Sl 300 1991 Ground Problems

[gireaud]

Hello to everybody. I think my car has a ground problem. when i use the turn light or i turn lights on, the needles on the cluster goes down and all indicators lights goes on, for a second. all this happens just when i am stoped, it does not happen when i am running. I believe the problem is the ground connection that goes to the cluster. have somebody a wire diagrame of the cluster. please help.
note. sorry about my inglish.

[Doctor2687]

I had a the exact problem with my 91 500SL a few months ago. Turns out the gauge cluster was going. Not uncommon problem. The circuit board in the cluster starts to fail.
Not very intelligently I let the dealer replace at over $2000. The are other less expensive ways, other vendors, and some on the net that will repair the cluster if you send it to them for $300-500. Hopefully my expensive experience will save you some money.

Matt

[bobterry99]

This can probably be fixed for less than $2. I know of a handful of people who have fixed their cluster after reading this thread: 500SL instrument cluster blinking.

[tecqboy]

Yes. My experience exactly as Bobterry's above. Replaced bad capacitor for less than $1 and cured the problem. Hardest part was removing the cluster from the dash. You will need the "special" tools. Be very careful. First lower the steering column and then disconnect the battery before removing the cluster. Use solder sucker or solder wick and low wattage soldering pencil to avoid damaging the circuit board. I believe you can search for many posts on how to remove the cluster safely.

[gireaud]

Originally Posted by tecqboy

Yes. My experience exactly as Bobterry's above. Replaced bad capacitor for less than $1 and cured the problem. Hardest part was removing the cluster from the dash. You will need the "special" tools. Be very careful. First lower the steering column and then disconnect the battery before removing the cluster. Use solder sucker or solder wick and low wattage soldering pencil to avoid damaging the circuit board. I believe you can search for many posts on how to remove the cluster safely.

hello, i see you cured the problem, i want to know if your car is a sl.
thanks.

[tecqboy]

I own a 1991 300SL / 105K miles. I had the same problem you describe. The capacitor failed during summer of 2006. So I suppose about 15 years may be the mtbf of this item. I got a new capacitor at the local electronic parts store for about $0.89. Hardest part of the repair for me was getting the cluster out. I had to buy the "puller" tools because I couldn't easily fit under the dash to push it out from behind. As I stated above, search the forum for info on removing the cluster. Then replace the capacitor as described in bobterry's link. While you have the cluster out, you might consider replacing all the lamps on general principle. Sometimes, with old lamps, the filiments are brittle and break when the cluster is removed. You can buy the lamps at fastlane.

[gireaud]

Originally Posted by tecqboy

Yes. My experience exactly as Bobterry's above. Replaced bad capacitor for less than $1 and cured the problem. Hardest part was removing the cluster from the dash. You will need the "special" tools. Be very careful. First lower the steering column and then disconnect the battery before removing the cluster. Use solder sucker or solder wick and low wattage soldering pencil to avoid damaging the circuit board. I believe you can search for many posts on how to remove the cluster safely.

thanks to you and all, i solv my problem replacing that capassitor for 0,50 cents. but i need to tell you, that this capassitor has something to do with control key, becausse one of them did nt work and now is doing perfect.