alarm switch?

__________________
The Golden Rule

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

Cant you just use the radio?

__________________
1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

this is not the best fix but it works for me

It looks like that switch detects whether the gauge cluster is in place or not...have you tried starting it with the cluster out? Well, you shouldn't because the oil pressure line will squirt you in the face, but I wonder if you even could...

On the clock, I replaced the two electrical doodads on mine back in April, the clock worked great until a few weeks ago now its dead again. Guess I need to start troubleshooting.

__________________
1985 300TD-euro 352,000 mi
1974 240D (1?)52,000 mi - has a new home now

Very cool - thanks I have this problem too.

I am going to give it a try - haven't pulled the instrument cluster yet - I am kind of scared to!

Not sure about the whole coat hangar trick.

Is there a thread here on members' favorite ways to get the cluster out?

__________________

Current Mercedes
1979 maple yellow 240D 4-speed

Gone and fondly remembered:
1980 orient red 240D 4-speed

Gone and NOT fondly remembered:
1982 Chna Blue 300TD

Other car in the stable:
2013 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI / 6-speed MT

Take the under dash panel out and reach up behind the cluster to push it out from behind. The coat hanger tools can cause damage if you don't use them correctly.

__________________
Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

Follow up Part 2: I had hooked everything up to be driveable, but I did not put the cluster in the whole way yesterday...still have to pick up some new light bulbs to put in, and I wanted to be sure everything worked ok before buttoning it all up...

Well the ignition switch was locked up when I tried to start it this morning. I pushed in the upper left part of the cluster and the key switch un-locked. Or so it seems. I have not done a confirmation test. It started OK then all day.

The hardest part about the whole job was pushing the cluster out...that thing does not really want to come out, so constant wiggling and pushing were required. I snapped off the clear plastic cover while doing this, and had to super glue it back on.

I also had to disassemble the tachometer to some degree so I could get the clock innards up off its mounting. Not that hard, but an extra step not mentioned in the tutorial.

__________________
Charlie

---------------------------
'66 VW 1300 96K miles
'97 E300D 239K miles
'85 300D 203K miles (sold Sep 2012)

What now? Now it is correct two times a day. Oops, too late, you fixed it.

__________________

I thought my clock had died and I just pulled the set knob out pretty hard and it works fine. Just a thought. GLuck

A good Timex on your wrist will fix that problem.