Dome light 300TD - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

NoSparkNeeded · #1 06-13-2008, 06:09 PM

Hi Folks,
My dome light had lost it's ability to come on when doors were opened,
and delay the shut off of the light. Little things like that drive me nuts.
Since acquiring this car a few weeks ago, I have fixed the door locks, the power windows, fuel gauge, loose center console, sunroof wind deflector springs. The last
annoyance was the dome light. It would manually turn on and off, just no auto/delay. I just took it all apart in hopes resoldering/cleaning circuit board connections would fix it. No luck. What I did notice though was a bit
of discoloration on the board around the power transistor. It was a common part, BD435. NTE has a convert NTE184. Just removed the old one, checked it with a MM and sure enough it was dead. Just soldered
in the NTE184 and it works fine now. Be sure to note E C B on the circuit
board to get it in the correct way. Little things like this delight the crap outta me. Now everything on the car works just as it should. I would have
liked to have had that whiz-bang 50.00 replacement with the map light, but a hacked fix it so much more satisfying than just spending bucks,heh.

Chad300tdt · #2 06-13-2008, 06:22 PM

Congratulations

I agree that fixing it yourself is much more satisfying.

Here's another thought on interior light. I plan to use reading lights from a w126 or w116 to help illuminate the rear seat better since the wagons only get good light in the front and the back hatch area.

I also replaced the stock bulbs with LEDs from LEDlight.com. I've posted a few times with direct links to all the bulbs you would need and even posted a pic of my cluster with the LEDs installed if you're interested.

ndz77-240D · #3 06-13-2008, 06:47 PM

I've also replaced mine with LEDs and though I lost that old-time yellow glow (think old streetlamps), the quality of the light at night is much better!