left turn arrow in cluster aglow all the time - w123
 

Hello all, the left turn signal indicator in my gauge cluster ('85 300d) has always glowed faintly at night, since I got the car. All the signals work fine.

Now I notice it's getting noticeably brighter, not full output but not faint either.

Is this a ground issue?

Yes it is a grounding issue. Check the front left headlight / turn signal ground and the left tail light ground. IIRC they are both located near their respective fixture.

A really quick way to test for where the problem is would be to take the bulb out of the parking light or the turn signal. Whichever one makes the indicator glow dimly is the one closer to the bad ground.

-J

only happens with the headlights or parking lights on??

I suspect that the light tunnels in the cluster maybe be allowing light from the dashboard illumination into the tunnel for the turnsignal arrow.