One night, out of the blue, I turned on my headlights and the instrument panel and center console illumination was about a quarter its normal intensity. I've been digging through electrical diagrams online (alldata.com), but it's hard as hell to find information in there, and can't figure out where the "X6/1" relay is (that handles all comfort lighting). I'm thinking it might be the culprit, but I could be wrong. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, where might I look to start fixing it? I'm going crazy trying to resolve all the little issues with my car, and this would be a nice one to tackle. Thanks in advance.

Have you tried turning the adjustment knob for the light intensity (reostat) ?

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Earl



1993 190E 2.3
2000 Toyota 4x4 Tundra

Nope, I have no idea where the knob is. I've never seen one, even though I see it mentioned in the service manuals. Where can I find it? And why would it suddenly decide to reset itself overnight?

The Rheostat knob, is the same knob that resets your Odometer to 000. You turn it, instead of pushing it.

Phil

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'95 E300 Diesel, 264,000 Miles. [Sold it]

Holy crap... I never knew that. That fixed it. Wow, don't I feel like an idiot . The only thing is that it might be needing cleaning or replacement considering that you have to mess with it a little to make it work correctly (has a lot of dead spots, and you have to very finely tune it to make it work). Oh well, you learn something new every day. Thanks for the help guys!

Because its the same knob that resets your odometer (when pushed) you might try pulling the knob out slightly when you turn it left or right. This may eliminate the dead spots you are talking about.

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Earl



1993 190E 2.3
2000 Toyota 4x4 Tundra

On a lark, I did a search for "Rheostat" on the forum and got six pages of "hits"! The dash dimmer could be one of the most common "faults" in the older cars.

the owner's manual is a wonderful thing. sorry, but you walked right into it.

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2005 Mercedes C230k sport sedan, 6 speed
1987 Porsche 924S - 968-engined track car

This is true. I would've checked there, but I didn't even think that a car of this era would have a rheostat for it (my '67 Fiat Dino does, however). Now that I think about it... Most cars with front-lit gauges (incandescent lighting) would have them. Bah.

The post was benificial to me too. I learned how to spell "rheostat" correctly.

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Earl



1993 190E 2.3
2000 Toyota 4x4 Tundra