Hi guys,
I bought a Merc 190e yesterday, 1985, been adored by its owner, drives like a dream... Full leather interior, elec windows, just gorgeous.

Anyway, as with all old used cars it had a suprise lined up for me. Not too disapointed as I've covered about 200 miles in it since yesterday just testing him out and I'm generally delighted with the performance, comfort and generally everything. Not even as heavy on the petrol as I anticpated.

However, a few little niggles have came up, if this is all that's wrong with the car, for the price I paid I'm more than happy, but I want to fix them regardless:
1. The window wiper seems to "stall" on occassion.
2. When indicating, one of them (left I *think*, I'll double check) doesn't come up on the dash - but the lights are working on the outside perfectly.
3. I feel a bit daft here as I don't know if it's me not being able to figure out how to turn them on or if they actually don't work, but, the dash lights don't seem to work. I think I've tried all the obvious things but to no success. Can anyone confirm how these are supposed to come on? I thought it was the little knobs at the front of the dash - but those seem to be for changing the clock and resetting the odometer?

Anyway, are these all related through one of the fuses? Or have I just got three seperate problems on my hands?!

The wiper is okay, but it just seems to stick sometimes before moving like it should. It's better when its on fast - infact it doesn't do it, but if I do it once it seems to hesitate mid way.

The indicator light is annoying if nothing else.

And the dash lights are a must fix for me as I'm surrounded by speed cameras and do a lot of night driving. I've upgraded from a BMW Compact 1.6 so I feel like I'm doing 50 when I'm going 80 in the Merc!

Any ideas or confirmations much appreciated. I'm in the UK and it's a UK model if that makes any difference.

Thanks!
Stephen

Welcome to the club, Stephen. I just purchased an '84 190D last month, and for the life of me, I can't understand why people dissed these cars. They're damn fine little cars. Emphasis on "little". At 6'3", it is a tight fit for me. Keeping in mind that I have a diesel version, I'll try to address your questions.

Shouldn't do this. There are three positions...well, four if you include "off". The first click is interval mode. It is a fixed interval, not adjustable like newer autos. The second click is slow continuous and the third is fast continuous. Only on interval should it hesitate or "stall". Continuous mode should, well, be continuous.

Most likely the bulb is burned out. Only thing I can think of. But, with my 300CE, if a bulb is burned out, there is an indicator lamp on the dash indicating a bulb is burned. Perhaps that does not include dash bulbs.

Try that first. You'll have to pull the dash to replace.

Try turning the knob on the left of the temperature gauge. If you push it in, it resets the trip odometer. Turn it to change the degree of instrument illumination. The dash lights will only be on if the headlights or parking lights are turned on. The right knob is for setting the clock.

I'm chalking it up to the age of the car, but I tried changing the illumination level the other night and it didn't want to smoothly change very well. At full on, it was still pretty dim. I usually run dim, just enough to read, but not high enough to be a distraction. And, the changes in illumination levels wasn't very smooth. More like there were four or five discrete levels rather than a continuous change. Again, maybe it is just because it is a 25-year old car. I have it set full-on, with a very slight tweak down.

That just might be. Do you have an owner's manual? Or, better yet, a maintenance manual with a schematic? That should tell you if they are fuse related.

'bout all I can offer. Others with more experience in W201 cars will probably offer their opinions and experiences. Good luck. I'm really starting to like this little car...but I still like my coupe when I want to drive the mountain roads or need the power.[/QUOTE]

__________________
-Steven

---
1959 190b, totalled
1968 220D, sold
1969 230/8, sold
1980 240D manual, gave away at 300k (stupid me)
1985 190D 2.2 manual, gave away to a youngster
1989 300CE, sold when I retired - major regrets

Wiper issue is probably due to a faulty wiper relay, a black or grey-looking cube located somewhere near the engine fuse panel. Problem should show up moreso when wiper is being used in the "intermittent" mode.

"Light out" indicator only senses exterior lamps...burned out dash bulbs are not part of the circuit. Replace where necessary. You are going to have to pull the cluster to do this, so go ahead and replace all of the dash bulbs while you are in there.

As the other posters mentioned, there is an illumination knob near the gauge cluster that controls brightness. Even at max illumination, it's not very bright anyway.

A lot of quirky electronic problems can sometimes be solved by replacing all of the aging fuses in the panel. If and when you do, make sure you get the quality ceramic fuses with the dull-plated silver leads, not the crappy plastic ones with the shiny gold leads!

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Do you know if there is a bulb that illuminates the bottom half of the clock? It's pretty dim, even with full intensity. Can't really read that part of the clock at night.

__________________
-Steven

---
1959 190b, totalled
1968 220D, sold
1969 230/8, sold
1980 240D manual, gave away at 300k (stupid me)
1985 190D 2.2 manual, gave away to a youngster
1989 300CE, sold when I retired - major regrets

Not sure...don't know what the back of the 190-series cluster looks like.

But the gauge cluster illumination is pretty even across the whole face, so if you see a discernible loss of visibility at some area of the cluster, it is usually a blown bulb...

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Please...tell us more.

__________________
-Steven

---
1959 190b, totalled
1968 220D, sold
1969 230/8, sold
1980 240D manual, gave away at 300k (stupid me)
1985 190D 2.2 manual, gave away to a youngster
1989 300CE, sold when I retired - major regrets

WOW! That's a lot of work. The end result is very nice. Well done. Thanks for the pictures.

__________________
-Steven

---
1959 190b, totalled
1968 220D, sold
1969 230/8, sold
1980 240D manual, gave away at 300k (stupid me)
1985 190D 2.2 manual, gave away to a youngster
1989 300CE, sold when I retired - major regrets

Tedious, but brilliant project!

Curious, for all of the surgery involved with the gauge cluster, why didn't you opt for the "white-faced" gauge panel conversion?

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car