So, I have a Mercedes C280, 1996, it's truly an amazing car. However! There is one problem with it... one major problem anyway. It appears whenever the car is cold, or hasn't been started in a while, all the gauges work perfectly. Though, when you turn the car off and then turn it back on, the gauges die. Well, they don't even come on. None of them, tach, speed, temp, fuel, etc...
It's a given that it's an electrical problem, but where might I find this problem? My friend said something about all that stuff being next to the muffler. (I think otherwise). So, I guess I'm just asking why this might be happening, and where would the best place to look be?

do the lights on the instrument cluster stay off too? That is, when you turn the key to position two, do the warning lights come on or is the entire cluster dead? I don't know about the C class, but on a '96 E class, when you open the driver's door, the clock and odometer light up. Does your car work like this? If so, does this function always work?

Answers to your questions!
The instrument cluster lights up, only when the car is turned on. However, the gauges are still dead.

When the car is turned off, the cluster lights are stay off.


Hmm... anything else... Everything else works when the car is off... headlights / sunroof / radio / etc... (I don't know if that relates at all...)

Nevermind! I correct myself, The cluster lights up all the time. It's still those pesky gauges though...

One more tidbit of information, (just found out) when you are low on fuel, the gas light comes on, but the needle still points to zero.