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  #1  
Old 03-31-2012, 10:48 AM
Jay Gibbs's Avatar
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W202 Left side marker lights not working...

A curious problem in my '94 C280...

Got the instrument cluster warning that I had a burnt out exterior light bulb. Checked it out and found that both my left side (front AND rear) marker lights were out. Checked the bulbs, and they were fine. Checked the fuse box, found that BOTH these bulbs are on one fuse. Aha!!...Alas, fuse was NOT blown. Then tried several other fuses to make sure fuse was in fact good, and none of the fuses I tested made the lights go back on either.

Before I make a trip to the despised dealership, anybody else have a problem like this that was a simple fix that I have not yet tried?...maybe the dash light switch itself...though with only 38,000 miles on the car, it couldn't possibly have "worn" out...any suggestions?

Thanks!

J.G.


Last edited by Jay Gibbs; 03-31-2012 at 11:11 AM.
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Old 03-31-2012, 09:05 PM
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Jay, not sure how long you've owned the car, but one basic sort of thing involving the light switch, it has the weird position, if you have the ignition key OFF and the light switch turned to the LEFT (there are two clicks to the left or counterclockwise) one click turns on just the right marker lights and the next click turns on just the left larker lights, it is a Euro thing which surprisingly made it on the US market cars. So if you inadvertantly had it in one of these two positions you might think one side of the car has the marker lights out. In short make sure when you check out the lights that the switch is turned to the RIGHT not the left. If the ignition switch is on this feature won't work, the car has to be off.
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Old 03-31-2012, 11:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gilly View Post
Jay, not sure how long you've owned the car, but one basic sort of thing involving the light switch, it has the weird position, if you have the ignition key OFF and the light switch turned to the LEFT (there are two clicks to the left or counterclockwise) one click turns on just the right marker lights and the next click turns on just the left larker lights, it is a Euro thing which surprisingly made it on the US market cars. So if you inadvertantly had it in one of these two positions you might think one side of the car has the marker lights out. In short make sure when you check out the lights that the switch is turned to the RIGHT not the left. If the ignition switch is on this feature won't work, the car has to be off.
I've personally owned the car going on 8 years now...(my grandmother bought it new in '94 and left it to me...) I'm familiar with the "euro" parking light featuring left OR right side on...unfortunately that's not the problem. I tried the "left side only" switch position early on in the troubleshooting process and the left side lights won't even go on even when it is in the "left side only" position...this one's a stumper...

J.G.
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Old 04-01-2012, 08:02 AM
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Are the turn signals working on that side?

Sorry if what I mentioned seemed too basic, just wasn't sure how familiar you are with the parking feature.

One thing I thought of is the module that monitors for lamp failure, but seems like that wouldn't be it because it IS sensing a failure.

If one fuse is involved in just that side parking lights, and the fuse is good, it could also be a bad connection under the fuse box. You could try jumping power to the small tab on top of the fuse, you should also check for power on the fuse itself.
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Old 04-01-2012, 01:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Gilly View Post
Are the turn signals working on that side?

Sorry if what I mentioned seemed too basic, just wasn't sure how familiar you are with the parking feature.

One thing I thought of is the module that monitors for lamp failure, but seems like that wouldn't be it because it IS sensing a failure.

If one fuse is involved in just that side parking lights, and the fuse is good, it could also be a bad connection under the fuse box. You could try jumping power to the small tab on top of the fuse, you should also check for power on the fuse itself.

No worries!...yeah...I've been (shadetree) wrenching for the better part of 30 yrs now...and have had surprisingly few electrical gremlins to deal with over that time. They've been mostly on my W210 related the common problem of oxidation at bulb connections...nothing that a little Scotchbrite and elbow grease couldn't fix in 5 min! to To answer your question- yes, the left turn signals actually DO work...it is just the left side parking light function that is inop. Before I started getting shoulder deep into this I figured I'd ask if there were any "common" and "easily remedied" scenarios that others had run into, and that would hopefully save me from reinventing the wheel as well as save some time and trouble! I'm still scratching my head...

J.G.
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  #6  
Old 08-29-2012, 11:19 AM
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Figured I'd repost this question as I still have no answer...still have no parking lights on LEFT side of car when the rotary light switch is selected to parking light detent; right side parking lights work fine. Left and right turn signal work fine as do the 4-way hazard flasher. Clicking the rotary light switch to the left for individual side parking light function, left side does not work in the respective detent in this scenario either..right side works fine.

I have recehecked and have replaced the left side parking light fuse with several other fuses, still to no avail.

Could this be the something to do with the light switch assembly itself or is there something else I can check before seeking (probably) expensive help?

THANKS!!

J.G.
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  #7  
Old 10-19-2012, 12:16 PM
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Problem solved...as simple as the light switch itself. Swapped out for a factory new OEM part and like magic, the parking lights work again!

J.G.
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  #8  
Old 10-25-2012, 11:07 AM
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Thanks for the update Jay, looks like I have the same problem
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  #9  
Old 06-24-2014, 06:48 PM
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Similar Problem Solved

I have a 1999 E320. Right side (passenger side) parking lights weren't working. Bulbs checked out ok. The fuse box on the side of the dash (where you need to open the driver's door to get to it) kept blowing #7 fuse, which it turns out is a fuse for ONLY the RIGHT side parking lights.

After removing the air filter housing so I could see what I was doing... Found that the front right parking light (front of the car next to headlight) bulb socket had a loose ground contact and was shorting. In other words the metal tab attached to the brown wire was touching the metal tab attached to the gray wire.

I pushed the contact up through the plastic housing, bent the contact a little, and pushed it back into the plastic housing. Contact was still a little loose but not shorting anymore and seemed to hold together ok when the bulb was back in place.

Parking lights working again, no more blown fuses.

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