When I bought my 1986 300 sdl the cruise control worked fine but always had a crunchy sound inside the steering column. Finally it has quit working and I have ordered and received a new cruise control switch complete with handle and plastic parts that sit inside the steering column which I assume was the crunchy part. How do you install this piece?

 

pull out the steering wheel. just mark the original position.

 

I've never removed a wheel with an airbag. Anything tricky or dangerous about that? Thanks.

 

there's nothing dangerous with it, just don't drop the airbag on the floor.

disconnecting the battery is a good precaution. it will not affect anything. just initialize the power windows after reconnecting the battery (if it got memory).

you will find the airbag screws at the back. it could be phillips or torx type.

you can do it...easy.

 

I have the airbag off. Easy like you said. I have broken a carbon steel allen wrench and a number 10 stainless steel wrench (used to hold and pry the allen wrench) and this is after letting it soak in PB Blaster for 2 days. I've taken a hammer and pecked(beat) the top of the bolt with the straight part of the broken allen wrench. Nothing is working so far. Give me some direction. I'm headed for the "BLUE" wrench next. Thanks.

 

try turning it on counter clockwise direction to unscrew them.

 

Need more direction than that. I've only tried it counterclockwise. I'm talking about the allen head bolt in the middle of the wheel after the airbag and horn assembly are removed. Any possibility its reverse thread? I'm going to chuck the straight piece of the broken #10 allen into an air impact wrench tomorrow. If that doesn't work I will try acetylene but worried about disfiguring the wheel trim near the bolt.

 

okay, i know. i was confused because i got no idea if your car was 126 or 140 model.

you must have at least an extra 4 inch length allowance so that nothing gets in the way with the steering wheel handle.

steer your wheel all the way to the left till you can't move it anymore... and from that position, remove the key from the ignition switch. the purpose is to restrict the movement of the steering wheel while you are doing the job, and no need for another person to assist you holding that steering wheel. he might lose several teeth once your allen wrench slips again.

i never find any difficulty removing that bolt before, but i assume you're using the "L" type wrench. just use a 3/4" pipe with enough length to get a good cleavage.... err leverage.

please be careful of your windscreen.

 

SUCCESS! The air impact wrench took it off. The bolt had some red stuff on it. Thread lock? After reassembly I couldn't get the horn to blow so I removed the wheel AGAIN and checked all the contacts, springs and wire connections. Everything looked fine but still no horn. I turned the ignition on and the horn works fine just like it always has. Duh. After trying out the cruise I noticed it is a little irratic at high speed (75-85) Works fine at all slower speeds. I lubed all the linkage. Any suggestions? Thanks for all your help.

 

heheh... at least you didn't use the jack hammer.

i only know that they use a blue color thread lock on mercedes-benz. but never seen it applied on the steering bolt before since it is countersunk type.