Parts Catalog Accessories Catalog How To Articles Tech Forums
Call Pelican Parts at 888-280-7799
Shopping Cart Cart | Project List | Order Status | Help



Go Back   PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum > Mercedes-Benz Tech Information and Support > Diesel Discussion

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 02-23-2009, 01:33 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: San Antonio, TX.
Posts: 199
W126 Instrument Cluster Light Guide

I want to improve the illumination for my old 86 300SDL and was wondering if anyone has come across an instrument cluster for a later model 126 chassis and noticed the light guide as to whether it is the same as the 1986-87 style.
Below is an image of a 1986 light guide.
Really don't want to do a lot of work on this if anyone knows of a MB improvement in the W126 chassis like that in later W124 instrument cluster lighting.

Attached Thumbnails
W126 Instrument Cluster Light Guide-lightguide1.jpg  
__________________
1986 300SDL 201K Daily Driver
1984 300D In Progress
1989 240GL 196K Swedish Brick
1984 300SD -- Sold 289K
------------------------------
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 02-23-2009, 02:20 PM
oldsinner111's Avatar
lied to for years
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Elizabethton, TN
Posts: 6,246
I've read that cleaning the dimmer switch for dash lights really fixes things.CRC electrical contact cleaner (safe for plastics).
__________________
1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 03-01-2009, 12:49 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: San Antonio, TX.
Posts: 199
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldsinner111 View Post
I've read that cleaning the dimmer switch for dash lights really fixes things.CRC electrical contact cleaner (safe for plastics).
Done all of that , replaced bulbs , added foil tape, cleaned back of light guide , cleaned white markers, re-painted pointers. Still not bright enough for my eyes.

Surely someone out there must have seen the light guides in a 350SDL or 350SD or in a later 126 gasser that is compatible with my cluster.
Just need to know if the light guides are different from the image in the first post of this thread.
My local salvage yards rarely get later model stuff, just the older cars, haven't seen a 1990 + car in some time.
__________________
1986 300SDL 201K Daily Driver
1984 300D In Progress
1989 240GL 196K Swedish Brick
1984 300SD -- Sold 289K
------------------------------
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 03-01-2009, 01:18 PM
freeride's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 164
You will be amazed what LED will do. There is a thread about this. I just got some blue LED's for my dim cluster in 300SD and it looks like a space ship, nice and bright

http://www.ledlight.com/t10-wedge-5-ultra-bright-smt-led-light.aspx
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 03-01-2009, 01:51 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: San Antonio, TX.
Posts: 199
Quote:
Originally Posted by freeride View Post
You will be amazed what LED will do. There is a thread about this. I just got some blue LED's for my dim cluster in 300SD and it looks like a space ship, nice and bright

http://www.ledlight.com/t10-wedge-5-ultra-bright-smt-led-light.aspx
I have seen several of the different types that will fit in the wedge base socket.
I really wanted to used a true white LED since to my old eyes , blue is very distorting . Most of the low cost LEDs in white have a color temp of 7500* K to 10,000* K (or higher) which gives a strong blue shift.
If I can find out if the later 126 chassis have an improvement to the light guide, then I might be able to simply use a single 4500* K 0.5 W or 1.0 W LED in the area where the bulb goes.
Otherwise , I will have to cut the existing guide and use a strip of 5-10 SMT 100 mW LEDs at the point where I cut into the light guide. This I would prefer not doing.
THanks for your input.
__________________
1986 300SDL 201K Daily Driver
1984 300D In Progress
1989 240GL 196K Swedish Brick
1984 300SD -- Sold 289K
------------------------------
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 03-01-2009, 08:56 PM
dcotejr's Avatar
On the road again...
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Anniston, AL
Posts: 378
Thumbs up LED Lights

I was having alot of trouble seeing the instrument cluster on my 81 300SD at night (Probably somewhat age-related;-)). Just replaced the bulbs with bright white LED's (see web link above), and I can see everything perfectly after the sun goes down. Very inexpensive and simple fix...

Don
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 03-01-2009, 09:20 PM
83240D
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
+1 on the LED, they have LED bulbs on eBay for like $2 each. I have begun to replace each bulb one by one with LED bulbs. I am liking the bright white look. It is also nice to know that I may never.....ever.... have to replace them again. If your looking for a specific color temperature. The eBay stores Ive seen sell different temps. They even sell an amber LED if you are looking for that classic orange-ish look.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 03-01-2009, 10:06 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Edmonton, Canada
Posts: 7
light info needed.

1986 300 SDL, I want to replace them with white LED's. What is the LED bulb called? ANd I think I need two for the dash lights ? Thanks for the help

John
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 03-02-2009, 12:56 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: San Antonio, TX.
Posts: 199
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny K View Post
1986 300 SDL, I want to replace them with white LED's. What is the LED bulb called? ANd I think I need two for the dash lights ? Thanks for the help

John
Some places call them W3W or Wedge Base or T3-1/4 or T3.25 or 2721 or 194 or 168 .
I would search for wedge base and T3-1/4.
You will want something that has LED's pointing upward toward the light guide .
There is a type called a "flank" LED that has all of the LED's on one side of the PCB pointing in one direction.
__________________
1986 300SDL 201K Daily Driver
1984 300D In Progress
1989 240GL 196K Swedish Brick
1984 300SD -- Sold 289K
------------------------------
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 03-02-2009, 12:38 PM
83 300SD
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Shawano, WI
Posts: 692
How long have the LED's lasted? I purchased some from an Ebay supplier and they burned out after 5 or 6 months. This happened in both my 240D and 300SD.

John
__________________
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
2002 F250 powerstroke with Plantdrive WVO conversion
1983 300SD 190K miles ,sold
2006 E320 CDI
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 03-02-2009, 01:05 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: San Antonio, TX.
Posts: 199
Quote:
Originally Posted by hangit View Post
How long have the LED's lasted? I purchased some from an Ebay supplier and they burned out after 5 or 6 months. This happened in both my 240D and 300SD.

John
Yes, this is the problem I have seen as well. The "High Power LED's " do not have proper capacity to dissipate heat and no external convection path. The normal low power LED's claim they have a color temperature of 5000* K, 6500* K etc.. or some such correlated CRI , but in reality are way off from that.
Since I can't find out if the later W126 chassis have a light guide improvement, I will be making my own upward emitting 0.5 W "High Power LED" that will plug into the W3W socket and have proper cooling and a true color temp of 4500* K. I have tried and/or seen all that is out there and I just don't want them.
There are only 3 manufacturers of accurately rated high quality led die.
__________________
1986 300SDL 201K Daily Driver
1984 300D In Progress
1989 240GL 196K Swedish Brick
1984 300SD -- Sold 289K
------------------------------
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 03-03-2009, 12:08 AM
freeride's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 164
Ok I took some pictures to show my improvement, don't have old pictures with regular bulbs but believe me it was dark.

First picture shows the kind of wedge I ordered, there is LED on 5 surfaces and each surface is made of 3 tiny LED's, too small to see on the picture

Second picture, only looks dark on the picture but wonder why right side (RPM) is brighter? Go to 3 to see what I did

Third shows the casing surrounding the bulb, it's white or rather yellowish after all the years. I covered one with aluminum foil (shiny side) to see the difference. There is big difference, aluminum (or silver paint would work too I guess?) reflects the light so much better than white plastic...

Then final which still looks darker than reality but it's hard to take good night picture with point and shoot camera.

I am sure white LED would be brighter but this is plenty bright for me, I just wanted something cooler looking. I am sure aluminum foil would improve things even with stock bulbs. If You do it, don't forget to glue it all around the bulb (that is half on removable casing and half on the speedo case) and use one slight drop of Loctite (super glue)
Attached Thumbnails
W126 Instrument Cluster Light Guide-p1040750.jpg   W126 Instrument Cluster Light Guide-p1040732.jpg   W126 Instrument Cluster Light Guide-p1040753.jpg   W126 Instrument Cluster Light Guide-p1040761.jpg   W126 Instrument Cluster Light Guide-p1040744.jpg  

Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 03-10-2009, 01:27 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 147
My lights just burnt out in my '83 300SD.

How many lights are in the instrument cluster (so that I know how many to order)?

Does anyone have the electical layout of the instrument cluster that they could post? I am having some other intermittant light problems as well and wanted to make sure they werent related.
__________________
Big Fred

(RIP Sept '10) 83 300SD Turbo Diesel (aka "Rocky")
(RIP April '10 - Accident) 86 Chevy M1009 CUCV (Blazer) - 6.2L Diesel (aka "Ogre")
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 03-10-2009, 02:31 PM
freeride's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 164
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigfredb View Post
My lights just burnt out in my '83 300SD.

How many lights are in the instrument cluster (so that I know how many to order)?
There is two
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 03-16-2009, 06:53 PM
Professional Novice
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Chattanooga
Posts: 190
was that an SDL that you put the LED's in? How many would I need to order? I have an 86. Thats pretty awesome looking even for the picture quality.

__________________

"Cool Blue"
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:35 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Peach Parts or Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page