Rear dome light? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

zla39fj · #1 02-03-2003, 12:10 AM

I have a 1986 420SEL. When I open the front doors the front dome light comes on, that is normal I suppose. When I open the rear doors the rear dome light does not operate. I can turn on the rear dome light via a switch located on the front console. Also my rear power seat does not operate under any circumstance. Can someone point me in the right direction?

bjcsc · #2 02-03-2003, 08:43 AM

I don't know about the seat, but the rear dome light in my MB is operated by a switch on the front console, next to the antennae switch. (It's not a 420SEL and has no rear doors but yours may be similar) The doors don't operate the rear light. Not sure if they do on the sedans or not.

zla39fj · #3 02-03-2003, 11:21 PM

bjcsc
Thank you. So far mine operates exactly as yours does. I would hate to troubleshoot something that is not malfunctioning. If no one with a 420 or 560SEL responds to this thread by this weekend I will start tracing wires.

haasman · #4 02-04-2003, 12:07 AM

I had a 300SD and I believe the read doors operated the rear dome light ..... (and of course this additional posting will re-promote this thread back up again as well .....heh heh ....)

#5 02-04-2003, 12:29 AM

I had the same problem when i bought my '90 300E back in July....the rear dome light would only come on with the dash switch....being super anally-retentive, i just had to fix it. Interestingly, the only time which it did work was after having driven in a monsoon. After pulling out lots of wires and carpeting and cursing having bought the stupid car, i finally found what was wrong, which of course was the last place i looked. Underneith the front-passenger carpet and under the plastic shield, there is a big multi-plug that connects the wires coming from the back of the car to wires coming from the front of the car. I opened up the cover of the female side of this multi-plug and i discovered a resistor/connection that had shorted out. So, I soddered the connection back and then the rear dome light started working when the rear doors were opened. Later on, i found out from somewhere that there are a couple holes in the firewall for some reason or another above the passenger footwell area, and i am thinking that during hard or deep rain, water can seep through these holes and run down to the multi-plug and that is what shorted the resistor/connection thingy. Hope this helps -- MIKEY

zla39fj · #6 02-04-2003, 01:56 AM

mikey-az
That is the type of info that money can't buy, or at least I'd rather not pay for

. This forum rules

Thank you for your help.

sixto · #7 02-04-2003, 01:17 PM

To confirm, the rear dome light comes on when I open a rear door in any of my MBs... all 126s.

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

zla39fj · #8 02-04-2003, 04:28 PM

sixto
I guess it is time for me to dribble my basketball through my electrical minefield.

#9 02-04-2003, 07:21 PM

Let us know how it goes... -- Mike

sixto · #10 02-05-2003, 01:20 AM

Do you know George Curtis in Visalia? Good guy and he has a MB shop.

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

zla39fj · #11 02-05-2003, 02:13 PM

sixto
I do not know Mr. Curtis. What is his contact info?

zla39fj · #12 02-09-2003, 10:24 PM

I stripped the left rear bolt on the driver's seat so i did not get to check out the motor of the power seat. Does anybody have a suggestion on how to remove that bolt.