car: 1984 W126 300SD

this has been bugging me for a while. back a couple of month i installed a new radio, i probably didn't do anything wrong because i have done several installations with no problem.

but after that i noticed i don't have any dash lights anymore (instrument clusters, and buttons on the heater controls themselves)

now the fuse is good, i changed it just in case. is there another fuse that might have blown somewhere? all my guages still work fine.

thanks for all your advices

__________________
198? 300D ???K - Future DD
1989 300TE 285K - traded in '12
1984 300SD 186K - Sold in 08
1978 300SD 330K - Died in 05

It sounds kinda like a broken wire to me.

You can divide and conquer the problem to some extent. Measure for voltage at one of the non-functional light bulb sockets. If you have voltage there, its a bad ground. No voltage, its a bad 12V supply wire.

So at that point you've divided the problem in half, and can then trace in the proper direction. In difficult cases the factory wiring diagram helps because it shows wiring junction points.

Ken300D

__________________
--------------------------
1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

sounds like since it might be behind the radio. this process involves me tearing out the center console

__________________
198? 300D ???K - Future DD
1989 300TE 285K - traded in '12
1984 300SD 186K - Sold in 08
1978 300SD 330K - Died in 05

Ned,
All of the lights you mentioned are run thru the dimmer switch on the IP. Try rotating it with gusto. It's a notorious failure point.

__________________
The Golden Rule

1984 300SD (bought new, sold it in 1988, bought it back 13 yrs. later)

thanks. i should try that too. i didn't mention the potientiometer (sp?) because it was on before i swap the radio, and out immediatly after that.

__________________
198? 300D ???K - Future DD
1989 300TE 285K - traded in '12
1984 300SD 186K - Sold in 08
1978 300SD 330K - Died in 05