Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 8,015
Likes: 14
From: MOFN, AL, 70 miles from George
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Very decent of you!
Good man.
Good man.
Originally Posted by sowardcustoms
Just a note i had someone come in last week looking for a lock cylinder housing. ours is $379.00 but if you buy it thru mercedes its $130.00 part #A2024600904. I lost the sale but helped a fellow crossfire owner........
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
From: Centennial, Colorado
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Originally Posted by sowardcustoms
Just a note i had someone come in last week looking for a lock cylinder housing. ours is $379.00 but if you buy it thru mercedes its $130.00 part #A2024600904. I lost the sale but helped a fellow crossfire owner........
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
From: Centennial, Colorado
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Originally Posted by sowardcustoms
Just a note i had someone come in last week looking for a lock cylinder housing. ours is $379.00 but if you buy it thru mercedes its $130.00 part #A2024600904. I lost the sale but helped a fellow crossfire owner........
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 67
Likes: 1
From: South Jersey
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
so I just got my car and have experienced this issue a few times. how long do you have from this happening once in a while to a complete failure?
Does anyone know if this is covered under warranty?
great write up by the way!
Does anyone know if this is covered under warranty?
great write up by the way!
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
drhrsh,
I just saw your post/pictures. Excellent job! It should really help people get an idea of how it's all laid out (although the pictures looked funny to me at first. Then I turned them upside down to equal laying on your head under the dash and it all looked perfect!!) Anyway, sorry for being so late to congratulate you on an excellent tutorial.
Crossbow39
I just saw your post/pictures. Excellent job! It should really help people get an idea of how it's all laid out (although the pictures looked funny to me at first. Then I turned them upside down to equal laying on your head under the dash and it all looked perfect!!) Anyway, sorry for being so late to congratulate you on an excellent tutorial.
Crossbow39
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
From: Centennial, Colorado
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Originally Posted by scoutmstr
I know I missed something but if a key switch is replaced do you get new keys with it or is the new switch rekeyed to the old keys?
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
From: Centennial, Colorado
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Originally Posted by Crossbow39
drhrsh,
I just saw your post/pictures. Excellent job! It should really help people get an idea of how it's all laid out (although the pictures looked funny to me at first. Then I turned them upside down to equal laying on your head under the dash and it all looked perfect!!) Anyway, sorry for being so late to congratulate you on an excellent tutorial.
Crossbow39
I just saw your post/pictures. Excellent job! It should really help people get an idea of how it's all laid out (although the pictures looked funny to me at first. Then I turned them upside down to equal laying on your head under the dash and it all looked perfect!!) Anyway, sorry for being so late to congratulate you on an excellent tutorial.
Crossbow39
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 8
Likes: 5
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Tip: You don't need to remove the key and key cylinder to remove the locking mechanism. It's very tight, but a little twisting and it comes right out.
If you do want to remove the key and the black ring , when you turn it counterclockwise, give the black ring a little tug at the same time. Mine would not simply turn counterclockwise until I pulled a little bit.
I have mine out now and it seems to work fine outside the car. I'm going to add some white grease to the mechanism as best as possible to see if I can reinstall it without having to grind down the end. Btw - the picktures that show the mechanism and where to cut - are right. It's not a pin inside that needs to be cut down, but the whole housing. Just taking off 1/4 to 1/2 inch should do it.
I'll post later today if the white grease does the trick.
Note: I called Brumos Mercedes of Jacksonville FL - they have one in stock for $157 + tax. If all else fails, I'll go get that one.
If you do want to remove the key and the black ring , when you turn it counterclockwise, give the black ring a little tug at the same time. Mine would not simply turn counterclockwise until I pulled a little bit.
I have mine out now and it seems to work fine outside the car. I'm going to add some white grease to the mechanism as best as possible to see if I can reinstall it without having to grind down the end. Btw - the picktures that show the mechanism and where to cut - are right. It's not a pin inside that needs to be cut down, but the whole housing. Just taking off 1/4 to 1/2 inch should do it.
I'll post later today if the white grease does the trick.
Note: I called Brumos Mercedes of Jacksonville FL - they have one in stock for $157 + tax. If all else fails, I'll go get that one.
Last edited by UberXFire; Jun 4, 2009 at 05:44 AM.
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 8
Likes: 5
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Bad news, good news, bad news, and great news
Bad news: no matter what I did after I took the steering wheel lock/iginition switch out, I could NOT get it to turn to position 1 to get the tumblers out. I tried EVERYTHING - it would not turn out of position '0' so I could not put it back into the car in a non-working state and I could not remove the tumblers to put into a new housing.
Good news: Brumos had the housing in stock for $166 after tax.
Bad news:The housing did not come with tumblers and spade for the key fob, so I HAVE TO get the tumblers out of the old housing
Good news: The housing is light weight cast aluminum so my handy regular hack-saw easily cut the frame around the tumblers (imagine cutting the neck off a plastic bottle). I was then able to put the tumblers into the new housing and reinstall everything.
Works like Butter now!!!
Solution - about 2 hours of real labor minus all my screwing around and $166 for an instock part at the Mercedes dealership. Do NOT let a Chrysler dealer charge you $300+ for a Mercedes part.
Moral of the story - if your key starts 'locking' and you have the jiggle the wheel or try multiple times to turn it - get started on fixing it - you don't know where it will strand you. The solution is not expensive so don't get raped by the dealerships. Do NOT let them convince you it's the tumblers. (see note below). Take your time and you'll have your baby back to new and you'll have a new respect for automotive ignition systems.
Note below: George at Brumos - you're a nice guy but you didn't have a clue what you were talking about even after I explained everything to you. The people in this forum do know what they are talking about and you shouldn't disregard their advice just because most are DIY'rs.
PM me if you have this problem and need help - I'm available 16x7 to help anyone with an Xfire or an SLK with this problem. If you're stranded, I'll do whatever I can to get you fixed asap!
Bad news: no matter what I did after I took the steering wheel lock/iginition switch out, I could NOT get it to turn to position 1 to get the tumblers out. I tried EVERYTHING - it would not turn out of position '0' so I could not put it back into the car in a non-working state and I could not remove the tumblers to put into a new housing.
Good news: Brumos had the housing in stock for $166 after tax.
Bad news:The housing did not come with tumblers and spade for the key fob, so I HAVE TO get the tumblers out of the old housing
Good news: The housing is light weight cast aluminum so my handy regular hack-saw easily cut the frame around the tumblers (imagine cutting the neck off a plastic bottle). I was then able to put the tumblers into the new housing and reinstall everything.
Works like Butter now!!!
Solution - about 2 hours of real labor minus all my screwing around and $166 for an instock part at the Mercedes dealership. Do NOT let a Chrysler dealer charge you $300+ for a Mercedes part.
Moral of the story - if your key starts 'locking' and you have the jiggle the wheel or try multiple times to turn it - get started on fixing it - you don't know where it will strand you. The solution is not expensive so don't get raped by the dealerships. Do NOT let them convince you it's the tumblers. (see note below). Take your time and you'll have your baby back to new and you'll have a new respect for automotive ignition systems.
Note below: George at Brumos - you're a nice guy but you didn't have a clue what you were talking about even after I explained everything to you. The people in this forum do know what they are talking about and you shouldn't disregard their advice just because most are DIY'rs.
PM me if you have this problem and need help - I'm available 16x7 to help anyone with an Xfire or an SLK with this problem. If you're stranded, I'll do whatever I can to get you fixed asap!
Last edited by UberXFire; Jun 4, 2009 at 12:02 PM.
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Great writeup and comments from everyone. I had to register just to let you know how helpful this was to me. Actually I don't own a Crossfire, but my son does. His fiance' was driving the car and I guess it has had a sticky key for a bit. Well, it finally gave up on her when she was at work. My son went over there to look at it and ended up calling me. Now normally I'm a Ford guy so this was new territory for me. I googled Crossfire and came upon this site. With my son on the phone, I walked him through this writeup. The only problem he seems to be having is the final step of getting the assemby out. He says he cannot get the little lock pin to push in so he can twist the ignition assembly out. Any suggestions?
And again, great writeup to help out numerous people.
And again, great writeup to help out numerous people.
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
I have a question, if my key will not turn to position #1 and its stuck in #0
how do I push in the silver button to remove the complete part?
Do I have to drill it out?
how do I push in the silver button to remove the complete part?
Do I have to drill it out?
Originally Posted by UberXFire
Tip: You don't need to remove the key and key cylinder to remove the locking mechanism. It's very tight, but a little twisting and it comes right out.
If you do want to remove the key and the black ring , when you turn it counterclockwise, give the black ring a little tug at the same time. Mine would not simply turn counterclockwise until I pulled a little bit.
I have mine out now and it seems to work fine outside the car. I'm going to add some white grease to the mechanism as best as possible to see if I can reinstall it without having to grind down the end. Btw - the picktures that show the mechanism and where to cut - are right. It's not a pin inside that needs to be cut down, but the whole housing. Just taking off 1/4 to 1/2 inch should do it.
I'll post later today if the white grease does the trick.
Note: I called Brumos Mercedes of Jacksonville FL - they have one in stock for $157 + tax. If all else fails, I'll go get that one.
If you do want to remove the key and the black ring , when you turn it counterclockwise, give the black ring a little tug at the same time. Mine would not simply turn counterclockwise until I pulled a little bit.
I have mine out now and it seems to work fine outside the car. I'm going to add some white grease to the mechanism as best as possible to see if I can reinstall it without having to grind down the end. Btw - the picktures that show the mechanism and where to cut - are right. It's not a pin inside that needs to be cut down, but the whole housing. Just taking off 1/4 to 1/2 inch should do it.
I'll post later today if the white grease does the trick.
Note: I called Brumos Mercedes of Jacksonville FL - they have one in stock for $157 + tax. If all else fails, I'll go get that one.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,401
Likes: 5
From: Massachusetts
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Thanks for the write up and pics. Mine is just starting to act up!!
I won't take it apart till after getting back from Carlisle so I hope I can make it last. With the help found here
I know what tools to take with me. Wish me luck.
Only 6800 miles with very little starts and I always park with no pressure on the steering wheel.
I won't take it apart till after getting back from Carlisle so I hope I can make it last. With the help found here
I know what tools to take with me. Wish me luck.
Only 6800 miles with very little starts and I always park with no pressure on the steering wheel.
Last edited by crossfirefun; Jul 6, 2009 at 07:30 AM.
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Went to MB of Long Beach its $133.00 plus tax $149.00
So I will do my install tomorrow. My key will not turn to position 1
so I will have to drill out the pin and cut the tumbler out.
So I will do my install tomorrow. My key will not turn to position 1
so I will have to drill out the pin and cut the tumbler out.
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 34
Likes: 1
From: Jacksonville, FL
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Originally Posted by UberXFire
Bad news, good news, bad news, and great news
Bad news: no matter what I did after I took the steering wheel lock/iginition switch out, I could NOT get it to turn to position 1 to get the tumblers out. I tried EVERYTHING - it would not turn out of position '0' so I could not put it back into the car in a non-working state and I could not remove the tumblers to put into a new housing.
Good news: Brumos had the housing in stock for $166 after tax.
Bad news:The housing did not come with tumblers and spade for the key fob, so I HAVE TO get the tumblers out of the old housing
Good news: The housing is light weight cast aluminum so my handy regular hack-saw easily cut the frame around the tumblers (imagine cutting the neck off a plastic bottle). I was then able to put the tumblers into the new housing and reinstall everything.
Works like Butter now!!!
Solution - about 2 hours of real labor minus all my screwing around and $166 for an instock part at the Mercedes dealership. Do NOT let a Chrysler dealer charge you $300+ for a Mercedes part.
Moral of the story - if your key starts 'locking' and you have the jiggle the wheel or try multiple times to turn it - get started on fixing it - you don't know where it will strand you. The solution is not expensive so don't get raped by the dealerships. Do NOT let them convince you it's the tumblers. (see note below). Take your time and you'll have your baby back to new and you'll have a new respect for automotive ignition systems.
Note below: George at Brumos - you're a nice guy but you didn't have a clue what you were talking about even after I explained everything to you. The people in this forum do know what they are talking about and you shouldn't disregard their advice just because most are DIY'rs.
PM me if you have this problem and need help - I'm available 16x7 to help anyone with an Xfire or an SLK with this problem. If you're stranded, I'll do whatever I can to get you fixed asap!
Bad news: no matter what I did after I took the steering wheel lock/iginition switch out, I could NOT get it to turn to position 1 to get the tumblers out. I tried EVERYTHING - it would not turn out of position '0' so I could not put it back into the car in a non-working state and I could not remove the tumblers to put into a new housing.
Good news: Brumos had the housing in stock for $166 after tax.
Bad news:The housing did not come with tumblers and spade for the key fob, so I HAVE TO get the tumblers out of the old housing
Good news: The housing is light weight cast aluminum so my handy regular hack-saw easily cut the frame around the tumblers (imagine cutting the neck off a plastic bottle). I was then able to put the tumblers into the new housing and reinstall everything.
Works like Butter now!!!
Solution - about 2 hours of real labor minus all my screwing around and $166 for an instock part at the Mercedes dealership. Do NOT let a Chrysler dealer charge you $300+ for a Mercedes part.
Moral of the story - if your key starts 'locking' and you have the jiggle the wheel or try multiple times to turn it - get started on fixing it - you don't know where it will strand you. The solution is not expensive so don't get raped by the dealerships. Do NOT let them convince you it's the tumblers. (see note below). Take your time and you'll have your baby back to new and you'll have a new respect for automotive ignition systems.
Note below: George at Brumos - you're a nice guy but you didn't have a clue what you were talking about even after I explained everything to you. The people in this forum do know what they are talking about and you shouldn't disregard their advice just because most are DIY'rs.
PM me if you have this problem and need help - I'm available 16x7 to help anyone with an Xfire or an SLK with this problem. If you're stranded, I'll do whatever I can to get you fixed asap!
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Originally Posted by Kamjin
Well it continues... I just got home with the in stock steering lock for Brumos in Jax, Fl. $169 out the door. Mine just started 2 weeks ago and seems to be going fast so tomorrow is my day to rip it a part and replace the part. Thanks for the write up. If anyone is in the Jacksonville, FL area or near, go to Bromus Mercedes. They have a big inventory and has yet to need to order a part for me. George really is the man.
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Originally Posted by g-man
Just did my repair today, I had to get my locksmith drill out the lock pin because my key will not turn. but i still have to get out my tumbler or get a new one.
but it look like it was a few things tumber #2 is sticking but I had to put the hammer to it, I dont think I want to use the old tumblers but I have to see what the LockSmith says.
Banned
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 711
Likes: 4
From: Ontario
re: Sticky Ignition Key Fix for all Crossfires 2004 thru 2006
Next remove the one screw hidden behind the access door to the fuse panel, then the screws around the hood release lever.
I just want to comment on the removal of screws around the hood release. I have just replaced my headlamp switch/module (replacing Canadian switch with an American switch to rid of DRL's) and had to remove the panel below the steering wheel as you have shown. I didn't have to remove the screws around the hood release as it dropped down along with the rest of the panel.
One less step maybe?
