No dash lights or clock/fuel/temp gauge

commited

Hey guys,

Looking for a bit of help. I took my W115 Mercedes for its' maiden voyage last night. All went pretty well apart from the fact that the dash lights don't work, clock doesn't move, fuel gauge doesn't work and the temp gauge doesn't work.

None of these are ideal considering the trip I have ahead of me, so any ideas?!?!

Ta

2cv

commited wrote: »

Hey guys,

Looking for a bit of help. I took my W115 Mercedes for its' maiden voyage last night. All went pretty well apart from the fact that the dash lights don't work, clock doesn't move, fuel gauge doesn't work and the temp gauge doesn't work.

None of these are ideal considering the trip I have ahead of me, so any ideas?!?!

Ta

Dash lights seem a common issue in Mercs.. My W116 has a similar problem at the moment.. All the clocks work though

corktina

were you realy on a voyage, cos if you were maybe the damp has affected something?

Did you remember to turn on the engine?

serious answer...sounds like a multi-plug has been left un plugged.

commited

I put up the sails and everything, thought it would be fine

I haven't touched the instrument cluster, but possibly the previous owner did (it doesn't look to be disturbed etc)

Will check tonight

commited

Oh I also have a very creaky steering rack - any ideas?!

tc20

When you say dash lights, do you mean the instrument lights like the indicators, headlights on & ignition lights? Or the lighting for the binnacle? If its just the back lighting for the dials, i wouldnt worry about it too much. If its the actual instrument lights, it could well be as corktina suggests - a plug at the back of the binnacle - this should just pull out iirc. The clock not working is another common fault. The fuel gauge can 'flicker' quite dramatically on these cars once it gets below half full. There is a low fuel warning light on the dash (an orange triangle at the bottom of the left cluster). Might be an idea to carry a can of fuel with you in the boot.

Also, just in case it happens to you - a screeching sound can sometimes be heard from behind the clocks - its just the speedo cable which needs greasing. It frightened the life out of me the first time it happened i thought some poor animal had got got caught under the bonnet. the sound gets louder the faster you go (obviously), but full wail can be reached even at 20mph

2cv

tc20 wrote: »

When you say dash lights, do you mean the instrument lights like the indicators, headlights on & ignition lights? Or the lighting for the binnacle?

In my case it's just the lighting for the binnacle.. Very annoying indeed.. Cos in a 185bhp car, it's easy enough to break the speed limit

overdriver

With all those things gone at once I suspect a fuse.
What happened on the Marina was that the two different metals of the fuse and holder reacted to each other, causing verdigris - a green build up.

Check the fuse, and if its ok, sand the end of it and the contacts on the holder and see how you go.

MercMad

I could almost guarantee you that the problem is the rheostat.Its common to all Mercs of that era. Basically because folk rarely adjust it it gets a scale of light rust on it and that prevents it making contact.

You can byepass it and get full dash lights on all the time, or if you are lucky try to swing the knob back and forth a few times and it make clean itself and start working, mine always have responded well to this !

2cv

MercMad wrote: »

I could almost guarantee you that the problem is the rheostat.Its common to all Mercs of that era. Basically because folk rarely adjust it it gets a scale of light rust on it and that prevents it making contact.

You can byepass it and get full dash lights on all the time, or if you are lucky try to swing the knob back and forth a few times and it make clean itself and start working, mine always have responded well to this !

Oh thanks for the tip MercMad, i'll give that a try this weekend