GLK-Class (X204) Produced 2008-2014

2012 GLK won't start

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Old Jan 4, 2019 | 01:37 AM
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Mercedes GLK
Unhappy 2012 GLK won't start

I ran into a problem about a week+ back. After driving the car to a mall and it won't start on the return trip home around 9PM. Simply died on me, was so frustrated as there was no warning signs and I had changed the Key Battery just a week back. I called Mercedes Help line and they tried to jump start but it won't work. Interior lights can be turned on and Radio/CD is working and I can charge my phone as well. The service technician confirmed that battery (about 16 months old) is in very good shape after checking with volt meter. Had to tow the car to dealership the next day. Surprisingly the tow driver manged to start the GLK after arriving at the dealership.
Mercedes dealership kept the SUV for more than week for diagnosis and couldn't find anything wrong, their attempt to reproduce the issue were not successful. I am still under warranty and would like to get any defect fixed before my warranty expires. Any suggestions / experiences related to this on what might have caused this one.



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Old Jan 4, 2019 | 03:18 PM
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2009 GLK 220 cdi
I am guessing it could be the ESL, but I don't believe the technicians from mercedes didn't find out...did the steering wheel unlock when you put the key in? Or do you have keyless go?
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Old Jan 4, 2019 | 05:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Marek_Norway
I am guessing it could be the ESL, but I don't believe the technicians from mercedes didn't find out...did the steering wheel unlock when you put the key in? Or do you have keyless go?
I have keyless, push start option. But I did try with Key as well, I am not very sure, but I don't believe that the steering wheel got locked.
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Old Jan 5, 2019 | 04:59 PM
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GLK350 4MATIC
I had a similar problem occur today. Moved the car around the driveway. Came back a couple hours later to move it again... turn the key over and nothing happens. Nothing happens in the ignition or on position, car does not crank over. Checked all the fuses that could be related and nothing is blown. Any thoughts? Reading about failed EIS systems... key still locks and unlocks the car no problem.
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Old Jan 5, 2019 | 06:29 PM
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From: Loen, Norway
2009 GLK 220 cdi
Originally Posted by torquefordays
I had a similar problem occur today. Moved the car around the driveway. Came back a couple hours later to move it again... turn the key over and nothing happens. Nothing happens in the ignition or on position, car does not crank over. Checked all the fuses that could be related and nothing is blown. Any thoughts? Reading about failed EIS systems... key still locks and unlocks the car no problem.
Does the steering wheel (not the car doors) unlock when you put the key into ignition? If not, it's ESL or EIS or both...
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Old Jan 6, 2019 | 06:28 AM
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I’d check the battery first
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Old Jan 6, 2019 | 09:05 AM
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Originally Posted by Marek_Norway
Does the steering wheel (not the car doors) unlock when you put the key into ignition? If not, it's ESL or EIS or both...
Steering wheel is unlocked with our without the key in the ignition. I hear 3 sets of double clicks, sounds like a relay is trying to energize but failing, and retrying. I'm thinking the ESL failed in the unlock position. Thoughts?
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Old Jan 8, 2019 | 08:41 PM
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Battery is in very good condition and is fairly new (later, confirmed by dealer as well)
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Old Jan 8, 2019 | 08:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Mmr1
I’d check the battery first
Battery is in very good condition and is fairly new (later, confirmed by dealer as well)
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Old Jan 8, 2019 | 08:47 PM
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Originally Posted by torquefordays
Steering wheel is unlocked with our without the key in the ignition. I hear 3 sets of double clicks, sounds like a relay is trying to energize but failing, and retrying. I'm thinking the ESL failed in the unlock position. Thoughts?
It is the same case with my GLK as well. The steering wheel is not locked, and as soon as the tow to dealership is complete, the tow driver was able to start the car with in few seconds while he was checking car on upper deck. The tow driver never mentioned that the steering wheel is locked while loading the vehicle to top deck.

Last edited by ArtistDrive; Jan 8, 2019 at 08:50 PM. Reason: typo
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Old Jan 9, 2019 | 05:26 AM
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From: Loen, Norway
2009 GLK 220 cdi
Originally Posted by torquefordays
Steering wheel is unlocked with our without the key in the ignition. I hear 3 sets of double clicks, sounds like a relay is trying to energize but failing, and retrying. I'm thinking the ESL failed in the unlock position. Thoughts?
If the steering wheel is unlocked even the key is out from ignition, then you have emulator for els or els failed or eis failed...you need at least error code reader or mercedes diagnostic tool to read error codes...
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Old Mar 18, 2019 | 08:41 PM
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Question

Originally Posted by torquefordays
I had a similar problem occur today. Moved the car around the driveway. Came back a couple hours later to move it again... turn the key over and nothing happens. Nothing happens in the ignition or on position, car does not crank over. Checked all the fuses that could be related and nothing is blown. Any thoughts? Reading about failed EIS systems... key still locks and unlocks the car no problem.
I ran into my original problem again and this time I recorded the problem to show it to dealer
The dash also shows an error like "Take your Key From Ignition" as show in below picture
Now dealer is checking the vehicle and said steering lock could be the problem and will replace it (as I am still under warranty)
My problem seem to be very similar to the condition listed in this video :

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