Prior to changing my ignition switch I was loosing power to my climate control off and on. I replaced the steering lock while I was at it. It can be done with the steering wheel in place. I think I wrote up some on it here. My car is a 1982 300SD with 160K on it and the contacts were very tiny and were burned pretty bad. Since then, 2 years, no problems. My steering lock was acting up too. so I killed 2 birds with one stone. I got a tumbler to match VIN at dealer and a new key. Ignition switches fail on all cars cause there is allot of current.

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1982 300SD