Busted rheostat...now what?
 

Today seemed like a nice day, so I figured I'd pull my instrument cluster to figure out why my dash lights wouldn't work. Checked the leads, they were in surprisingly good condition; PCB leads were all intact; bulbs were still good. So I go to check the rhesostat to repair it (used the DIY article by tankowner), and lo-and-behold, I find: this:

http://i47.tinypic.com/orqhw3.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/2yjwv8g.jpg

The spring was sticking out when I took a look at it. Upon disassembly, it looks like this. Dunno how long it was like that, but I figured years of turning the dial arm against it out of the channel did it in. Safe to say it's pretty fargone to repair. :( Any ideas?

PS: Lost one of the two counter-springs in my carpet :rolleyes:

solder a wire across the main terminals, and enjoy bright lights.
or, if you want to repair it to original condition, pull one from a different dash...

Across the main terminals on the rheostat unit, or just the leads and leave the unit off?

Hit your local PNP and grab a few. new they are quite pricy.

Charlie

Was actually looking to make my monthly run this weekend. :D Yay for new item on list!

Some solder a jumper wire across the pins with the rheostat removed. but then your lights are always on bright, w/o the ability to dim them.
I like to turn them down when my eyes are tird when Iam driving late at night.

Charlie

If you come across the big red 4 way flasher switch, they are NLA. think that is also your turn sig dinker danker. may never need one, but always good to have some spares.

Charlie

Thankfully, my flasher unit is okay. One of the first things I did when I got my car was inspect and clean it (blinkers wouldn't work). That's one of those "get it if it works/cheap" items on my PNP list.

Yeah, grab everything you can, the herd of 123`s is getting thined down. every one crushed is that many parts out of the inventory.

I even pulled 4 240D heater boxes from under the dash. that job is just time consuming. one of them is going in the 85 300D.:)

Charlie