Headlights momentarily turning off
 

'83 240D 205K mi, have owned approx 3 yrs.
Since I've had the car, the headlight flash feature (pulling the stalk) has never worked. Recent and somewhat worrisome development, when switching between high and low beams, using the turn signals and also activating the wipers, sometimes the headlights will turn off. It's only for a moment and, so far, the headlights come back on.
All lights work normally, other than this "new" problem. Turn signals, flashers, high/low beam, and fogs all work as advertised (save for the preexisting "flash" feature).
I'm assuming this is a worn turn signal stalk malfunction but many times these things aren't so obvious. Any ideas?
Also wondering, does the steering wheel have to come off to change the stalk switch?

the switch can be replaced on my 300d without removing the steering wheel so its probably the same for your 240d. i would unplug the switch and clean the pins and sockets best as you can and put a light coating of dielectric grease and reassemble. that did wonders for my hazard light issue.


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Thanks for the info and suggestion. I'll give it a try...

It sounds like a bad turn signal stalk. As stated it is not difficult to replace. I would replace it vs trying to clean it. If original it is 38 years old and the new part may not be available much longer.

Good luck!!!

Thanks Sugarbear. I've no reason to suspect it's not original. 38 years is pretty old for such a part. It's not like it just sits there, but got quite a workout over almost 4 decades.
Any suggestions/experience on a new one? As usual, pretty big spread on price. Are the cheap ones junk?

Sorry no reasonably recent experience. I'd probably go with the best I could e.g., Meyle, Febi get without going OE.

High Beam Flasher
 

This is a common failure part, I'd try really hard to get an original one if you can possibly afford it....

Thanks Nate. I'll keep that in mind. So far, with what little looking I've done, new MB stalks are around $200. The cheapest "off brand" is around $50. Fairly big spread.
I'm sure the MB's are magnitudes better than the knock off stuff, no doubt.

Helping Hands
 

Once you have the correct part number you can google it and often find a New Old Stock one or other brand (Hella, SWF, Bosch are all good) else where for an in between price .

After a few years of searching I recently found a N.O.S. in the box Honda muffler for my worthless 1984 CB125S Motocycle ~ I'd been looking at crappy used ones on FleaBay for close to $175.00 and was thinking maybe I could take two, cut them open and rebuild one, re weld it then have it re chromed....

I'da been looking at $600 or so and the damn Moto is worth maybe $350 no matter how much I like riding it....

The internet makes parts searching a whole lot easier, you just have to wait sometimes .

Thanks for the tip. Sounds like good advice. I hadn't thought of the NOS search. All part of the "joy of ownership". Or, maybe "the thrill is in the chase"....lol

Helpful Hints
 

Part of my long career path has been in parts ~ I transferred to the mayor's garage in 1985 and the 1967 Cadillac stretch limo's rear air con unit failed, this was before the computers and internet but once I had the correct part numbers for the rear evaporator and some other bits I was able to source all the necessary parts original DELCO - AIR .

We have the 1953 Chrysler dual cowl phaeton parade car and I was able to chase down a distributor and carby along with other bits and bobs, they still use that car .

I got to drive it once (in the name of sourcing an new exhaust system) so I got one photograph of me with it the kid taking the photo made a poor job of it , whatever .

In 1967 I was chasing 'A' Model Ford parts in rural New England and coined the word "unobtanium" ~ not long after one of those old typ mimeographed car club letters used it then it took off from there .

Take your time, I find the oddest things in the oddest places....

N.O.S. Metropolitan Nash parts in Israel.....

IIRC "HUGO" parts from Germany are pretty good, I don't like their voltage regulators though as they never charge to 13 volts .

I'm afraid I don't have a lot of time for this one. Worried the headlights might go out and not come back on.....at night on a dark road far from home (Mr Murphy wouldn't have it any other way). Maybe I'll get a "cheapie" and continue to search for a good deal on an NOS or stock MB replacement?
I'm tempted to remove my original and putz around with it. Poosibly a spritz, or two, of Caig De-oxit? May be a bunch of dried electrical grease, dirt/dust and various types of hair and fibers in there....lol. At any rate, worth a look.

Yeah I had this same problem. Visual headlight blink was messed up and I had high beams on all the time and no fogs. I fixed it for free. It was a worn out combo switch stalk. I took it to bits and used some small screws to replace the four rivets.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/394730-got-1985-300d-turbo-5.html

Post #72

The bad news is cleaning didn’t help. It had to be comepletely disassembled.

There is this plastic mushroom shaped piece that gets worn short. I grew it longer by heating it with a heat gun or a lighter and smushing it with a pair of pliers.

The end gets worn at kind of an angle and it stops working. I think my car was owned by somebody who enjoyed high beaming people.

My feeling was the OE stalk looked a heck of a lot better than the aftermarket ones. And if I’m going to be using that control a lot, I want a very good one.

It was time consuming to take apart and I had to keep the parts carefully organized with digital photos. But in the end it was pretty satisfying to get it working.

Good luck.

Great story! Thanks for the tips. I'm sure it was VERY satisfying to get it working!! As mentioned, earlier, OEM is the way to go, no doubt. Might just hafta "bite the bullet" on this one and spring for the MB replacement. Or, buy a cheapie, take my original apart and try to repair it. When I fail at fixing or re-assembling it, THEN spring for the OEM part when the cheapie fails.....lol

Didn't wanna leave this thread just "hangin" there. I don't put a lot of miles on the car and mostly drive during daylight. Think I'll probably throw a "cheapie" in there and try to locate a decent deal on an NOS or used MB unit.....or, maybe do nothing. Also considering selling the car. No idea of current value, but the used car market is NUTS right now. Not sure what/when anythings gonna happen, but I'll report back on the progress. Like most on here, we have other vehicles. Thanks to all that offered opinions and advice!