ESL Failure
01-06-2024, 08:16 PM
#1
ESL Failure
A couple weeks back on a Friday night I ran out with my youngest daughter to grab some ice cream but when we hopped back into my 2009 C63 to go home, nothing happened when the key was inserted except a message to please remove it. Ah crap.
After a protracted drama involving my wife rescuing us, two different tow trucks and the dormant car finally being deposited in the driveway about 3a Saturday, it was time to sort what was wrong. Well, actually I had been frantically searching the forums here and the usual suspects (Pelican, FCP Euro) since it didn't fire up and had a pretty good idea based on the symptoms that it was the electronic steering lock (ESL) which had failed. In my case there were no early warnings or difficulties beforehand - it worked normally until it didn't. After, I tried re-inserting the key many tens of times, cranking the steering wheel against the bolt trying to tempt it to unlock one lest time, and even pulling the underdash trim and banging directly on the ESL with a brass mallet, none of which enticed a single, last "schunk!" out of it. So, worst case scenario - dead, and locked.
Many thanks to the various writeups previous victims had posted here, especially @knowbenz, I was able to extricate the upper steering column from the car and non-sacrificially remove the ESL from the column assembly. I ordered a replacement motor assembly and waited. It arrived off the slow boat and I eagerly installed it in place of the obviously burned out original motor, smooshed it all back together and got the car buttoned back up at least far enough not to trip any warning lamps and -- nothing. While the old motor was definitely done, and the new motor spun up nicely under voltage from a desktop power supply, in the car it did not budge, nor initialize the ignition and allow my car to start. I guess when the motor failed in my original ESL it took out the circuitry or some component on the board as well.
Next strategy was to replace the ESL with an emulator; sourced easily enough, but requiring coding to mate with the ignition switch (EIS) and my key. As it turns out, although I live in a reasonably sized metropolis, it was not large enough to attract any locksmiths, independent repairers or enthusiasts to buy the coding tools, only local option was a Mercedes dealership. I had used my insurance-sponsored roadside assistance dragging the car to my house, so a further flatbed ride would be on my dime. Before I committed I reached out to my local SCCA chapter and connected with a member whose day job was dealership tech. He advised that the job would start at about $1400 plus anything else they found or mangled removing the locked ESL. Ooof.
I decided to take a chance and hit up an eBay seller who offered to code ESL emulators and extra keys and made a deal t ship my ignition components off to New Jersey for his ministrations. It was a bit nerve-wracking to mail off my key and ignition, but the car didn't work anyway so why not?
As it turns out this was painlessly simple and successfully restored my use of my car, hooray! Plus for about 1/7th the initial dealership repair estimate I also received a second key coded up to match, something that I had not gotten from the prior owner when I bought my car. I'll call that a win, given the circumstances.
A couple of notes I'd call out - my car has a power-adjust steering column, which I expect is pretty common on at least C63s if not most W204s. All of the write-ups I read through mention that this makes it is harder, but none of them suggested just how much more difficult it is since the column is stuck in the last position from the key still worked - i.e. up and in. This made it extremely difficult to remove the instrument cluster, and later the ignition switch. In the case of the former I had to unbolt the column from the dash assembly before I could make enough room to rotate the gauges out. As it turns out I had to remove the column anyway to remove the locked ESL, but it was a pain. In the latter case, the opening left between the dash and up-facing steering column just about almost did not accommodate the EIS module. I had to play Tetris with it for nearly a solid 45 minutes before I managed to rotate, twist and squeeze it in just the right combination to pop free of the dash. Otherwise I would have had to unbolt the column from the dash again. Actually, in hindsight, that may have been faster.
One issue remains. After I got it all buttoned back up, I discovered my windshield wipers do not work. They used to, before I pulled the column off. All the other functions on that stalk do still work - high beams, blinkers. But something appears to have been missed, or misconnected, so I'll have to dig on that yet.
Otherwise though I was so thrilled and relived to hear my beast roar back to life! Just in time for our first winter storm, yeay... Thanks all here for sharing your wisdom and experience, this failure is a little less scary reading others have trod before me.
After a protracted drama involving my wife rescuing us, two different tow trucks and the dormant car finally being deposited in the driveway about 3a Saturday, it was time to sort what was wrong. Well, actually I had been frantically searching the forums here and the usual suspects (Pelican, FCP Euro) since it didn't fire up and had a pretty good idea based on the symptoms that it was the electronic steering lock (ESL) which had failed. In my case there were no early warnings or difficulties beforehand - it worked normally until it didn't. After, I tried re-inserting the key many tens of times, cranking the steering wheel against the bolt trying to tempt it to unlock one lest time, and even pulling the underdash trim and banging directly on the ESL with a brass mallet, none of which enticed a single, last "schunk!" out of it. So, worst case scenario - dead, and locked.
Many thanks to the various writeups previous victims had posted here, especially @knowbenz, I was able to extricate the upper steering column from the car and non-sacrificially remove the ESL from the column assembly. I ordered a replacement motor assembly and waited. It arrived off the slow boat and I eagerly installed it in place of the obviously burned out original motor, smooshed it all back together and got the car buttoned back up at least far enough not to trip any warning lamps and -- nothing. While the old motor was definitely done, and the new motor spun up nicely under voltage from a desktop power supply, in the car it did not budge, nor initialize the ignition and allow my car to start. I guess when the motor failed in my original ESL it took out the circuitry or some component on the board as well.
Next strategy was to replace the ESL with an emulator; sourced easily enough, but requiring coding to mate with the ignition switch (EIS) and my key. As it turns out, although I live in a reasonably sized metropolis, it was not large enough to attract any locksmiths, independent repairers or enthusiasts to buy the coding tools, only local option was a Mercedes dealership. I had used my insurance-sponsored roadside assistance dragging the car to my house, so a further flatbed ride would be on my dime. Before I committed I reached out to my local SCCA chapter and connected with a member whose day job was dealership tech. He advised that the job would start at about $1400 plus anything else they found or mangled removing the locked ESL. Ooof.
I decided to take a chance and hit up an eBay seller who offered to code ESL emulators and extra keys and made a deal t ship my ignition components off to New Jersey for his ministrations. It was a bit nerve-wracking to mail off my key and ignition, but the car didn't work anyway so why not?
As it turns out this was painlessly simple and successfully restored my use of my car, hooray! Plus for about 1/7th the initial dealership repair estimate I also received a second key coded up to match, something that I had not gotten from the prior owner when I bought my car. I'll call that a win, given the circumstances.
A couple of notes I'd call out - my car has a power-adjust steering column, which I expect is pretty common on at least C63s if not most W204s. All of the write-ups I read through mention that this makes it is harder, but none of them suggested just how much more difficult it is since the column is stuck in the last position from the key still worked - i.e. up and in. This made it extremely difficult to remove the instrument cluster, and later the ignition switch. In the case of the former I had to unbolt the column from the dash assembly before I could make enough room to rotate the gauges out. As it turns out I had to remove the column anyway to remove the locked ESL, but it was a pain. In the latter case, the opening left between the dash and up-facing steering column just about almost did not accommodate the EIS module. I had to play Tetris with it for nearly a solid 45 minutes before I managed to rotate, twist and squeeze it in just the right combination to pop free of the dash. Otherwise I would have had to unbolt the column from the dash again. Actually, in hindsight, that may have been faster.
One issue remains. After I got it all buttoned back up, I discovered my windshield wipers do not work. They used to, before I pulled the column off. All the other functions on that stalk do still work - high beams, blinkers. But something appears to have been missed, or misconnected, so I'll have to dig on that yet.
Otherwise though I was so thrilled and relived to hear my beast roar back to life! Just in time for our first winter storm, yeay... Thanks all here for sharing your wisdom and experience, this failure is a little less scary reading others have trod before me.
