not any more!

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Since I tightened the loose ground strap, the car now starts fine. However, there's a new problem: The coolant temp and fuel gauge are now both pegged at the upper end of the scale when I am on the hwy. When I'm stopped at a light, most of the time the 2 gauges are pegged but sometimes it jumps between pegged and normal reading.

Hey Tom, where exactly is the problem this time?

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

You don't know what I went through to fix the coolant temp and fuel gauge! I checked everything. The temp sensor is ok, the cluster has a good ground, the gauges are getting +12. The gauges work except it's indicating 80 deg and 1/2 tank too high. Turned out it was the gauge pod! I reseated the circular connector a few times which didn't help. I took it out, re-soldered every connection, found an almost melted copper trace and jumped it with a piece of wire, put it back and the gauges now read normal. What a PITA that was. What bothers me is the unlikelyhood of so many seemingly unrelated problems poping up within a few days. Hope this don't happen too often.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

My guess is that they may not be unrelated. If the engine ground strap was loose, the only other path to ground could have been through the instrument cluster thus burning out that wire.
bb

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For Sale: 1982 MB 300TD
1995 Chevrolet Suburban 6.5TD

Sold: 1980 IH Scout Traveler- Nissan SD33T Diesel

That has crossed my mind. If a loose ground strap could burn out copper traces in the instrument cluster, I would call that poor design on the part of Mercedes engineers. If I am really curious, I could pull the cluster, buzz out the burned trace, draw a diagram and analyze if that is possible. Maybe next time I'm in there.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

When I first saw the title I thought 'how does one get stranded with internet access?'

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RIP: 80 300SD
RIP: 79 450SEL
2002 E430 4matic (212,000km)
2002 ML500 'sport'

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FACEBOOK: PANZER450

I have internet access on my phone! As long as I have a Sprint signal, I can get help from this forum.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Well, you can call the ground burnout in the cluster a design flaw, but also keep in mind that when the car was new/less than 24 years old, that probably wouldn't have burned out, and definitely wouldn't have burned out as quickly.

Many things on these cars, like the vacuum lock system, can be seen as design flaws or poor design, but keep in mind that these cars are over 20 years old and it all still works. That seems to run counter to any arguments in my mind.

Then again, maybe you're right.

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1984 300DT turbo 138k mi

Still hauling me to school and back.

Handy Site:
http://www.dieselgiant.com/

Ahh life in the age of teckmology.

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"spreading a trail of obnoxious where ever we go"
1981 300sd w/ 341,500 miles

http://www.wecrash.com/pics/ddda_banner.gif

Got to love that EVDO Sprint service! 1 Meg downloads to a phone??

OK I am done hijacking now.... carry on.....

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NC Benz
Fuquay-Varina, NC
1979 300D
1983 300D Turbo 260,000 Miles
1984 300D Turbo 345,000 Miles (sons car)
OBK #31
1998 Ford Expedition 5.4l (fer Haulin'!) 145,000
1973 19' SeaRay with 115 Mercury TOWER OF POWER!
Club Car Golf Cart 36V
Ex toys:
1967 Mustang 289 (First Car)
Fiat 124TC
1975 Honda CVCC
1980 Audi 5000 Turbo

any time to trace out the circuit and figure out why it burned? or is all working well, and you don't wanna mess anything up?

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Sorry, didn't see your question till now, 7 years late.

Cluster has been fine since the repair and I have not done any tracing- sorry. Car sold to JB3. If JB3 saved the cluster, and if he post a pic of the repaired burned trace, there is a possibility I can trace the circuit on my 85, if both clusters are the same.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I did indeed save the cluster, where would I find the repair? is it right on back?

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

You'd have to take the gauge pods out and look for traces that I soldered.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked