I have 3 problems, and hitting the dashboard a few times has always worked up until now.

1. Tach sticks when I start the car, I whack it and it turns on.

2. Temp Gauge sticks, that one takes a good whacking to actually go up.

3. Light Bulb is out; one that illuminates left side of speedo and fuel level.


For questions 1 and 2, are the gauges sticking? The guy at a dealership told me the plug to the particular gauges could be loose too. I have heard about the sticking tach, but not about the plugs coming out. But I would more likely think it was sticking because it only does this when I start the car, I then whack the dash and they go up. Never do they fail or stop working once I have them going.

For guestion 3, should I change all the lightbulbs in the cluster... hitting a few birds with one stone?

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2006 E350 w/ 155k miles (Daily Driver)

Previous:
1993 300E 3.2L Sedan w/ close to about 300k miles
2003 E500 Brilliant Silver (Had 217k miles when totalled!)
1989 300E with 289,000 miles (had for <1 yr while in HI)
03 CLK 500 cabrio (Mom's)
2006 C230k (Dad's)
1999 S420 (Mom's/Dad's)
2000 C230k Sport sedans
2001 CLK320 Cabrio (Mom's)
1995 C280 My First Mercedes-Benz... (155k miles. EXCEPTIONAL AUTOMOBILE. Was Very hard to let go of!)