rheostat interior dash lights panel bulb dim - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

classics · #1 01-18-2008, 05:23 PM

i searched the DIYs and very helpful,i bypassed the rheostat today and 1 bulb lights up on the right side,i still cant see any illumination on the instrument panel even with the cluster put back in place and dark.thye bulb is dim and the other one doesent seem to work,1983 300d , so what is the next step?and where is the wiring board on the back of cluster or else where?any photos please,recap, wjth one bulb working still cant see any light ,bypassed rheostat .please help i cant see well at night as it is

winmutt · #2 01-18-2008, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by classics

i searched the DIYs and very helpful,i bypassed the rheostat today and 1 bulb lights up on the right side,i still cant see any illumination on the instrument panel even with the cluster put back in place and dark.thye bulb is dim and the other one doesent seem to work,1983 300d , so what is the next step?and where is the wiring board on the back of cluster or else where?any photos please,recap, wjth one bulb working still cant see any light ,bypassed rheostat .please help i cant see well at night as it is

Are the prism channels burned out as well?

classics · #3 01-18-2008, 05:32 PM

ummm dont know what those are ? please explain,thank you so much.

classics · #4 01-18-2008, 07:39 PM

any more ideas please, need help here.

hangit · #5 01-18-2008, 07:46 PM

Check out this thread. w123/126 instrument lighting

I replaced my cluster lights with the LED's. I also repaired the circuit board that had a couple of breaks in it with a silver conductive pen. The reason my turn signal indicator bulbs were responding to the rheostat was that a copper circuit strip was denuded of its insulating paint. I used liquid electricians tape to cover the strip, now everything works great!

John

LUVMBDiesels · #6 01-18-2008, 07:57 PM

Stupid question... are the bulbs OK? I had old ones that had developed a dark film. I replaced them and the panel was much brighter.

Mustang_man298 · #7 01-18-2008, 09:54 PM

Have you checked the grounds? The cluster has separate steel backings which use the mounting screws where they overlap to bond to each other, and to a metal tang on the edge of the circuit board. Make sure all of these connections are free of corrosion and tight, if that doesn't fix it you might try as a test to run a piece of wire from any screw that attaches to the body metal to one of the metal joints on the cluster and see if that improves it, that would tell you if your grounding wire has gone bad in the harness.