Do w126 signal lights spontaneously break off?

[ykobayashi]

I noticed my blinkers on the driver side blinking fast today. I figured burned out light. But when I stopped, I notice the entire front housing was gone.

I didn't hit anything. It just broke at the white plastic tang right at the fastener hole that holds it to the chassis. It was a clean recent break like somebody just pulled my lamp out with their hands. No tool marks. No scratches. No dents.

I was just wondering if anyone else had had this happen. I didn't hear it dangling from the wire. It was just clean gone. The wire wasn't dangling either. The wire and connector were neatly tucked back into the chassis.

Did somebody just visit my partshop on wheels? The screw and tang were still in the car. It's like somebody just walked up and broke my lamp out of the car. Luckily my paint wasn't marked at all.

Unbelievable. Stuff falling off on the road is just unMercedes.

[dieselbenz1]

Yup check out this thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/377964-w124-owners-how-many-times-have-you-lost-your-corner-lights.html

[pgringo]

Plastic happens.

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk

[sixto]

Probably more vandalism than theft. It's not useful without tabs.

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon

[oldsinner111]

I had that problem twice,at over 100 mph I lost my signals.I learned how to attach with wheel better,and superglue a few spots.

[97 SL320]

As a side note, some cars ( like the R129 SL / W202 C ) lose the outer lens while the reflector stays attached to the car because the glue joint fails. The reflector is silvered even at the glue line, this silvering interferes with the bond allowing it to fall off.

One of the SL lights was replaced prior to my purchase and a few years later the other came off while hosing the car off. Used clear epoxy to repair.

[Clemson88]

They get brittle but though I've seen a few cracked I haven't seen one pop off without being mistreated.

[ykobayashi]

I pulled out the broken off tab left on the thrumbscrew and at first glance the crack was pretty clean.

But I looked at it under magnification and it looks like this has been failing for some time. A little rust from the screw had found its way on to the crack surface so I'd say it has been cracking radially away from the screw for awhile it was hanging from a thread of fresh white plastic on the tang right before it let go.

I guess it was spontaneous. For awhile I felt like driving all over town and inspecting w126s for my lens cover.

Oh well. Got a junker part to replace it. I'll reinforce the screw hole with jb weld and fiberglass before it goes in.

Thanks for the info. I was looking over my shoulder for a Mercedes diesel parts thief stalking me.

[ykobayashi]

I just checked the other side. It was hanging by one front tab that was cracked 1/3 the way through. The other tab was gone.

Thanks for the heads up. It's laughable that I thought there was a w126 parts thief lurking my neighborhood.

[sixto]

Maybe you're overtightening the thumbscrew.

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon

[SD Blue]

Originally Posted by sixto

Maybe you're overtightening the thumbscrew.

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon

This was my thinking as well. I've still got the originals on mine. The plastic sure is starting to get very brittle on these cars and it doesn't take much to crack it.

[ykobayashi]

Quite possibly I have. I went down to the garage and loosened them up. i can easily overstress them with the big thumb nuts. Since it is only held by one screw the desire to torque it down too tight is strong.

I don't recall changing bulbs on these since I bought the car. But I may be getting mixed up with my 240d.

But I did see rust filled radial cracks at the screw tab. This has been going on awhile. The other side was missing one of the front tabs that slip in the slots. It was loose. I figure things just started falling apart and the more it shakes the more it fatigues.

I received my new housing and it is quite a bit more amber than the other side. Both sides are Bosch. No worries. I was wondering if there was a big difference in shades over the years or differences in euro spec?

Good to have thing back together.