In a message dated 1/30/2006 9:15:12 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
This past weekend I replaced the ignition tumbler in my 82 300TD. I was surprised that the write-ups that I found on the Internet were almost all for the w124, the series after mine, which use a different tool and has a different process. It is really very easy. I used a hair pin, one of those symmetrical ones with all the plastic removed from the tip, or you could use a pin, but you need very stiff wire. The w123's have a single hole on the face of the tumbler where the key goes in. By inserting the wire in there, after turning the key to position 1 you release a protrusion from the tumbler. You can find this hole by putting the key in and turning while gently pushing the hair pin in towards the tumbler. After you push the pin in you can pull on the key which will release the tumbler. The tumbler will come out about an 1/8th of an inch. At this point you will be able to unscrew the black cover that goes around the tumbler. There is a special tool that is used to get good friction on this heavy metal cover as it is smooth and can be hard to get started. I did not use this tool. After this cover is unscrewed both the black cover piece and the tumbler will come completely out. You basically just reverse the process to get it all back together. Taking your new tumbler and putting the black cover over it with the pin in place then inserting this all into the ignition assembly. You then screw the black cover back on until it finally is far enough in that the spring loaded protrusion pops out and stops the cover from turning. Finished. Hope this helps someone with this job. If you wait too long to do this, until the tumbler fails it is very expensive and time consuming to have to drill out the lock. Dan, Right on, Dan, I used the very same procedure to replace the tumbler on my 116 car, which was cracked and still working. The new key, and copies made from it, also made opening the trunk much easier. Thanks for the writeup. Jim Friesen Phoenix AZ 79 300SD, 262 K miles 98 ML 320, 140 K miles
