Interior lights still not working ..I jumped rheostat

[Argospete33]

I just swapped out the temp/fuel/oil gauge on my 83 240d. I also swapped out the rheostat and jumped the switch. My interior still not working but everything else work.???

[Argospete33]

I had to swap out the front passenger window switch. Now everytime I engage the switch on both front window switches the fuel and temp gauges start jumping? I am a bit confused on what is causing this.

[Argospete33]

The gauges start "jumping"

[hercules]

Clean the fuse holder contacts replace the fuses on both the dash electrical and window
switches. Yes!! it can do this.

[Argospete33]

I cleaned the holder contacts with electric contact cleaner spray. I also checked the fuses and they look OK.
I noticed when I touch the front window switches at night that the headlights also become dim or flicker a bit. There seems to be an electrical issue that I can't figure out.

[Argospete33]

I cleaned the holder contacts with electric contact cleaner spray. I also checked the fuses and they look OK.
I noticed when I touch the front window switches at night that the headlights also become dim or flicker a bit. There seems to be an electrical issue that I can't figure out.

[Sugar Bear]

Those are the classic symptoms of a bad/high resistance ground/earth connection. Remove, clean and tighten every ground connection you can find. Ground wires other than the battery cable are usually brown on MBZ. You can also add grounds, it will only help.

[hercules]

Grounds for the dash instruments and others should be behind the instruments in a bundle.

[Argospete33]

I tightened the bundle behind the dash instrument cluster and cleaned it as much as I can . I drove the car tonight and the headlights still dim when I engage the front window switches.

[Sugar Bear]

Clean and tighten every ground you can find including those under the hood. Headlight grounds , battery grounds and the braided ground strap from the bell transmission area to the frame. Headlights dimming some while power windows are drawing current is normal, I'd be curious to know the battery charging voltage when this occurs. The charging system could be getting weak.

[Argospete33]

I cleaned and tightened every ground I can find on the car. The gauges no longer are jumping. I can't figure out why the interior lights are not working? I replaced the oil/fuel/temp with another used off a donor car. It's not exactly the same as mine on my 83 240d. Would that matter? Also, the battery light does not turn on when turn the key for few seconds as it should? I tested the battery and alternator and are working normal.