Steering column vertical adjustment stops off after repair
06-30-2008, 06:37 PM
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E 320 CDI
Steering column vertical adjustment stops off after repair
I've got a frustrating Mercedes question with my 2005 E320 CDI and I'm hoping someone can help. Here goes:
1. My steering wheel power vertical adjustment quit working. You could hear the motor run but with no steering column movement.
2. Dealer says a plastic yoke connecting the motor to the steering column broke and replaced it under warrany.
3. The column now powered up and down but would not go anywhere close to as far down as before the repair. We look at 6 similar cars at the dealership and realize that the up and down stops vary wildly between cars. Even brand new E's are not anywhere near consistant in this adjustment.
4. Dealer replaces the drive motor explaining that they there is a one time programming that sets the up and down stops and the only way to reset my column is to replace the motor and reprogram the stops. They do this and all is well.
5. Six months later (now) the gasket around the steering column now fails (a noise control panel with a bearing in the center - I think?). The dealership repairs this but now the colunm adjustment is shot again and won't go all the way down.
6. I complain and they again order a new motor, install it and program it, but the column still won't go all the way down. We're talking about 3/8 inch short at the colunm penetration from the dash and about 1 inch short at the wheel.
7. Dealership says sorry they can't make it adjust like it used to be but there is nothing more they can do.
What is going on here? It seems hard to imagine that the drive can't be prespun one way or the other before assembly to bias the adjustment up or down and/or that the programmable stops can't be reprogrammed without replacing the motor and/or that there is some standardized stop adjustment to give consistant up and down ranges. I'm frustrated because I like to dirve with the wheel low to take pressure off my arm. I never had an issue until all this repair work. I just can't believe that they can't get it back to where it was when it left the factory or after the first rapair. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jim
1. My steering wheel power vertical adjustment quit working. You could hear the motor run but with no steering column movement.
2. Dealer says a plastic yoke connecting the motor to the steering column broke and replaced it under warrany.
3. The column now powered up and down but would not go anywhere close to as far down as before the repair. We look at 6 similar cars at the dealership and realize that the up and down stops vary wildly between cars. Even brand new E's are not anywhere near consistant in this adjustment.
4. Dealer replaces the drive motor explaining that they there is a one time programming that sets the up and down stops and the only way to reset my column is to replace the motor and reprogram the stops. They do this and all is well.
5. Six months later (now) the gasket around the steering column now fails (a noise control panel with a bearing in the center - I think?). The dealership repairs this but now the colunm adjustment is shot again and won't go all the way down.
6. I complain and they again order a new motor, install it and program it, but the column still won't go all the way down. We're talking about 3/8 inch short at the colunm penetration from the dash and about 1 inch short at the wheel.
7. Dealership says sorry they can't make it adjust like it used to be but there is nothing more they can do.
What is going on here? It seems hard to imagine that the drive can't be prespun one way or the other before assembly to bias the adjustment up or down and/or that the programmable stops can't be reprogrammed without replacing the motor and/or that there is some standardized stop adjustment to give consistant up and down ranges. I'm frustrated because I like to dirve with the wheel low to take pressure off my arm. I never had an issue until all this repair work. I just can't believe that they can't get it back to where it was when it left the factory or after the first rapair. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jim
07-14-2008, 07:59 AM
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they replaced mine for the exact same thing... but I don't have any issues with movement range.
10-19-2008, 11:32 PM
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2004 E320
My steering wheel also just stopped moving in the vertical direction. The telescoping still works fine, but the tilt function doesn't. I can still here the motor working but the steering column doesn't move. My car is no longer under warranty as of Aug 08. Does anyone know what this fix costs out of warranty? Is it something that the dealer has to do?
10-31-2008, 10:42 PM
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E 320 CDI
Problem Solved
Well, after a year of working with my dealer we finally figured out the problem. There is a ball screw assembly that is part of the steering column assembly that bolts up under the dash and holds the steering column in place. There is a metal tab on the car frame that fits into a blind slot in the steering column assembly and serves as a hard reference stop for the vertical position of the steering column. They had managed to re-assemble the steering column without fitting the tab properly which meant the whole assembly was about 1/4 inch high at the ball screw and about an inch high at the wheel. Now with the tab properly back in the slot everything is back to normal.
11-01-2008, 06:15 AM
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223.168 & 213.012 & 906.633 & 214.005
I guess the car was not all the time in their workshop. 
Great anyway that it got finally solved and since the issues at this area are frequent, this info is useful for others to check if they face similar symptoms.
