I am planning on removing my instrument panel because of a lack of power to my climate control and window switches. I just wanted to clear up a few things before I began.

1. Is the red light bulb looking fuse that I've heard described in other posts a fuse that is readily available in auto parts stores, or is it a dealer item? I can't seem to find it in fastlane, and would like to be able to do this in one day (dealer is quite far from my residence).

2. How do you get the glass (or plastic) off the front to access the gauges themselves?

3. How much is the tool to remove the instrument panel needles? Is there a trick to it? (I wanted to put new, white backgrounds behind them and piant them as well).

4. Anyone have any bad experiences with the blue eurolite LED's available at **************.com? It says they won't melt anything, but I am always a bit paranoid from reading various nightmare stories on this forum.

As always, any and all responses are greatly appreciated.

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headrivenoise... listen.

1. I haven't heard of this fuse. It looks like a red light bulb? The only red thing with a fuse on it, that I can think of, is the Klima relay, and that's under the hood.

2. Difficult to do without breaking the plastic. Once the panel is out, you remove the gauges from behind. That part is easy.

3. I don't know if there's a special tool for needle removal, but you can use two spoons to carefully pry the needle up, exerting even pressure with both spoons.

4. If you're removing the gauges from the bezel, you might want to replace the bezel with that from a later model W124. See the link below for details on why the new bezels are better.

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W124InstCluster

1. What it is (or at least what it is on my '87) is a silkscreened copper trace stuck in a red lamp holder. I have never seen anything else like it in my limited travels, may be a special order item from the dealer.

2. As speedy mentioned, the gauges all come out from behind. I believe the clear front panel is glued/fused to the cluster housing, I wouldn't try to remove it.

Dunno about (3) or (4), although once I did try to remove the speedo needle without much luck.

My question though, is whether any of the center console units get power through the instrument cluster? Ever since I fiddled around with my cluster awhile back (and replaced the radio), the center console always lights up, regardless of whether the lights are on (or where the dimmer switch is). Can't seem to figure that one out...

First and foremost I would check the fuse box if you're not getting power. Try not to remove the instrument cluster if you don't have to. You could do more damage than good....I learned this lesson the hard way.

1. I don't think the 87' has the red fuse. I didn't have it on my 86'. I believe it's on the cars with the M104 engines.

2. The whole guages is removed from the back, then you can access the needle

3. The special tool used to remove the instrument cluster can be made for free. Just get one of your old coat hangers and bend it. Do a search on this forum, it's been discussed many times. There are even photos for illustration. Regarding the white face guages...Someone else on this board changed the face plate and now he's complaining that his needle is "messed up" (needle needs to be removed to put in the new faces)...it's up to you if you want to take that chance.

4. I have read MANY post of people using bulbs other than the OEM and now have melted instrument clusters. I replaced all of my bulbs with the OEM bulbs and I am very satisfied.

If I were you, I'd leave the cluster alone. Messing around with it can cause more hassle than it's worth.

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JR
1986 Gold 300E 4Dr automatic

anthony b: the center console units, at least in my car, are dimmed when you turn the dimmer knob along with the instrument cluster bulbs; when everything is working properly, that is. I would therefore assume that the power for the center console lights would have to be connected to the dimmer knob in some way.

jrmd01: I already switched out all the fuses that could cause a problem. They started putting the fuses in in '87, at least that's what is stated in another post.

Thanks for the replies everyone, I will just e-mail Phil at parts shop to see if he has any info on this mystery fuse (duh!).

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headrivenoise... listen.

This entire problem began when I replaced two of the bulbs that light up the vent dials and one of the sockets sparked. After all the talk about the need to get the correct 3 watt bulbs for the instrument cluster, I am wondering if I bought bulbs that were too powerful. I just took the old bulbs out and eyed them with the ones I bought at autozone. Are the same 3 watt bulbs in the vent dials as there are in the instrument cluster?

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headrivenoise... listen.

This entire problem (lack of power to my climate control and window switches) began when I replaced two of the bulbs that light up the vent dials and one of the sockets sparked. After all the talk about the need to get the correct 3 watt bulbs for the instrument cluster, I am wondering if I bought bulbs that were too powerful.
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I had 1 bulb replaced about a year ago. In the process of removing the instrument cluster something happened...when I got the car back the whole right side wasn't working...RPM, clock, light, etc. This is what I was telling you about doing more damage than good. Anyway luckily the problem on my car was traced to a poor ground. Got a wire soldered to the back and grounded it to the frame...that did the trick. Everything works now. While everything was out, I had ALL the bulbs replaced with new OEM ones. I was going to go with higher watt bulbs, but decided against it after I read MANY post about melting instrument cluster.

Now to specically answer your question...you probably have a short. If you're lucky it's the fuse. Since you mentioned that you changed all your fuse, now you must search for the short. I would start from the climate control and window switches and work my way backwards.

One thing I've learn from owning this car is that you need to stick with OEM parts. Mercedes are very sensitive cars. Just buying aftermarket wheels can be difficult. The offset, bolt pattern, and width are very specific. Good thing about using Mercedes OEM parts is that once you fix it, it's good for another 100,000-200,000 miles.

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JR
1986 Gold 300E 4Dr automatic

More likely an open, the opposite of a short. A short is a power wire contacting ground ... zap ... blown fuse. Replace fuse without fixing short ... zap again ... another blown fuse.

An open is a break in the circuit, things just stop working. Could be a bad ground, corroded fuse, bad connector, broken wire, broken whatever. All are opens, not shorts.

Enjoy,

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Norm in NJ
Next oil change at 230,000miles

When something sparked, you might have fried the illumination relay. It's behind the instrument cluster, to the right, mounted on a bracket with the seatbelt warning relay. Either that or the cable to it became disconnected.

well, I pulled the cluster and my problem was in fact the fuse that is in the red socket . I should clarify, I thought that the fuse itself would resemble a light bulb, a bit like the "japanese" fuses that are clear glass tubes with a wire in the middle. It doesn't. It is just a flat white piece of plastic with copper on one side, looks like it would be in a computer. The socket it sits in resembles the other bulb sockets on the cluster, that was the reason for my confusion.

If anyone is interested, I removed the air vents on both sides of the cluster, and it was very easy to pull out with my fingers after this. It is another method for removal that does not involve the "hooks" typically used. It's great if you have to replace the vent dial bulbs anyway, like I did (went OEM with all the bulbs now, just to be safe).

I have one more question, though. Does any one know how you unattach the speedeometer cable from the tranny? I located it under the car, but it loops up and disappears around the top of the transmission. I felt for some sort of fitting, but was unsuccessful.

Thank you for your time.

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headrivenoise... listen.

Done! Fuse replaced, new bulbs put in. Everything is lit up again. I found the vent removal method much easier than using any hooks. Thanks for the help everyone.

p.s. also put a pair of rainbows in my dash, great sound quality! Such a simple install, too. highly recommended.

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headrivenoise... listen.