The old fuse may be working perfectly well and may continue to give good service. You can always wait until a problem develops before checking the fuse. Given the low cost of fuses (so long as you don't buy them from an M-B dealer, and even then they're not THAT expensive) many folks prefer to change them every few years. It's one less thing to wonder about when you have an electrical problem. It's also a good opportunity to check for problems in the fuse box.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

More often than not I end up tacking them on my orders to some places because "free shipping" is at like $50 and my order is only $35. But with shipping it would hit $51

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Cruise Control not working? Send me PM or email (jamesdean59@gmail.com). I might be able to help out.
Check here for compatibility, diagnostics, and availability!

(4/11/2020: Hi Everyone! I am still taking orders and replying to emails/PMs/etc, I appreciate your patience in these crazy times. Stay safe and healthy!)


82 300SD 145k
89 420SEL 210k
89 560SEL 118k
90 300SE 262k RIP 5/25/2010
90 560SEL 154k
91 300D 2.5 Turbo. 241k
93 190E 3.0 235k
93 300E 195k

The blower fuse holder actually melted it's plastic socket on a friend's '82 300D. I was able to unfasten the fusebox from the bulkhead, and transfer the blower wires to an unused, undamaged fuse holder. I marked the lable in the fusebox-cover with the blower fuse's new location.

Do Mercedes dealers stock the copper on ceramic fuses?

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Cool idea, I noticed #5 is not used on my 240D. I will have to give that a try. Free is good when you need a new ac compressor.

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The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

I ordered a set of ebay ceramic copper fuses and they are perfect, I had a colleague test them at work along with the OE tin fuses. Both blew out at same power draw.

I dont know of W123 that much but wouldnt it be better to use the "coffin fuse" for the blower like the W124 used, it was afterall an update called in by MB.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

My recommendations (this is what I did):

1) Get "Deoxit" Home of DeoxIT® and HAND-E-GLOVE® - CAIG Laboratories, Inc.
2) Get copper on ceramic fuses
3) Disconnect battery
4) remove 1 fuse at a time. Spray DeOxit on each set of connections.
5) Replace with new fuse of appropriate type. (long curved needle nose pliers are very helpful for this). Rotate fuse a little bit to assure good connection.
6) Repeat 4-5 as needed to do entire fuse panel.
7) Reconnect battery and enjoy better fuses and connections.

Sincerely,

PE

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83 240D - 4 speed manual - Manilla Beige
189K miles, Tachometer mod, cool wooden shift knob from PeachParts, CocoMats, Original factory paint, manual windows, manual sunroof. Starting to add AudioWrap to this car too!

+1 for Get "Deoxit" and Gold GxL

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1999 Mercedes E300TD daily driver sold at 238K miles 106K miles were mine, rust worm got it :-(
2006 Mercedes CDI new daily driver! 56,000 miles May 2016 now 85,625 Apr 2018 and Apr 2019 101,000 miles Apr 2020 109,875. March 2024 135,250

Copper on ceramic is the way to go. The problem you have heard of regarding old fuses is what has been said above- galvanic corrosion. When you have a fuse with an aluminum element seated in the brass contacts of the MB fusebox, this is inevitable. This corrosion will be present at the contact area and prevent adequate current flow. Although the element will be intact, current will not make it from one contact thru the fuse to the other contact. If you are by the side of the road, in a pinch a pocketknife or some such can be used to carefully scrape away the corrosion, restoring the fuse.

Best to just replace all the fuses. That was the first thing I did with my 126.

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Chief

1991 350SD

Thanks for the helpful advice. While it may be too early to tell, I believe a fuse replacement just solved the intermittent working of the cruise control on my SDL.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 142k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

No one has mentioned this but Glass fuses are available for the Euro type fuses. I bought some from NAPA about 12 years ago and they are still doing fine. The ends are chrome plated I believe and they do not corrode.

Paul

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84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles)