1998 e320 w210 instrument cluster failure
 

The instrument cluster has been acting up.

At first the entire instrument cluster went out. I pulled the number 4 & 7 fuses and replaced them. Once I did this everything started working again except for the led display and the fuel gauge.

Since then at times the instrument cluster will flash all of the lights on and off while the gauges all go on and off. Eventually it will go back to all working except for the led and the fuel gauge. I did notice that when the car is first started that the low file light comes on then goes off. Not sure if that means anything.

Please help, thanks.

I think I meant LCD instead of led

Panel below speedo is still old school LED. Not sure what you mean by 'file' light. If it goes off after startup, it's probably OK.

Have you tried disconnecting the battery? That is the car's computer reset button. Usually 15min is enough to reset anything that will reset. If you have time, waiting a little longer doesn't hurt. Disconnect bolt is under plastic cover in the right rear footwell.

Don't forget you'll need your radio code and have to resync the windows express feature and the sunroof. Directions are in OM.

Thanks, I'll try that. I meant fuel light. Where do you access he rear wheel well. Trunk, behind tire or under rear seat?

The right rear FOOTWELL. Where a passenger puts their feet while sitting in the right rear seat. If you ever looked at the battery, the access cover (1.5" x 2") in the carpeted area. If you were sitting in that seat it would be just behind your left calf muscle.

If it's confusing just remove the rear seat cushion (lower) and remove felt lined cover. Rotate black plastic fastener about 1/4 turn. Disconnect the battery negative ground cable (black) not the positive (red) cable.

So I disconnect the battery for some time. It didn't fix the problem. I wonder if an overall week battery could cause these symptoms. My one question is why certain things aren't affected on the instrument cluster. I would think that a weak battery would affect everything on the cluster.

These car's are what is known as CAN bus cars. The car's ECU (computer) sends signals (packets) to control features. Low battery voltage can cause false positives (electrical gremlins) especially in W210 models. Usually, the first symptoms are lost of sync with windows and sunroof or a warning of a bad sensor such as the oil level sensor.

These problems often occur in the morning after the car has sat overnight and voltage is low. Once driven a little the battery is recharged and the problems seem to disappear. The battery can be tested by taking it out of the circuit and performing a load test.

BTW, a company called Beckman Technologies can repair faulty Instrument Clusters if it comes to that.

What if I were to hook a battery charger up to it while it's running. I was thinking that if I set it to a higher amperage then I might see the cluster start working indicating a bad battery.

You could try that but isn't the problem intermittent? If so, how will you know unless you do it many times. Even then you couldn't be sure. If a battery load test passes and a reset didn't help I think you need to look at the cluster. The SDS system at the dealer or indy can read codes related to the cluster which might help. Sorry that's about all I've got.

Tanks for your help! The load test didn't pass so I bought a new battery. Prior to the new battery it was to the point where nothing on the cluster worked. Once I put the new battery in the cluster starting working again with the exception if the fuel gauge and led. So I guess that I need to source a used cluster to replace mine. Unless anyone can think of something else that I could try.

Maybe I spoke to soon. Now it consistently doesn't work at all. All gauges are not working. It did start throwing the codes p1747 (CAN signal from ETC) and p0460 ( fuel level sensor a circuit). I have ordered a new instrument cluster but I am now worried that it may be a computer failure. What do you guys think?

Thanks

It's not always easy to tell if multiple codes are related or not. The most common cause of P0460 is overfilling the gas tank.

Have someone check the charging system...you might have an alternator or voltage regulator issue.

I can check the charging system. What rpms should I do the test?
Thanks

Solved
 

I replaced the instrument cluster and all is good. I'm not sure yet if the error codes were completely related. I will check back in with results.