arkim989

Hello

Just today i satarted my car in the morning and my steering wheel didnt go down after i closed the door. Usually its automatically goes up when shuting car off and down when turning the car on. I do hear the motor when pressing the adjustment button down and up but it wont go down.

I did a little research and i only found w203 threat about "dog bone"

My question is, does anyone know how to change that part? Can it be diy? Or i have totake to a dealer? Also if its the similar set up as w203? Dogbone is 3-4$ w203 forum says.

Thank you

2013 c300 40k miles

M~Factor

I had this problem with my 2013 W204. It eventually fixed itself.

arkim989

i really hope it does the same to me.

Alfadude

Maybe try disabling that feature in the settings and then enable it again.

Mine seems to lose the setting occasionally and I have to enable it again. Although your issue sounds different in that you said you can't move it in the down direction with the stalk, maybe it is worth a shot to try it.

arkim989

i disabled it and it still wont go down, i just hear click. Enabled it too, wont go down.. thanks

nelson g

I also had the same problem, what I did was while pulling the lever that lowers the steering wheel in the down position I was also pulling down on the wheel at the same time. The wheel moved and now when I exit the car the wheel lifts up and the seat goes back. Try it it might work for you.

Nelson

superangrypenguin

Give it the blue pill.

arkim989

doesnt seem to move at all
Thanks tho.

nelson g

You have to give a pretty good pull while you have the lever in the down position.

ItalianJoe1

The motor jams in the up position, by default it runs up until it hits the mechanical stop every time you use the easy exit feature.

There is an updated motor that is bigger and stronger and doesn't jam up nearly as much.

You can install it yourself, if you're comfortable with working under the dash, remove the footwell panel and you should see both motors, it's the one on the side, try to actuate it and you will see one move and the other not. Fairly simple to change but not that cheap.

Or, you can whack the steering wheel with your hand downward and it will almost always free up and work for a good while. A nice application of grease on the little drive mechanism helps it not to jam up as often. The bulletin says to extend the wheel as far out as possible then strike it sharply with your hand downward while actuating the motor downward. The bulletin says to then perform a software update, I assume it turns the motor off at a lower torque so it doesn't jam as hard.

ghlkal

Every once in a while, mine will stick. But I can usually free it up by playing with the lever.

Sounds like a good tip.

B737

It won't magically fix itself. This is a common failure there are tons of posts on this. If you're lucky you can fix it from the bottom. If your wheel has failed in a location that leaves you little clearance to insert the new "dog bone" connector drive shaft to the motor, you will be taking apart a good bit of your instrument panel to reach it.

Do a search all the info is on this site with photos.

The part is cheap, less than $20. I think the dealer asks $800-1000 to fix due to labor.

ItalianJoe1

Maybe on the older cars, but on the 204, the only part is the entire motor/drive kit. It's about $350 through the dealer, probably can be had online for way less. Labor time is around 3 hours depending on model, as you remove the steering column to access it.

Some cars you have space to get the motor out from the bottom but the drive is very difficult without at least unbolting the entire column and turning it sideways. On an E coupe i've had to remove the gas pedal to have room to pull the column out the bottom, so the labor can get excessive.

B737

Wow, I was under the impression that it was nearly the same system. What a pain in the *** both jobs sound like

ItalianJoe1

It is, I don't enjoy doing them even when it's customer pay. Warranty labor times are woefully inadequate for the effort involved. With the right set of shorty torx bits you can do it by only removing the steering wheel and SCM but it's uncomfortable to jam your hands in there and fight the drive out.

The new bigger motor and drive I have never seen stick though, so I do feel that it's a permanent fix if done. The software update on the cars without the bigger motor also never seem to come back.

ItalianJoe1

Not the best pic but that's the old versus the new motor. The small ones are also "made in China". The larger are Bosch units from Germany.

550x2

It happened to my E550 coupe a while back and the service department said they just reset a fault to get it working again. I turned off my auto exit feature just in case.

ItalianJoe1

Not a reset, but there's a bulletin for an updated software, IIRC it's in the drivers seat module, as that controls the steering wheel motors as part of the memory positions system.

On cars where that bulletin applies, if you order a new motor you get the same one as what's in the car, so they changed the software at some point.

arkim989

i did reaserch all i found is w203 versions and it says "dogbone" so i went to a dealership and they pulled up pictures of w204 steering wheel and there was no bones on the picture, anyways i ordered it and going to return it since there is only motor without anybomes

arkim989

thanks for the picture, im going to look in to it.

superangrypenguin

Anyone know if this is covered in the extended warranty?

ItalianJoe1

Should be, I've done them under CPO and extended warranty from time to time.

arkim989

technically i still have factory warranty until june this year, but unfortunatelly its voided

eXstasy

Encountered this issue today. No motor noise when using the tilt lever. Only a single click sound when pressing the lever upwards. No sound when pressing the lever downwards. Hitting my wheel does nothing to free it up.

Can anyone confirm that this is the part number for the new motor?

A 204-460-08-25

https://www.mboemparts.com/oem-parts...bly-2044600825

550x2