Dude, that’s great. Gotta love the easy (and cheap!) fixes. Was this the one that had the lien on it? Did you ever get that sorted out?
-D > On Sep 29, 2020, at 4:44 PM, Floyd Thursby via Mercedes > <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > So if you recall I bought this 05 ML500 in kind of a shady deal, $400 for the > vehicle, $275 to spring it from jail where it had been towed. It had a > "Start Error" which would not allow it to start. I spent a lot of time > digging into it with the majick computer, and managed to clear the Start > Error message on the dash. Was not apparently the keys and code chips as > those all checked out OK, the DAS (Drive Authorization System, a little loop > antenna around the key switch that reads the chip in the keys) appeared to be > happy. I had pulled a DAS loop and module from a junker for cheap, they are > like $175 new, did not need to use it. > > Still would not start, after doing some research it was suggested that the > starter power K11 relay in the fuse box under the hood was either bad or it > was not getting power to make it work. Swapped out relays (there are a bunch > that are the same), still no workies. Turns out after doing some electrical > diagnosis I discovered I could jumper the relay contacts to get the engine to > turn over and start with the key in Run position 2 (all dash lights come on. > (YAY!!!!). I put a momentary contact switch on the jumper wires so I could > lift the hood and turn over the engine to start. (I tried to run it into the > cabin but couldn't find a convenient hole). > > So that suggested that an electrical switch behind the key lock switch, that > the key lock actually actuates to start the car, was bad in the start > position 3 -- positions 1 and 2 worked and I could start and drive the > vehicle in position 2. There is a way to test the switch and wires right > there at the switch (pink wire I think, marked #15?) but it is tight in there > so I didn't bother with that aspect, in any case that wire is what goes to > the relay activator contacts (these are the contacts in back of the relay > slot that are along the axis of the car, the actual starter actuator contacts > are the front ones that are transverse) and I was getting no power to > activate the relay. > > Common issue on these vehicles apparently, can make you crazy, a new part is > like $25 so I ordered one the other day. > > There are 3 covers to take off around the back of the steering wheel and the > various arms behind it. There are 3 Torx T25 screws on the bottom one, some > plastic tabs on the top one, and some tabs and metal snap connectors on the > right panel. They mostly pop out with release of the tabs and a bit of > gyration and having the wheel tilt up or down. > > The electrical switch is at 90deg to the key switch in a round housing. They > are (fairly) easy to pull once you get the covers off. Small hands would > help but I managed to get the connector off (there are locking tabs with > little arms you can squeeze with your fingers, although I used a screwdriver > to push the front lock tab you can see and managed to squeeze the back one > and the connector popped right off. Note that there are some tabs on the top > of the copnnector that slide into the back of the lock and in the housing so > it will only orient one way, pretty much with the tabs on the top at 12 > oclock if you could look from the back. > > The actual switch is further inside the round housing, and there are also 2 > locking tabs that hold it in. You can feel inside the round housing and get > the tabs released, although again you can use a screwdriver on the one if > front. I could not get a good grip on it to pull it out so got a small pair > of pliers to grab a contact tab and pull it right out. > > There is a small tab on the back of the key switch that turns the ignition > switch, it is like 1/4" wide it looks like, you can see on the new one how it > will fit over the key switch tab. The old one was clearly chewed up a bit > and it was hard to turn with a screwdriver even if the slot was OK (which it > wasn't) so that was the problem, the switch wore out or bound up and would > not turn to position 3 to start the engine. > > The new one slid in OK once I got the tabs oriented to the slot in the > housing, as with the connector, although I did have to put the key in a move > it a bit before the new switch would slide over it but that was easy enough. > > Buttoned everything back up, took out my jumper switch, popped the relay back > in, and JOY!!!! Engine started right up. YAY ME!!!! I did notice too that > the key turned more easily so the switch was definitely buggered from that > indication as well. > > This time it took like an hour, next time would be like 20min. > > I"m going to put this in Benzworld with pics of all the bits involved. > > https://www.benzworld.org/threads/w163-ml500-ignition-switch-no-start-fixed.3060413/ > > -- > --FT > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
