92 300D ignition switch woes
 

gents,

getting to my actual question will require a brief recitation of history:

about a week ago the infamous problem arose of the ignition key getting stuck in 0 position. from the many posts on here as well as diesel giant i was able to dremel out the pin holding the lock cylinder, remove it, cut off the black cap, replace with a new key and tumbler. (benz mechanic assisted in the cutting and putting in new tumbler) mechanic let me borrow a universal lock and tumbler while my mine was being fabricated and delivered.

so yesterday morning i took it in to exchange lock and tumbler and drove away feeling as though i'd saved hundreds and learned more than i could have imagined about the dash area of my 124.

HOWEVER, i drove from the shop out to a rural location where i'm building a house, and at the end of the day, ready to drive back, the car wouldn't start. granted, i had the radio on for the day, but windows, radio, lights, etc didn't give any indication of battery drain. furthermore, the actual problem seems to be the key won't turn from the 2 to the 3 position. it stops at the accessory position, and won't turn the engine over at all.

so after all this explanation, the simple question is, what is going on?

quite a heafty tow bill to tow it into town...
the odds would seem to indicate the lock cylinder, not having been replaced, might be at fault.? but i didn't want to take it all apart if it is something else i've overlooked.

i'm exasperated...

thanks in advance for any tidbits.
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Being a '92, it has a shift interlock which won't allow you to turn it all of the way off and remove the key unless it is completely in park.

It also won't turn to the start position unless it has turned ALL OF THE WAY OFF.

Press the shifter into the park position, turn the key all of the way off and re-try to start. Hopefully this will help.

I don't remember there being an adjustment for the interlock cable (would be on the shifter side, the ignition side just screws all of the way in). but there might be.

thanks jeff,

i tried all of the following and even removed the front panel to make sure the shift lock line was attached, shifted in and out of park several times and turned key on and off many times.

sadly, i don't think it is this simple.

regards

If it turns to the position where all is unlocked, the wires from the starter terminate in a 3-wire terminal block on the inner-firewall near the brake booster. You can "hot-wire" the starter at that point, the shutoff lever should be up (unplug vacuum line if it is not) and steering unlocked, drive home or to the repair shop.

Does the key come out?

Make sure you have the key in a position in which the brake lights work if you decide to drive it. For such a safety conscious bunch, I don't know why MB engineers didn't wire the brake lights and horn to work with the key out.

Sixto
87 300D

An interesting comment. They don't??? :eek:

Mine don't.

Sixto
87 300D

I guess that they figure you're not driving it with the key out?

yes, jeff, i can get the key out, and it turns through all positions except from 2-3.

could you explain a bit more the "hot-wiring" process?

many thanks

Connector X27 in this post might be what Jeremy has in mind -

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/2037483-post4.html

Sixto
87 300D

thanks again.

if i can locate this, any specific instructions from this point?

which wires to cross, etc.?

Can't remember which wire, so BUMP it goes to the top.

so to complete the post...

i took the lock cylinder out again, and found that the detents in the electrical part of the switch were'nt allowing key to turn from 2-3.

installed new switch and all is well

thanks

is it acceptable to drive with a bypassed ignition lock assembly?
 

the ignition key in my '82 w123 (240d) failed to work. i took dieselgiant.com advice (thank you!!!) on grinding down the pin potruding into the steering column. regardless the key still did not work! i bypassed the system by removing the vacuum lines and plugging them before starting...
glowplugs don't work but a squirt of WD40 does it everytime... I just short connectors on starter ad it comes right up
and unplugging the vacuum lines to kill the car!

my question is will continued use in this state cause any damage to the electrical sys or otherwise???

thank you for any input!
john