Darren_0203

About 75% of the time when I start my car all the gauges ficker inside the bezel. Everything else is functioning properly while this is going on, nothing wrong with drivability or anything, any ideas where to start trouble shooting? Is it a common problem? It kinda seems like it might be just a bad connection but idk. I did just replace the fuel pump though probably unrelated.

Darren_0203

Anybody?

Scott Simoncic

Seems to me that possibly your voltage is dropping heavily during the time your starter is cranking the engine over... Possibly your battery is getting weak... I would check the voltage during the start cycle and see how far it drops down.. These cars do funny things when the battery gets low.

Darren_0203

Thank you Scott I'll look into that. If its the battery would it do that even after the cars been running for awhile?

Scott Simoncic

Yep, as long as your alternator is good it should hold at 14.4V...ish. So the time when you're battery is the most vulnerable is when the car is running the starter.

GatorMB

Right gents it is a Voltage issue.

When the alternator or battery are having issues strange flickering might occur.

At idle loading the system with lights AC and fans on we should have 13.8 v, 14.1 is the high scale.

Have the battery load tested or replaced if it is 5 years old. Charging system like stated should read 13.8 - 14.1 this is for all cars.

Any less can lead to a dead battery, any more will lead to an overcharged battery.

Cheers

Darren_0203

So I replaced the battery with a new one and the lights still flicker, anymore ideas?

insame1

Alternators supply voltage with the car on not batteries.

Darren_0203

So then it might be the alternator or voltage regulator?

insame1

It could be or it could be a number of other things. What testing have you done?

MarcusF

@OP

In a W208, #24 in the AC diagnostics screen (via the REST function) shows voltage at the battery. In my car, that's 14.4 Volts or so with the car running. If the W209 has a similar feature, you may wish to use that to determine whether you're seeing proper voltage. Alternatively, you may want to order and replace the bulbs in the back of the instrument cluster. On a W208, the parts are very inexpensive at Autohaus AZ

Darren_0203

What tests should I run?

Could it also be the light dimming sensor? The thing that tells it to be brighter or darker depending on the light outside....

insame1

Have you searched the issue on here or google? I don't mean to be a jerk but you have to do some of your own homework.

Darren_0203

Yeah I have...jerk...and thanks for the stupid condescending picture.

I just replaced my fuel pump the other week. I was more looking for insight if this was a common thing for our cars as this is a very uncommon issue, but if you're to pretend to know something, then be totally useless please don't bother.

Darren_0203

I was hoping for an "it's usually this"or "test for that" not some idiotic picture of an unfunny comedian who probably doesn't even know what hubcentric is.

insame1

Again it could be a ton of things. These car are complicated. Your not working on an old Chevy with a NA 350. I asked what testing you have done and you ask what you should do. You have to give to get. no one here is just going to go over every thing that could be wrong with the car. Do some home work and at least let us know what you have done.

But yeah your right don't listen to me. I have no idea what I am talking about.

floridawriter

I learned yesterday, while researching why my gas gauge was not showing consistent readings, that my instrument cluster had never been "registered" with the car's ECU. I guess at some point in its history the cluster had been replaced. Apparently this registration step is important. It may be part of the root cause of your issue. Good luck with it.

MarcusF

@OP

Others ARE trying to help you. The level of frustration seems to be growing in this thread and it may be due to your description. You stated ALL your gauges "flicker", and people can only go by what you write. Flicker is a term used to describe an unsteady "light". Such as in the case of a bulb whose brightness fluctuates. The W209 has analogue and digital gauges. It also has a digital display in the TFT housed in the center of the speedo. The analogue clock, speedo, and tach themselves won’t flicker, but the backlighting can. The fuel and temperature gauges along with the TFT are digital and can easily flicker if one or more of the bulbs are bad. This is why I mentioned changing the bulbs. Bulbs are normal wear items with a limited lifetime. In your case, they’re 13 years old and may be at end of life. You can change fuel pumps, voltage regulators, batteries, socks, girlfriends, and any number of other things and it won’t fix a light bulb with poor contacts or is at end of life.

Now it may be that I’m reading this wrong and that by "bezel" you mean something other than the "gauge cluster". Maybe you mean the TFT display flickers (BTW, that is powered by a bulb). It may help if you plainly state exactly what is changing brightness in your car. If you mean something other than the common English use of the word “flicker”, please state that.

BTW Rock is funny. He's done half a dozen HBO specials, so somebody thinks he's funny. He does have this habit of repeating the lead in to his jokes. Some find that annoying. He says this is done so the audience has no excuse for missing the punch line. Basically, some audience members have a poor attention spans. Those members of his audience would probably miss the part about light coming from bulbs. If Rock were on stage discussing this issue, he might say, "Going by exactly what you wrote, ALL GAUGES in the 'bezel' FLICKER. Basically the 'light' changes. Light from the assorted $2 bulbs in the back of the cluster. Those are the only lights that flicker and that's the only thing wrong with the car. And you changed the battery. Tell the truth. You know your wife told you to check the battery. Wives always say 'check the battery'. You could get hit by a semi, the car roll 15 times, and if it won't start, she'll say 'do you think it's the battery?'"

Darren_0203

I really do appreciate the time you've put into this, but I just don't find Chris Rock funny. His jokes are annoying, the delivery is annoying and his voice, in general, is annoying. ..and if he ever walks up to me and says "you're white, smile" I'd be so furious, I don't know how I'd respond to be honest.

Now that that's out of the way I'm pretty sure it's just the digital stuff that flickers(i.e. the English context you mentioned above), I can't check because my cars at the garage getting the front bumper replaced but that would be great if all it was, was a bulb. I'll look at that next.

Thank you

ChrisHimself

No way it could be the worn starter causing hot starting issues it has to be a special snowflake issue only my unique car has that only I with my amazing brain can troubleshoot which is why I went on a forum to argue with people who span decades of Mercedes ownership. How dare any of you not regard me as an equal