Brighter bulb hurt cluster....Help please
 

Hello,

I purchased some bulbs from mercedes source for my 93 400E that were supposed to make my instrument cluster brighter (which it did.) However, now when I have my lights on, my left turn signal arrow in the cluster is lit. The right one is fine. When I engage the left turn signal, it blinks as normal so it is the bulbs.

Before this happened, I took out the cluster to add some white gauge faces and noticed that the bulbs had melted some of the area of the cluster housing around it. I contacted mercedes source and they said this would not hurt anything.

Later, I noted that the left arrow was lit.

Question: Mercedes source said that I would have to replace the cluster. Is that true? Is there anything that other than that I can do to repair it and how much would a new cluster cost for a 93 124?

Thanks for your help.


duron

I am 99% sure that the bulbs they sold you are 5 watt. This WILL melt the light channels in the cluster and there's no other way to fix this than to replace the instrument cluster bezel.

Using new correct wattage bulbs (Sylvania 2821) and cleaning the channels prior to installation will help the lighting a lot. I'm sure your cluster looks similar to this:

Yep, that's it. Know of any good places to get one cheap, but in great shape?

i have the same problem with my instrument lights. i don't know whats the cause. my main light does not come on. the left blinker light stays on. when i want to turn right my instrument cluster light does not blink (though the headlights do blink). my heater lights does not come on. could this (your picture) be the problem? also exactly what area is it?