Martin280s
New Member
Last week Lady Genevieve decided to have a tantrum! The multi-pin terminal on the back of the ignition some how worked loose. Nothing to dramatic but inconvenient. So how do we fix it?
Tools
1 - medium Philips screwdriver
1 - 13 mm combo spanner or socket and ratchet
1 - 10 mm C spanner
1 - 22 mm socket and short extension and ratchet
1 - medium sized blade screwdriver
1 - small punch and hammer
1 - 5 cm2 mirror
And a lot of patience!
First, remove the steering wheel and instrument cluster, 22 mm socket for the steering wheel nut and 10 mm C spanner for the oil pressure gauge. Carefully disconnect all the wires and pull off the multi-pin plug in a straight line. Then remove the knee bolster from below the dash, there are around seven Philips screw all told. Once all the covers from under the dash have been removed loosen the C clamp at the base of the steering column (10 mm C spanner) and remove the two 13 mm bolts from the top of the column, now the column should be loose enough to shake a bit. You really do need this small about of movement!
Using the mirror find the clamp on the steering lock/ignition barrel, remove the 10 mm bolt. Remove the chrome ring from around the ignition switch, careful not to break off the tabs. Now you’re ready for the fun part. Put the key in the ignition and turn it to 2, using the mirror find the locking pin on the steering lock and push it down. THIS CANNOT BE DONE WITHOUT TURNING THE KEY!..it took me 3 hours to discover this part, I’d only done this on a W108 before and they don’t have a locking pin! Now you should be able to waggle the ignition assembly, pull it far enough out of the column to hold the locking pin down inside the steering lock barrel. Remove the key and twist the assembly round so the multi-pin terminal faces upwards, you’ll need to get it past the dash so do this carefully, you won’t want to make things worse. Having done this, continue to pull the assembly out.
Once the ignition assembly is out, remove the three screws which hold the multi-pin terminal in place. Having discovered the crimping had lost its grip, I used a small punch and light hammer to recrimp the edges. I also lightly coated the moving parts of the ignition/steering lock with Vaseline before assembly
Assembly is much easier so I took advantage to clean and check the general state of things under the dash. Before you try to put the assembly back in, push in the lock at the end and this will hold the locking pin down. Do not make any jerky or sharp movements or this will cause the pin to pop out and you’ll have to start again. The rest is just a reversal of everything else.
If there is a next time, I should be able to do it in 3 hours or less and I am sure there‘ll be much less swearing too!
Tools
1 - medium Philips screwdriver
1 - 13 mm combo spanner or socket and ratchet
1 - 10 mm C spanner
1 - 22 mm socket and short extension and ratchet
1 - medium sized blade screwdriver
1 - small punch and hammer
1 - 5 cm2 mirror
And a lot of patience!
First, remove the steering wheel and instrument cluster, 22 mm socket for the steering wheel nut and 10 mm C spanner for the oil pressure gauge. Carefully disconnect all the wires and pull off the multi-pin plug in a straight line. Then remove the knee bolster from below the dash, there are around seven Philips screw all told. Once all the covers from under the dash have been removed loosen the C clamp at the base of the steering column (10 mm C spanner) and remove the two 13 mm bolts from the top of the column, now the column should be loose enough to shake a bit. You really do need this small about of movement!
Using the mirror find the clamp on the steering lock/ignition barrel, remove the 10 mm bolt. Remove the chrome ring from around the ignition switch, careful not to break off the tabs. Now you’re ready for the fun part. Put the key in the ignition and turn it to 2, using the mirror find the locking pin on the steering lock and push it down. THIS CANNOT BE DONE WITHOUT TURNING THE KEY!..it took me 3 hours to discover this part, I’d only done this on a W108 before and they don’t have a locking pin! Now you should be able to waggle the ignition assembly, pull it far enough out of the column to hold the locking pin down inside the steering lock barrel. Remove the key and twist the assembly round so the multi-pin terminal faces upwards, you’ll need to get it past the dash so do this carefully, you won’t want to make things worse. Having done this, continue to pull the assembly out.
Once the ignition assembly is out, remove the three screws which hold the multi-pin terminal in place. Having discovered the crimping had lost its grip, I used a small punch and light hammer to recrimp the edges. I also lightly coated the moving parts of the ignition/steering lock with Vaseline before assembly
Assembly is much easier so I took advantage to clean and check the general state of things under the dash. Before you try to put the assembly back in, push in the lock at the end and this will hold the locking pin down. Do not make any jerky or sharp movements or this will cause the pin to pop out and you’ll have to start again. The rest is just a reversal of everything else.
If there is a next time, I should be able to do it in 3 hours or less and I am sure there‘ll be much less swearing too!
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