Walter Clark
Member
Hello fellow Sprinter owners. Its been a while for me. 2 years ago we moved to the mountains of North Carolina, away from the bustle of the Northeast, and even further from the nearest MB Sprinter servicing dealer. Needless to say I have started doing nearly all my own maintenance. What I wont or cant do I am lucky enough to have a great independent shop in my town that really seems to know their way around the NCV3.
Recently my '12 Sprinter exhibited the 'steering column wont unlock' symptom. It occurred 3 times over as many days and I was able to temporarily resolve the symptom each time by removing and reinserting fuse F2.
There didnt seem to be a mechanical problem such as a key issue or the steering column turned against the locking bolt holding it, or electrical such as battery low or key chip detection. Indeed when I had the van scanned by my local independent service guy (Eurotechnic of Hendersonville), a couple of the codes suggested the hall sensor inside the steering column lock module, that detects the position of the column locking bolt may be malfunctioning or the bolt hanging up (his words - I didnt see the actual codes).
After the 3rd incident I removed the column lock.
Here is a tip: You CANNOT remove the lock if has failed in the lock position. Once that is the case you either have to replace the steering column along with a new lock module, somehow get the module to unlock one more time, or perhaps drill one or more holes in the module and use a pick or something to manually turn the motor/gear to back the bolt back to the unlock position. I have no idea if this can be done with this model module but I saw videos of it done on some other versions on various MB vehicles.
To remove the lock module the easy way:
1) Turn on the ignition so the steering column module unlocks.
2) Unplug the electrical connector from steering column lock module.
3) Turn off the ignition. The lock is now in the unlocked position and will stay this way.
4) Find the T30 headed pin on the casting of the column that holds the lock module and rotate it CW180 degrees. It is located on the steering wheel end of this casting and on the fuse box side. It should be fairly easy to turn. If not, the column lock bolt has not been retracted. Turning it the 180 CW slides a little flag on the pin out of a pocket on the casting and (if the column lock bolt has retracted) the pin can now be removed...You may need to use a small screwdriver and going in from a hole maybe 3/8" diameter on the other side of the casting from the T30, push it part way out.
5)The lock assembly should just swing/fall out. My van has a small vent duct that runs under the steering column and I had to remove the screw at the outer end of it and swing the duct down a couple inches to let the lock module swing far enough down to come out.
Now that you have the old lock module out, you could replace it with a new one, or do what I did. I replaced it with a column lock module emulator. While this no longer locks the column, it also has no moving parts or hall sensors to fail in the future, leaving you with a 7000 pound brick, hundreds of miles from the nearest Sprinter dealer (like me).
Obviously removing the lock and setting aside isnt the end of the story. The van wont start without one. In my case, and since the lock was failing intermittently, I plugged the connector back in and zip-tied the lock to the back side of the dash so I could use the van while I looked for my solution.
The first thing that I though about was getting a new replacement. I got the part number off the old unit and searched the web. Every MB dealer based web parts source shows the part as discontinued. None of the independent sources even list it. I did find a source on eBay from Jacksonville that had 5 to sell at $195 each. Mostly I found used units. I have a used unit. Thats the problem. They wear out. I am not 100% sure but I suspect a new module will also need to be "adapted". Without trying to second guess why MB is drying up the availability, I concluded that I wanted to not replace it with another identical new unit but to find an alternative it at all possible (sort of what I would like to do with the whole damned emissions system).
After searching the web for an alternate solution I came across a couple videos of a module used in Europe (and one in the US) to bypass or emulate the lock module. The module has no moving parts and does not lock the column, it just satisfies the vans anti-theft logic that the column is unlocked or locked at the appropriate times. The US videos is by an independent repair guy in Dallas by the name of Martin Galvan. He sells this module (or one very much like the one I saw in the Euro videos). It is plug-and-play (no "adapting" by a dealer scanner needed). Just connect it up to the plug you took out of the original lock module and hide it somewhere. By the way some of the videos show a 3 wire pigtail that you plug into the corresponding wires on the Sprinter plug...his module cleanly accepts the Sprinter plug into it. No muss, no fuss, no mistakes. You can find Martin on Facebook (Martin's Mobile) or email galvan890@gmail.com. Super responsive. Check reviews on Yelp if you want.
Recently my '12 Sprinter exhibited the 'steering column wont unlock' symptom. It occurred 3 times over as many days and I was able to temporarily resolve the symptom each time by removing and reinserting fuse F2.
There didnt seem to be a mechanical problem such as a key issue or the steering column turned against the locking bolt holding it, or electrical such as battery low or key chip detection. Indeed when I had the van scanned by my local independent service guy (Eurotechnic of Hendersonville), a couple of the codes suggested the hall sensor inside the steering column lock module, that detects the position of the column locking bolt may be malfunctioning or the bolt hanging up (his words - I didnt see the actual codes).
After the 3rd incident I removed the column lock.
Here is a tip: You CANNOT remove the lock if has failed in the lock position. Once that is the case you either have to replace the steering column along with a new lock module, somehow get the module to unlock one more time, or perhaps drill one or more holes in the module and use a pick or something to manually turn the motor/gear to back the bolt back to the unlock position. I have no idea if this can be done with this model module but I saw videos of it done on some other versions on various MB vehicles.
To remove the lock module the easy way:
1) Turn on the ignition so the steering column module unlocks.
2) Unplug the electrical connector from steering column lock module.
3) Turn off the ignition. The lock is now in the unlocked position and will stay this way.
4) Find the T30 headed pin on the casting of the column that holds the lock module and rotate it CW180 degrees. It is located on the steering wheel end of this casting and on the fuse box side. It should be fairly easy to turn. If not, the column lock bolt has not been retracted. Turning it the 180 CW slides a little flag on the pin out of a pocket on the casting and (if the column lock bolt has retracted) the pin can now be removed...You may need to use a small screwdriver and going in from a hole maybe 3/8" diameter on the other side of the casting from the T30, push it part way out.
5)The lock assembly should just swing/fall out. My van has a small vent duct that runs under the steering column and I had to remove the screw at the outer end of it and swing the duct down a couple inches to let the lock module swing far enough down to come out.
Now that you have the old lock module out, you could replace it with a new one, or do what I did. I replaced it with a column lock module emulator. While this no longer locks the column, it also has no moving parts or hall sensors to fail in the future, leaving you with a 7000 pound brick, hundreds of miles from the nearest Sprinter dealer (like me).
Obviously removing the lock and setting aside isnt the end of the story. The van wont start without one. In my case, and since the lock was failing intermittently, I plugged the connector back in and zip-tied the lock to the back side of the dash so I could use the van while I looked for my solution.
The first thing that I though about was getting a new replacement. I got the part number off the old unit and searched the web. Every MB dealer based web parts source shows the part as discontinued. None of the independent sources even list it. I did find a source on eBay from Jacksonville that had 5 to sell at $195 each. Mostly I found used units. I have a used unit. Thats the problem. They wear out. I am not 100% sure but I suspect a new module will also need to be "adapted". Without trying to second guess why MB is drying up the availability, I concluded that I wanted to not replace it with another identical new unit but to find an alternative it at all possible (sort of what I would like to do with the whole damned emissions system).
After searching the web for an alternate solution I came across a couple videos of a module used in Europe (and one in the US) to bypass or emulate the lock module. The module has no moving parts and does not lock the column, it just satisfies the vans anti-theft logic that the column is unlocked or locked at the appropriate times. The US videos is by an independent repair guy in Dallas by the name of Martin Galvan. He sells this module (or one very much like the one I saw in the Euro videos). It is plug-and-play (no "adapting" by a dealer scanner needed). Just connect it up to the plug you took out of the original lock module and hide it somewhere. By the way some of the videos show a 3 wire pigtail that you plug into the corresponding wires on the Sprinter plug...his module cleanly accepts the Sprinter plug into it. No muss, no fuss, no mistakes. You can find Martin on Facebook (Martin's Mobile) or email galvan890@gmail.com. Super responsive. Check reviews on Yelp if you want.