Has anyone done this before? I have a light out, odometer that doesn't work, and I want to fix it. I will remove one from a salvage car, so if there is anything that I should make sure that I get from the salvage car as well, besides the intrument cluster itself, I would appreciate knowing.

Thanks,
Josh

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81 300D 250K+ (odo doesn't work!)
Want another one.

I am assuming your '81 is similar to my '83: There is more than one way; I prefer to remove the bottom panel, get upside down and pull the air vent hose out of the way. Then, unscrew the speedometer cable and push the cluster out from the back. Be careful not to break any vacuum hoses. You may also want to place a towel around the steering wheel and dash first to protect things from scratches. Hope this helps, Andrew Seidel.

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89 190E 2.6
86 560SEC
83 300TD Turbo
75 240D

The instrument panel is simply held in place by friction. Remove the lower dash panel, reach up behind the instrument panel and start pushing. It may take some effort but it'll come out. I would recommend disconnecting the battery so that you don't accidently short out a wire as you remove the connectors on the instrument panel. The beauty about all the connectors is that they are all different so you can't reconnect anything wrong. The only exception to this is the lights for the seatbelt, glowplug, etc. However since the wires have been sitting in the same position for 19 years, they have probably developed a "memory" shape, which helps inlinig up the right wire with the right socket. To actually remove the instrument panel from the car you will need to disconnect the oil pressure line which I believe req's a 10mm wrench. With the oil line, I would recommend a using a backup wrench at the back of the oil press. gauge. You'll see what I mean. This is one area where you don't want to break or strip anything or you'll have oil all over place when you start the eng.
Hope this helps. I got this experience from changing out a light in my father's '85 300D, before I bought my own Benz. My instrument panel comes out the same way.

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1980 MB 300SD
1999 VW Passat Wagon

rick gave you a very good description for getting the cluster out.

If you want to just replace the light bulb, there's no need to completely remove the cluster. To remove the speedometer, you will have to completely remove the cluster.

What typically happens with the odometer is that the trip odometer starts dragging and halts both of them. I don't know if you want to take this approach, but if you don't need the trip odometer to work, you can remove the plastic spur gear that connects the two, and the main odometer will begin working again.

One more thing, if you do replace your speedometer, you must do it with one from a car with the same rear axle ratio. These are unlike American cars, where the calibration is done via spur gears inside the transmission.

Good luck,

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Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, manual, 533K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

Thanks All,

This is why I love this forum.

Josh

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81 300D 250K+ (odo doesn't work!)
Want another one.

Josh,
Was it successful? I am planning on doing the exact same things to my '81 300td and am a little leary about removing the entire cluster. I really don't care about the trip odo at this point, but the actual odo would be very useful! Did you find that the above instruction worked as described? Did you find anything else?
I know your post is 2-years old, but the information is timeless!

__________________
Current: '91 300TE 4MATIC 317k and climbing...
Former:
'81 300TD Wagon 168K "Tank"
'83 240D 216K 4spd manual "Da Bear" (aka best car ever)

"Never sweat the petty things...
and never pet the sweaty things."

While it's off try this trick. Given my relative newby status, this is my sole contribution to the expertise of this group,,,,but it worked.

*********************************************

Remove the instrument panel. Remove all of the gauges and clean them and clean the inside. I just used H2O and paper towels.

I also cleaned the plastic "prism" that directs the light from the bulbs to the light diffusers that are in the front, nearest the driver, of the instrument panel. Again this was with H2O.

I noticed that the diffusers were a dull "yellow". My sense that the plastic had weathered or degraded. They were "welded in" via heated plastic tabs so replacement appears out of the question. In desperation, I applied some white flat paint to the diffusers, the idea being a brighter surface.

It worked. I took a steady hand and a small brush, but the instrument panel lights are much brighter.

Good luck

JCD

Thanks JCD!
I am going to attempt this feat tomorrow.
My hope is that I can simply disconnect the trip odo from the Odometer and that will solve my problem...and while I am in there I will be sure to give it a good cleaning, and replace the bulbs.
What about silver paint on the diffusers? Do you think that this would be better than white?
I will let you know how it came out when I finish...hopefully still tomorrow!

__________________
Current: '91 300TE 4MATIC 317k and climbing...
Former:
'81 300TD Wagon 168K "Tank"
'83 240D 216K 4spd manual "Da Bear" (aka best car ever)

"Never sweat the petty things...
and never pet the sweaty things."

The "absence of color" in white makes it a better reflector. On another thread, someone thought about reflective white paint, like on highway lines.

I decided to stick with white since it was safe and I didn't want to pull the panel out again of something creative did not work

OK, I took out the instrument cluster and replaced bulbs (someone had a hig-watt bulb and almost melted the reflector!!) cleaned and painted the reflector area. I also removed the potentiometer and soldered a wire between the two posts. All I can say is wow. Like new. The light are much MUCH brighter...although not blinding, it is great.
While in there, I took a look at the speedo/Odometer and found out that the smallest gear had only one tooth remaining, and the outer-most black one had several missing. Does anyone know where I can get these gears, without having to send in my speedometer to some place?
The speedometer works great, and if those gears were in working order, the odometer would work too!!

BTW, I have a '81 300TDT with electric speedometer, not mechanical.

__________________
Current: '91 300TE 4MATIC 317k and climbing...
Former:
'81 300TD Wagon 168K "Tank"
'83 240D 216K 4spd manual "Da Bear" (aka best car ever)

"Never sweat the petty things...
and never pet the sweaty things."

That is Steve Brotherton's business (a good contributor to this site). Good people, probably they can help you, or send you in the right direction. :p

__________________
J.H.
'86 300E

I have a 1996 C220 (W202 I think) and need to change some burnt out bulbs in my cluster too. Is the removal process the same for mine?

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Instrument cluster, Odometer, Speedometer links
Instrument cluster, Odometer, Speedometer, Tachometer links