.known issue from so many valued customers your car fails to start.... that makes it.a.safty issue
What if you found yourself running from an attacker you get in your.car go.to start the engine and .....because of the.known issue from so many valued customers your car fails to start.... that makes it.a.safty issue
Um no. It's a safety issue, when the vehicle being driven, has a defect that can possibly lead to fatality or injury. Meanwhile, I suggest you take up martial arts or a self defense class if you harbor such concerns...
Per NHTSA:
The United States Code for Motor Vehicle Safety (Title 49, Chapter 301) defines motor vehicle safety as “the performance of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment in a way that protects the public against unreasonable risk of accidents occurring because of the design, construction, or performance of a motor vehicle, and against unreasonable risk of death or injury in an accident, and includes nonoperational safety of a motor vehicle.” A defect includes “any defect in performance, construction, a component, or material of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment.” Generally, a safety defect is defined as a problem that exists in a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment that:
Hello everyone! I, like many other modern Benz owners, have found myself having trouble with the electronic steering lock. So far the car has failed to start twice within 2 weeks. It starts up right away if I take the key out and try again, but from what I've been reading this is a ticking time bomb and I don't have a lot of time. The following may be a bit of a read, so I apologize in advance, but I really want to make sure before I start ripping stuff out of my car.
I've been looking up a lot of different websites and threads where people have this issue, and it seems almost everyone is having similar symptoms. Although dealers are quick to change both the ESL (steering lock) and EIS, it seems the problem is mostly with the ESL, specifically the failure of the cheap looking motor inside the ESL. From further reading I'm under the assumption that once the ESL fails completely and no longer attempts to move the motor, (no longer making clicking noise) NEC will lock and you can no longer do anything about it other than take it from behind without lube from the stealership, or resort to aid from Russian hackers.
However, if the problem is that the motor burns out, why is there an impending doom stage where the motor fails to unlock the steering the first time, but work in following attempts? A burnt out motor shouldn't come back to life. I think the problem isn't the motor, it must be friction of the mechanism that the motor is attempting to run. I think the motor is failing to unlock the steering wheel, because there's too much friction from the unlocking mechanism gears, thus telling the processor to stop trying. I think the reason why it works in following attempts is because the first attempt loosens up the gears, and it also explains why some users are having success hitting their dash or forcefully wiggling their steering wheel up and down and starting their car. I live in Manitoba, where the temperatures right now are wild and extremely cold, and the failure is happening right now where the temperatures are extremely low (-10 to -20), which meant more friction and harder time for the motor.
Check out this thread below where a member had success bringing their ESL back to life by changing the battery, which he himself concludes is because of the extra voltage power from a brand new battery helping the mechanism.
I don't think he fixed the problem, but he temporarily overcame it by providing extra power to overcome the friction. He had the right idea by saying it must be wear and tear, but I don't think the mechanism itself is wearing out because people are reporting failures at vastly different mileages. I'm guessing that people from hot climates last much longer than people from cold climates like mine. Mine is a 2011 and showing symptoms already.
I also don't think its debris causing friction from the mechanism as ESL is sealed, but I think its more like whatever lubrication they used at the factory wears off and the gears stick together. So what I'm thinking is that before my motor dies completely and causes the NEC lock of doom, I can disconnect the battery, take everything apart, take the ESL out and then clean/lubricate the hell out of all the gears. The only thing that's stopping me from doing this is possibly messing up my car. Does this carry any risk if I don't physically damage anything? Is there a chance I can cause my car to lock up even if I disconnect the battery? Admittedly I'm not a good mechanic by any stretch, but I can't imagine it taking more than a few hours.
What do you guys think? Should I go for it? I recently got vandalised (some piece of work took a crowbar and went to town on my fender) and I have an appointment next week to access damage so I will wait for that before I attempt to do this as I don't want my car to die before then, but I just want to see if I'm being an idiot or this sounds plausible
ur a freaking genius. Seriously. I've been locked out due to the esl issue for over a year and a half and I live in minnesota...issues arose during extremely cold weather conditions.. im going to buy a brand new battery and test ur theory. I've already got my esl out and it is or was a sealed motor however I drilled a hole in the casing with a tiny drill bit to try and turn the gear manually to get it out of the locked position. But km going to try the battery after cleaning it up and see what happennnsss.....
Hello everyone! I, like many other modern Benz owners, have found myself having trouble with the electronic steering lock. So far the car has failed to start twice within 2 weeks. It starts up right away if I take the key out and try again, but from what I've been reading this is a ticking time bomb and I don't have a lot of time. The following may be a bit of a read, so I apologize in advance, but I really want to make sure before I start ripping stuff out of my car.
I've been looking up a lot of different websites and threads where people have this issue, and it seems almost everyone is having similar symptoms. Although dealers are quick to change both the ESL (steering lock) and EIS, it seems the problem is mostly with the ESL, specifically the failure of the cheap looking motor inside the ESL. From further reading I'm under the assumption that once the ESL fails completely and no longer attempts to move the motor, (no longer making clicking noise) NEC will lock and you can no longer do anything about it other than take it from behind without lube from the stealership, or resort to aid from Russian hackers.
However, if the problem is that the motor burns out, why is there an impending doom stage where the motor fails to unlock the steering the first time, but work in following attempts? A burnt out motor shouldn't come back to life. I think the problem isn't the motor, it must be friction of the mechanism that the motor is attempting to run. I think the motor is failing to unlock the steering wheel, because there's too much friction from the unlocking mechanism gears, thus telling the processor to stop trying. I think the reason why it works in following attempts is because the first attempt loosens up the gears, and it also explains why some users are having success hitting their dash or forcefully wiggling their steering wheel up and down and starting their car. I live in Manitoba, where the temperatures right now are wild and extremely cold, and the failure is happening right now where the temperatures are extremely low (-10 to -20), which meant more friction and harder time for the motor.
Check out this thread below where a member had success bringing their ESL back to life by changing the battery, which he himself concludes is because of the extra voltage power from a brand new battery helping the mechanism.
I don't think he fixed the problem, but he temporarily overcame it by providing extra power to overcome the friction. He had the right idea by saying it must be wear and tear, but I don't think the mechanism itself is wearing out because people are reporting failures at vastly different mileages. I'm guessing that people from hot climates last much longer than people from cold climates like mine. Mine is a 2011 and showing symptoms already.
I also don't think its debris causing friction from the mechanism as ESL is sealed, but I think its more like whatever lubrication they used at the factory wears off and the gears stick together. So what I'm thinking is that before my motor dies completely and causes the NEC lock of doom, I can disconnect the battery, take everything apart, take the ESL out and then clean/lubricate the hell out of all the gears. The only thing that's stopping me from doing this is possibly messing up my car. Does this carry any risk if I don't physically damage anything? Is there a chance I can cause my car to lock up even if I disconnect the battery? Admittedly I'm not a good mechanic by any stretch, but I can't imagine it taking more than a few hours.
What do you guys think? Should I go for it? I recently got vandalised (some piece of work took a crowbar and went to town on my fender) and I have an appointment next week to access damage so I will wait for that before I attempt to do this as I don't want my car to die before then, but I just want to see if I'm being an idiot or this sounds plausible
Hi JamesKim! I hope you have already got this sorted by reading the posts here.
If your problem is the ESL (Electronic Steering Lock) you will not hear the whirring noise as the small motor operates through a worm and wheel and a cam track to withdraw the locking bolt. If the bolt is not withdrawn the ELS will not signal to the EIS (Electronic Ignition Switch) that the steering is unlocked and the EIS will not enable the Key to start the engine.
Search these threads to study the many posts with photos to understand.
From reports and my own experience the problem is almost always the ESL and it is the small motor which has worn out its brushes. It will not be lack of lube. However if you have to drill the ESL body to remove a locked unit then you will have to clean thoroughly and relube. I used Lithium grease. Excellent low temp. grease.
Bumping and tapping the steering column appears to free the stuck brush and allow one more try to start the car. Repeated attempts over half an hour also may work - it did for me.
It is very important that if you are experiencing this problem, once the ESL is unlocked DO NOT REMOVE THE KEY - so the ESL stays unlocked. Repair is then very simple since you don't need to remove steering column and drill the ESL body. For security you can disconnect the battery, and then remove the key. But replace the key before reconnecting battery.
First time with this problem I made the mistake of buying a new battery, it made no difference, and would only do so if the old battery was very weak. Have it checked, as I am sure you do before winter.
If you go the emulator way there is no need to remove the old unlocked ESL, an auto electrician who is properly set up can program an emulator to your car and move the wiring from the US ESL to the Emulator and attach it to a location with cable ties in an hour or two. Cost me AUD 400.
If you can get a replacement motor (it will be a cheap China motor, mine lasted 18 months when I first did this job) follow instructions on these threads to dismantle and repair the ESL. Quite easy if it is in the unlocked condition. But you do not have to reinstall the ESL - attach it to a convenient location somewhere where you can easily remove it next time. And buy a few spare motors. Consider the security aspects of this option.
I have not removed the ESL in situ (ie when unlocked) - to do so you need a good thumbwheel socket driver, so I'm told. Space is tight.
It is correct to say it is the worn brushes of that US$4 motor which is the culprit and mine lasted only 13 years or 130,000km. Drilling into the casing is not recommended due to any metal bits left there. Buy or grind an old screw driver into a square end which fits into the pins holding the casing lid on. The pins are not screwed in, they seem to be just pressed in and can be pulled out.
I managed to keep on starting until it would no longer start and locked the column. Had to pull out the whole steering column and this genius then reinstalled the column 180 degree off, so I have to do it again. Bought lots of ESL motors from China during Covid including the recommended "pin puller", but did not manage to repair the ESL and had to send it to Sydney to be repaired for AUS$400. Lucky for me it stopped at home but under a tree which liked to drop thick branches, so I built a roof over the Merc. The ESL is held on by a bolt, which has to be cut.
Lots of Americans get stuck somewhere due to ESL problems and are talking of class actions as the towing and repairs at stealerships cost about US$2,000. Later model Mercs no longer lock the steering. The LH front door no longer opens and the suspect there might also be the motor with its brushes and so far I have avoided that $600 repair and via the web I keep telling everybody to stay away from Mercs and Merc stealerships, which did not change the auto oil and fuel filter at the recommended 60,000km nor at 120,000km.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
