340driver

Good Morning. I am a first-time Mercedes owner, wanting to tackle my first-time Mercedes "issue." I purchased the 1983 380SL about 2 months ago and have not driven it much. During that time, the turn signals stopped working. I went to the simplest option first and checked the fuse panel. The fuse did not have the obvious signs of any problem. I put the fuse back and was hoping by reseating it, the turn signal problem may be fixed. Instead, nearly all of the gauges in the car stopped working (Speedometer, Tach, Fuel Gauge, Temp Gauge, and maybe more). I want to be clear about what I did. I only took out (1) fuse (the one related to the turn signals) and put it right back. I did not even touch any of the fuses. So, my question is, why would such a routine procedure cause an even larger problem? And, what suggestions would you have in troubleshooting my issues with the car?
Thanks very much for your time.

Mer380sl

I am having a problem with my 83 SL as well. Mine has a short across 2 wires causing the radio to light up and the ant. to start to raise.


Sounds like to me there are bad connections at the fuse terminal points.
that is the spot where the fuse contacts the fuse springs on top and bottom. All it could take to created this issue is power returning to the fuse panel and breaking the contact. I would take all the fuses and rotate them in their sockets to clean corrosion.


mer380sl

artificer

Anything like this is usually fuse related. Re check all of these as suggested earlier. You probably have dislodged or shorted one while working down there.