Hi Everyone,
I have a 1997 SL500, and here is my story.
When I bought the car, I had three keys. Since buying the car, two keys have unfortunately gone missing entirely. I went to the dealer, and several hundred dollars later, I had an extra flip key and a valet key (as the service advisor called it, Mickey Mouse key).
All three keys worked fine, except for the new flip key that I had to initialize the key into the infrared locking system myself with no support from the dealer (dealer said I could take the key home and it would just work, wrong).
The SL went into storage for the winter. I just picked it up and drove it home using the OLD flip key.
So, the other day, my mom had the SL at work and she called me to tell me that the car was not starting. I thought she was crazy and went down there to check. Sure enough, the SL started up on the first crank with the Mickey Mouse key.
Confirmed! Mom is crazy! Or was she. I turned off the car, satisfied that nothing was wrong. I tried the key she had, the old original flip key, which had always worked reliably. The car wouldn't start! She would turn over and crank, but seemed like she wasn't getting gas or wasn't sparking.
Hmm. Take the flip key out, try the Mickey Mouse key again and it fires right up!!
Here is the final tally;
Mickey Mouse key--works in the door locks, starts the engine.
New flip key--works with keyless entry (now), and starts the engine.
Original flip key--works with keyless entry, but won't start the engine successfully.
So what the heck is going on! I can't seem to figure out the right keywords to get successful search results, so I thought I would just ask all of you directly.
Thanks for your help!!
I have a 1997 SL500, and here is my story.
When I bought the car, I had three keys. Since buying the car, two keys have unfortunately gone missing entirely. I went to the dealer, and several hundred dollars later, I had an extra flip key and a valet key (as the service advisor called it, Mickey Mouse key).
All three keys worked fine, except for the new flip key that I had to initialize the key into the infrared locking system myself with no support from the dealer (dealer said I could take the key home and it would just work, wrong).
The SL went into storage for the winter. I just picked it up and drove it home using the OLD flip key.
So, the other day, my mom had the SL at work and she called me to tell me that the car was not starting. I thought she was crazy and went down there to check. Sure enough, the SL started up on the first crank with the Mickey Mouse key.
Confirmed! Mom is crazy! Or was she. I turned off the car, satisfied that nothing was wrong. I tried the key she had, the old original flip key, which had always worked reliably. The car wouldn't start! She would turn over and crank, but seemed like she wasn't getting gas or wasn't sparking.
Hmm. Take the flip key out, try the Mickey Mouse key again and it fires right up!!
Here is the final tally;
Mickey Mouse key--works in the door locks, starts the engine.
New flip key--works with keyless entry (now), and starts the engine.
Original flip key--works with keyless entry, but won't start the engine successfully.
So what the heck is going on! I can't seem to figure out the right keywords to get successful search results, so I thought I would just ask all of you directly.
Thanks for your help!!