please help!! '87 300e - no tach, no oil press, no oil temp, no fuel level...

[lady luxe w124]

ok , driving home last night, stopped for food... almost home, suddenly...
- strange buzzing sound coming from the dash
- all guages in the instrument cluster cease to function except for speedo, economy, and clock

additionally, a mysterious, but maddening presence of ants in the engine bay and along the door sills

my dad suspects a dead rodent somewhere, but wouldn't i have smelled that?

i'm sure it's not food that's attracting the ants, as i am obsessive about keeping my baby fresh and clean as a whistle.

mostly, i'm concerned about the instrument cluster.

any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
thx,
camille

[Benzpud]

Ck the fuse for the cluster, its blown or most likely cracked.

[lady luxe w124]

Originally Posted by Benzpud

Ck the fuse for the cluster, its blown or most likely cracked.

thank you so much, benzpud

originally, i'd checked the fuse box for clues and didn't notice anything. i checked it again just now, upon your advice... turns out i didn't look very hard the first time. sure enough fuse #5 was totally blown.
man i feel dumb.

now i just need to figure out the ant situation.

[BrierS]

Those ants are drawn to decaying fuses?!?!

[lady luxe w124]

Originally Posted by BrierS

Those ants are drawn to decaying fuses?!?!

not sure...

in the past couple days, however, i've seen that most of them are hangin out in the engine bay near the radiator. could they possibly be attracted to the radiator fluid? i don't believe there's a radiator leak though...

[Bruno_300TE]

I could imagine they like glycol (I believe a major component of antifreeze) – it tastes sweet.
Bruno

BTW: Could be a very sensitive method to check for radiator leaks, why not start breeding and selling them?

[lady luxe w124]

Originally Posted by Bruno_300TE

BTW: Could be a very sensitive method to check for radiator leaks, why not start breeding and selling them?

haha!

[dkveuro]

Seen this many times...they are eating the bugs caught in the radiator/condensor fins.
You'll sometimes find a dead bird jambed under the radiator support too.

To say nothing of the occasional rodent/squirrel/chicken head etc hanging from the steering gear !



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