95 C280 cluster lights are all out and also the temp control lights are out. The odometer, gauges, clock and temp displays are all without power!!

Had sticking gauges in my cluster but everything worked. So, today I finally pulled off the steering wheel and the cluster. Removed the black sticky stuff with alcohol cloth. Snapped it back together. Switched the wiper fluid bulb with the burned out clock bulb. Installed the cluster and put everything back together.

Connected the negative battery terminal and started the car. No lights in dash or auto temp controls. SRS was constantly on. Went to Autozone for code test. NO Codes. Came home and replaced all 3 fuses for the cluster (old ones was okay). Still no lights.

Help.. Where is the source of the power to the Cluster?
No lights, no clock, no temp, no odometer, no gauge movement. Only SRS is lit!

Changed a few bulbs with the SRS to test if the bulbs were good. Now the SRS light is not lighting either..

Please someone help me before I crackup!!!

Whats a OVP??

If its the overload relay, I checked the fuse in the top and it was okay..

Maybe some electrical wiring was loosened during the process? Did you take it back apart to see if that may be the issue?

for your gen W202 the OVP might be a bad batch people have been telling me. Fuse might be ok but the innards are not.

Check if it's made in Austria....if it is get a Germany made one - you should replace it anyway it's known to fail.

Not yet.. I just slid the cluster forward to check the lights.

Just checked it. How can you tell if its German??
I purchased this one a year ago. Was the bad batch from last year?

Looking for my old one..

Edit: My OVP was made in Hungary. Tested with a known working one and no changes.

I can take this thing all apart again. I dont have a telescopic steering, so it will take some time to remove again. But, I can reach the connectors.

Should I just push on them hard?? Also, would this cause the temp control lights to go out also?

take out the cluster and use a multi tester to test the continuity of each line, also make sure to check the lines connected on a connector and make sure there is current going thru the sucket. do the elimination round, then you will be able to narrow down and probably find the culprit.

Have a multi tester? Which harness has the power: left or right one? What color wires?

"Cool" found my problem. Two wires in the left harness was frayed and touching the metal support frame behind the cluster. Another one was burned and disconnected inside of the cover. Repaired all three wires and amazing ... I NOW HAVE LIGHTS...

Thanks for everyones help. It appears that the power connections are on the left side of the cluster and equipment system monitoring wires are on the right side of the cluster.

Lesson learned: The Cluster lights, Climate control lights, head unit lights and the gear shift lights are all connected. If you damage/short the lighting wires any any of them, none of them will work!!

Thanks Again..

Now to the dealer to get the dumb SRS light (that I triggered) reset!