Coming back from the garage last night, I parked on my driveway, pulled the key from ignition and locked the car. Something however felt a bit off, as if the wheel wouldn't lock but sometimes one has to wiggle it a bit for the plunger to engage so I wasn't concerned.
This morning though, sure enough, inserting the key would produce no gun action sounds as it normally should. And the key wouldn't turn. Removing the key didn't result in any sounds from the steering column either.
After a quick web search, pulled fuse #18 and waited 20 seconds. No sounds of the locking mechanism but the key turned and car started.
After arriving at work, I tried to start in P and in N just to be sure I would avoid embarrassment at a gas station stop
After switching off for good, I tried to reinsert the key; nothing happened. THEN I flipped and tried once more and guess what...All returned to normal.
I tried locking, unlocking inserting and removing several times and all seems okay now.

My questions are:

Was this a warning shot of the locking system failing gradually or was it just a random hiccup?

Is there anything I can do about it, early on, as a preventative measure?

Thanks in advance.

Its a warning shot for sure, what you can do is remove the shroud from the upper column, when you look at the 12 o clock position of the steering shaft boss there's a strip that can be pried out and lubricant added there, may keep you going a while

Powerful do a YouTube clip on it


Hth

Happened to me, ended up breaking into the steering column lock assemble and disabled the thing altogether as it failed in the locked position

Thanks! I've seen a video somewhere, I'll try to find it again and take the thing apart to do the lubrication trick during the weekend.
Then I'll do some more reading on which parts to replace. No way I'm spending 6K on a new column. I'd much rather add another 2K and buy myself a new Rolex

That's what I endedup doing after lubing up worked for 4 years or so.



That might work for a while

Hth

The lubricant fix is not recommended as it can then be more costly to do a permanent fix. That's what I have gleaned from lots of research.
I had this problem and my Indy suggested first thing to do was check the battery was good
. I did and a new Yuasa sorted the problem. It's been good for about 8 months now. 2017 5.0 Autobiography Supercharged
2005 Merc SL350
2005 Disco HSE 2.7 oil burner

That's the main reason I'm asking. The problem occurred after I had changed the alternator + steering belts and idler pulleys. I basically did NOTHING else than just flipping the key over and touching the blade on the lock when it started to work again. For what it's worth, the key had been on the ignition throughout the car's stay in the garage.
Fingers crossed that was just a software glitch or something related to the key pairing.

Morning matey, had the same problem with mine which I fixed, and the messages below are to another member if France who had the same problem too. Just follow these steps and it's actually quite simple to repair. My advise though, don't drive it again until you can fix it 'cause you really don't want to end up stuck miles from home because it WILL fail.

Hello Stuart,
First and foremost, don't faff around with bodges like drilling holes in the housing, wiring in bypass switches or getting the pin to remain permanently in the ok to drive position. Just repair it properly and it will be far more reliable and far more sellable when the time comes to move it on. Would you buy a car with random switches scattered around the dashboard....?
Besides, when you know what you have to do it's actually quite straightforward repair. It'll cost you about £120 an around an hour of your time. Mine suffered a jammed mechanism, was nothing to do with the pin but the symptoms were the same, and the repair outlined below will also fix locking pin problems.
Adjust the steering wheel so that it's as far out as it'll go then disconnect the battery. Remove the airbag and steering wheel, then remove the top and bottom steering column shrouds. Disconnect all the block connectors and undo 2x 8mm bolts, one either side of the steering column. You'll then be able to remove the 2x triangular shaped slotted yokes and then the 2x eccentrics that allow up and down adjustment of the steering wheel. If you then give the top section of the column a tug it just comes away. Don't buy a whole column, just the top section, and don't bother trying to repair it, you'll be wasting your time. Get a replacement top section off ebay or suchlike, there's loads available for around £120.
When you start to reassemble, replace the 2x eccentrics, 2x yokes and nip up the 2x 8mm bolts. Before you go any further just slide the steering wheel back on the splines and see if there's any backlash in the up and down plane. If there is, play around with the eccentrics until there's no free play. You can then put everything back together but do not push the airbag all the way back onto its two mounting clips. The reason being is the first time you'll drive it you'll find the steering wheel off center so you'll have to remove it again, and if you've got this far you know what a faff removing the airbag is!
Anyway there you go, good luck with it.

Hello again Stuart,
The simplest way to establish whether it’s a full column or just the top section is to look at the photos. If it has a UJ (universal joint) halfway down its the full column, which you don’t want. Just the top section which includes the lock mechanism is all you need. It’s about a foot long and DOESN’T have the UJ.
So far as testing is concerned, all you’d need to do is plug in the main steering lock block connector, reconnect the battery and then try and turn the key. You can literally do this with the replacement column in your hand, you don’t need to fit it. Keep in mind though that once you turn the ignition on you’ll log an airbag fault because the airbag won’t be connected.
Regarding left or right hand drive, I don’t know but I’d be surprised if they went to the trouble of mirroring the design for different markets. Easy enough to identify; if you look down on the top column section from above, the locking mechanism is on the right on RHD cars at least, so if it’s on the right on yours my guess would be they’re common to both markets. You’ll also see a sticker on the column with a bar code and a number, just ask for one with the same number as yours which is what I did. As soon as it arrived I plugged it in as above, reconnected the battery and turned the key....... I can’t tell you the relief when I heard the pin withdraw and felt the key turn!

Best of luck matey.

Unless the second hand unit is on ebay because it has the same issue

Hello Sam,

Thanks for the detailed info; I do appreciateit. I'll try to source an upper column from eBay

Is this the damned thing??

Click image to enlarge

dingg1 wrote:

Unless the second hand unit is on ebay because it has the same issue

So true

dingg1 wrote:

Unless the second hand unit is on ebay because it has the same issue

Thanks for the confirmation. I personally don't feel right with temporary fixes here and there for any longer than necessary. That is until I have the spares available.
For the time being I will just leave it as it is until it breaks or until the next hiccup as I'm not totally convinced it's broken or failing. I do have road assistance so I don't worry much about being stranded.
In the meantime I'll pick the nicest looking column I can get my hands on and keep it lying around. Having 200 euros tied up in the form of a part you might never need isn't the end of the world...

Good idea vs

I got lucky with mi e for 4 years or so giving no issue after lubing up.

A few weeks ago returning home on a Friday evening I had the signs of failure again but after putting in and out yhe key a few times the plunger released and I could get home, unfortunately the next morning whatever I did I couldn't get it to unlock the column it had failed in the locked position.

I live in rural Portugal and need the car every day so bodgery it was 🇵🇹😂

When it happened I remember not feeling right after leaving the car. As if I didn't hear the usual noises and believe me, I'm so much used to them I'll know it when something is off.
So I have come to the conclusion that if there is no clicking in the steering column when pulling the key from the ignition lock, I should pull fuse 18 before leaving the vehicle and prepare to get my hands dirty Hope it won't happen again but I'll just face it if I have to.

Thanks for all the advice 🙏

V8Noise wrote:

The lubricant fix is not recommended as it can then be more costly to do a permanent fix. That's what I have gleaned from lots of research.
I had this problem and my Indy suggested first thing to do was check the battery was good
. I did and a new Yuasa sorted the problem. It's been good for about 8 months now.

vs322 wrote:

That's the main reason I'm asking. The problem occurred after I had changed the alternator + steering belts and idler pulleys. I basically did NOTHING else than just flipping the key over and touching the blade on the lock when it started to work again. For what it's worth, the key had been on the ignition throughout the car's stay in the garage.
Fingers crossed that was just a software glitch or something related to the key pairing.

Interestingly my key had been on the centre console near ignition for months while car was off the road. Batter was disconnected the whole time. Could that have any effect? Seems the key need only be close to ignition for RFID sensor detection.

Just read the whole thread. Thanks to @Sam for the advice. Seems I might be shopping for a new upper half of steering column. Small potatoes compared to engine swap Still a minor PITA disconnecting steering.