ESL????
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Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2023
Posts: 68
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2008 Mercedes c350
ESL????
The other day I went to my friends house parked my car then after a few hours (at night) we both went out but separately, I inserted my key but I didn’t get any recognition, “the buzz I always get when key is interested” it was late at night so I got stuck with a dead phone and had to sleep in my car over night, I got to contact a very good friend of mine the next day who is an expert on Mercedes and told me it was the ESL which is a very common problem on Mercedes and adviced me to buy a program emulator. The day this happened I still had power in my battery and my common accessories were working, today I went back to where my car was and nothing at all worked, no electricity. The only strange thing was that my aftermarket Halo lights which I wired to my fuse box in the engine compartment were on without the keys in the ignition, my question is that does a bad ESL also drain batteries or it’s just another problem?. Pls help I’m in the process of cutting the ESL lock off and replacing with the emulator that comes Thursday.
Super Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 608
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From: Western NC
2009 MB C300 Sport 4matic
Repeated attempts to start the car with a dead ESL can cause the car to go into a default theft protection mode. No idea if this disables all electrics. Interesting that your direct wired lights that don't go through your SAM worked. Install emulator and hopefully all will return to normal Did you check your battery for voltage...if low, maybe battery failed or there was an abnormally high amp drain.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2023
Posts: 68
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2008 Mercedes c350
Repeated attempts to start the car with a dead ESL can cause the car to go into a default theft protection mode. No idea if this disables all electrics. Interesting that your direct wired lights that don't go through your SAM worked. Install emulator and hopefully all will return to normal Did you check your battery for voltage...if low, maybe battery failed or there was an abnormally high amp drain.
hopefully this is what happened, do you know what are the the possibilities that it is my EIS ?
Super Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 608
Likes: 107
From: Western NC
2009 MB C300 Sport 4matic
EIS..vs ESLfailure
I think this Forum's opinion is that the EIS is rarely at fault. A Search will discuss at length and some posts give advice on how to differentiate EIS vs ESL problems.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2023
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2008 Mercedes c350
Upd
update, I broke the lock on the ESL, my steering is free, I plugged in the emulator but I still can’t turn the key in the ignition, what electrical aspect would you recommend me looking at next, please I’m stuck in school and don’t really have any resources near me in this city
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 462
Likes: 152
From: Panama City, FL
2020 C300, 2013 C250, 2000 Boxster S
update, I broke the lock on the ESL, my steering is free, I plugged in the emulator but I still can’t turn the key in the ignition, what electrical aspect would you recommend me looking at next, please I’m stuck in school and don’t really have any resources near me in this city
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2023
Posts: 68
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2008 Mercedes c350
Did you send your EIS & key to the emulator supplier? These all have to be programmed to work together. My understanding is that when the key is placed in the EIS, the EIS sends a signal to the ESL (emulator) and expects a response indicating that all is good. If the EIS receives a valid response, it allows the key to turn and the engine to start.
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Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 462
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From: Panama City, FL
2020 C300, 2013 C250, 2000 Boxster S
In my case, I had to remove the EIS and send it with the key to the emulator supplier. The emulator has to recognize both the key and the EIS and vice-versa in order for the security check to function. The supplier sent back the programmed emulator, EIS, and key in 24hrs.
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Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2023
Posts: 68
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2008 Mercedes c350
In my case, I had to remove the EIS and send it with the key to the emulator supplier. The emulator has to recognize both the key and the EIS and vice-versa in order for the security check to function. The supplier sent back the programmed emulator, EIS, and key in 24hrs.
where did you get yours from please??
