I spoke to Roy on the purpose of the Dogbone. He said it is mostly on there so somebody does not pull it off and "put a rigged one on" and steal your car. So I was mistaken in saying the plug may fall off if the dog bone is not there.

I opted to get the BM Tumbler from Peachparts instead of the aftermarket. The MB tumbler only came with one key but the cheaper one comes with two keys.

I have requested Peachparts to try to get me another key. No luck yet.

I would expect a MB part to be comparable to an after market tumbler and have a second key but I guess not.

If you order a MB tumbler from Peachparts see if you can have them send you 2 keys.

The tumbler is supplied to PeachParts via a MB Dealer somehow.

__________________
1982 300SD

Yesterday I pulled the switch from the old steeing wheel lock assembly to inspect the contact condition of the old switch. !st off I was gernerally surprised how small the contacts surface areas were. Guessing the looked like about 1/8 inch diameter at best. Not knowing which set of contacts supplied fuse 11 I sort of looked at them all. I notice extremely misalliged contacts. No idea how this happened. They were ever parallel. I noticed allot of what looked like a heavy grease, which if from the factory I'm assuming.

After removing the 3 screws and inspecting I went to put it back together and for some strange reason the screws would not go back in since somehow the female threads were missing. Spookie. Something must of fallen out that I didn't notice.

I've changed ignition swithes out before on GM products and those have more surface area on contacts.

My car has 177K on it and is a 1982.

If your is not changed I'd change it as a PM item.

"Steering Lock Mechanism containing the switch" and your tumber too is it is sloppy.

__________________
1982 300SD

sorry typo above:

Many of the contacts surfaces were not parallel. I guess this happens after they are severly worn. When misalligned the contact area is reduced by a good 80%. This was shocking to me! Change your switches if you are in doubt. Lil pricey I know but peace of mine like new tires.

__________________
1982 300SD

Happy this is resolved.
Any chance you could post pictures of the damaged part?


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__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
asemastermechanic@juno.com

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
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Technical Quality Auditor.
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1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

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