1990 230e red light ?

[Rob sullivan]

Wonder if anyone can help me .
I have a 1990 230E
Directly under the clock on the instrument panel there is a row of warning lights . I actually am not certain what any of them are however
First appears to be a wiper light , next a Headlight looking thingo ? next is ABS then there is a blank space and lastly there is EXH TEMP .
My problem is the blank space after driving for around 10 Mins a red light comes on in this blank space , there is no indication at all what it means . If I turn the car off and restart it will drive again for another 10 or 15 mins then come on again and it stays on until car is turned off …. I am stumped .

[Gilly]

What I would suspect is that one of the bulb sockets is incorrectly installed. The sockets are labelled with numbers, the back of the cluster where the bulb goes in are also numbered and the socket numbers should match the numbers on the cluster. The sockets aren't all on PCBs like most cars in that time, sort of unusual.
So I think the answer is to pull the cluster and check the sockets in this area of the dash, someone probably had the panel out and misinstalled that one, some of the holes in the cluster are supposed to be unoccupied.

[fdm_alex]

It's possible someone had the cluster out and put the bulbs back in the wrong positions. Do you have a way to read codes?

[Rob sullivan]

Hi guys , I am over here in Thailand so a little difficult explaining this to an auto electrician, I've printed out what you have said and will have it translated into Thai see how I go , even the local Mercedes dealership couldnt explain it . This suggestion seems very plausable . Thanks a lot I'll let you know how I get on .

[Rob sullivan]

there is a bulb behind each of the marked areas, this bulb is behind a square of red plastic obviously meant to be there ABS is yellow then this red area then a blank area then the Exh Temp .

[Gilly]

The plain ones usually aren't intended to be used for anything, there should be no bulb behind that, it is unused, you have to remember the world markets, in a different market it may have a different strip for the bulbs.
You need to look at the bulb that goes in thr plain red one, there will be a small white label with a number. That number should match the corresponding number stamped next to the hole where the bulbs fit in, what we are saying is that bulb probably belongs in a different location, one it is where it blongs, things will start to make sense. You might want to check all of them.