Wacky volume control in '98 E300!!!

[Carleton Hughes]

Yes,my volume potentiometer has a mind of it's own,turn it to the right and it will get louder,sometimes. Try to turn it down to the left and sometimes it will blast! Sometimes even TOUCHING it will cause it to raise or lower dramatically,there's no consistency with regulating it.

The car's a '98 210,not the Bose,but the regular 8 speaker setup.

Anyone else experience this oddball sh-t?

[bfisher]

Yep - it seems to happen to Mercedes stereos - my 95 did it and was part of the reason I replaced the whole system (I used that as an excuse )

You can send it in to be repaired (google will find the shops, I found them pretty easy), or you can replace.

Good luck!

[shoe]

Yup happened on both my 96 and 97 like bfisher I used it as an excuse to replace teh whole thing. You can get it repaired but not sure if it is worth it.

[Carleton Hughes]

Based upon the 2 helpful posts above we have established there is a problem.

Now, could it be dirt and "carbon tracks" on the pot?if so should I pop it apart and shoot some carbon tet pot cleaner on it?

Or is it premature wear? seems to occur most when the radio has been on more than 10 minutes.

[bfisher]

Don't know - I didn't bother looking. It was a good excuse for me to replace the sound in the car.

[Matt L]

It's not a pot. It's a switch.

I suspect that it uses a friction element to determine which way you're turning it, and a make-break contact to tell how far, but I haven't dismantled that (tiny) switch.

I cleaned mine out with butane, and now it works again.

[Carleton Hughes]

Originally Posted by Matt L

It's not a pot. It's a switch.

I suspect that it uses a friction element to determine which way you're turning it, and a make-break contact to tell how far, but I haven't dismantled that (tiny) switch.

I cleaned mine out with butane, and now it works again.

I pulled the knob and saw a tiny opening,I'll shoot it with carbon tet later,work it around and see what happens.

Oh! how do I pull the radio if necessary??

[Matt L]

Originally Posted by Carleton Hughes

I pulled the knob and saw a tiny opening,I'll shoot it with carbon tet later,work it around and see what happens.

Oh! how do I pull the radio if necessary??

Look closely at the bottom corners. You'll see two slots, about 1mm high by 8mm wide. Those are for the removal keys.

[no clue]

I had the similar problem before I bought myself an after-market HU.

The volume control problem is well known w/ W210.
I did take it apart and clean all the connector only found NOTHING works. Then out-of-blue, I cut the A-1 lead (speed sensing control) and the problem goes away.

But then, I love the feature of auto speed sensing volume, I decided to get a after market HU that able to accept speed sensing feature.

I sold my HU, and Stock CD-changer on ebay and got a Blaupunkt Key West. (I can pack 250 WMA/mp3 in single CD, so I don't need any CD changer anyway)

Oh, Blaupunkt HU are direct plug and play that fit stock connector, so no-wiring require. (and auto speed sensing volume works perfectly and also adjustable)

p.s. if you got the HU from Crutchfield.com, they also give you free antenna adaptor and radio removal key.