98 C280...have had this problem for about a year, very infrequent until recently, where I seem to get some weird behaviour in the dash most every ride in the car it seems:

ABS light is on 50% of the time. That is once it's on it stays on until the car is restarted, then goes off...or later back on. I have a new brake switch in, makes no diff.

Low oil light comes on, sometimes accompanied by the coolant warning light, or just by itself...there is no oil level issue, nor coolant problem.

Some other warnings will come on occasionally, when things are really screwy, and the gauges (speed/tach) drop to zero, and even the CEL light will come on...this is somewhat rare, and when it does happen, the gauges will either just come back to life on their own or upon next restart. The CEL will eventually go off after a few re-starts, as well.

I read the code when it happened once and the CEL was still on, it was a transmission communication error p1747, cleared it, stayed off for weeks, and then, started acting up again.

Does this sound like the cluster is dying or it's being fed rubbish signals from elsewhere in the electronics of the car? I went thru all the fuses in the fusebox and the K40 relay area, seem just fine. Perhaps there's a twitchy short somewhere? Where would you look?

BTW the car drives just fine while these errors and lights are acting stupid...and also the digital stuff ie. odometer/clock etc, have no issues at all, just the warning lamps and/or gauges.

Have you checked your battery? What I mean is, remove it from the car and have load test performed. Slightly low battery voltage can cause 'electrical gremlins' but still have plenty of power to start the car. You could also check the in car voltage in the evening and in the morning before starting. If it's significantly lower it could mean leak somewhere.

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Good luck.






1998 E320 Wagon

Thanks. I had the battery load tested...they said it was fine. I was thinking it might be the charging system, perhaps the voltage reg.?

I'm really hoping it's not the cluster itself, but I gather they are known to be trouble...

I'd be looking at wiring harness connectors. I found that to be the problem in one instance a few years ago on my 99 210. Generally take a look at them and check for corrosion. Once cleaned and I've not had another phantom.

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DS
2010 CL550 - Heaven help me but it's beautiful
87 300D a labor of love
11 GLK 350 So far, so good
08 E350 4matic, Love it.
99 E320 too rusted, sold
87 260E Donated to Newgate School
www.Newgateschool.org - check it out.
12 Ford Escape, sold, forgotten
87 300D, sold, what a mistake
06 Passat 2.0T, PITA, sold

Las Vegas NV

Thanks. Wish I knew where to look...:{

Start with the headlights and move backward through the engine bay. My culprit was a connector rather near the headlights and was obviously the problem once we unplugged it.

__________________
DS
2010 CL550 - Heaven help me but it's beautiful
87 300D a labor of love
11 GLK 350 So far, so good
08 E350 4matic, Love it.
99 E320 too rusted, sold
87 260E Donated to Newgate School
www.Newgateschool.org - check it out.
12 Ford Escape, sold, forgotten
87 300D, sold, what a mistake
06 Passat 2.0T, PITA, sold

Las Vegas NV

Thanks...thinking about it logically, if the brake linings light is on at the same time as the coolant warning and oil level warning, and there's nothing wrong with any of those functions, where would you think it likely a wiring issue would be found? Is there some common point where the wiring is joined and then goes to the instrument cluster wire harness?

OVP relay may be the culprit. Many posts about electrical gremlins when the fuse pops or the relay itself goes bad. Use the search feature to locate them.

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1989 300E

2005 Acura TL

2011 Hyundai Elantra Limited

Swing hard! Take chances!

my year doesnt have one...

Oops!

Thought you had an older 124 like mine. Defective OVP relays are common with similar issues.

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1989 300E

2005 Acura TL

2011 Hyundai Elantra Limited

Swing hard! Take chances!

I would pull the instrument panel, and disconnect all the plug on connections and inspect them for corrosion. IF the car sat for a while, connections can corrode. I would also remove the ground bolts for the instrument panel directly behind the panel and wire brush and clean all the rings, the bolt, and the spot where they contact the frame.

I would also trace down, disconnect, wire brush and clean off all the multipin connectors and electrical contacts I could find. Include all the fusebox relays and the control module pins. If you have a badly corroded connection that is bleeding voltage to it's neighbor "contact pin" you could get some wierd symptoms..

If you don't have a enclosed area to work in, pick a nice day and begin in the front and work your way back disconnecting, brushing contacts and reconnecting them. I really like the mercedes weather proof connections to some of the modules, but it never hurts to brush off any oxidation even if they seem clean.