PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

nmi · #5 12-13-2010, 11:59 PM

Fixed it!

Once I had the switch and lock assembly out of the car, I tried to drill a hole over the release point for the tumbler. A drill was pretty ineffective against the hardened metal sleeve, and a grinding stone in my Dremel did not last long.

As it turned out, a simple hole over the tumbler release would not have worked anyway. The real problem was the flat metal band holding the sleeve in place. Unless the sleeve was removed, the tumbler was going nowhere.

When the hole drilling failed, I used a metal cutting disc in the Dremel to cut a rectangular hole in the sleeve. Once I cut all the way to the back edge of the sleeve, I was able to pull the metal retainer out and remove it. I mentioned that there were two holes in the face of my tumbler which appeared to be for the removal tool. I think they were there only to fool prospective thieves! There was no groove in the housing, with the exposed tumbler catch release in it. I lined up one of my cuts with the location of that release, using my replacement tumbler as an example, since it was difficult to cut through the housing without also cutting into the housing under it.

In retrospect, I could have cut a 1/2" square hole in the sleeve, with one edge the back of the sleeve. This would have been enough to expose the flat metal retaining band. I could then have finessed the metal band out of its groove, removed the sleeve, cut an access to the tumbler release into the housing, removed the tumbler, and been done.

It's a fact, the tumbler/sleeve/switch housing on these cars is intended to be a one-time use thing. I was successful in reusing everything except my bad tumbler, however, and now I can take it back apart if necessary.

Thanks for the video, without it I would still be stuck, or using the Dremel while everything was still in the car. Judging by the copious amounts of sparks I generated while cutting, this would not have been a great idea.