eteller

So my 2009 CLK 350 has two separate illumination issues. Firstly the back light for the gas gauge is flickering, I assume the LED on the cluster board is going out? Secondly my Comand unit is not as bright as it used to be, there again I think the back light mechanism whatever that might be is fading. Anyone else experiencing this and is there any fix beyond major surgery and $$$.

Rudeney

What happens when you twist the stalk on the instrument cluster to adjust the illumination brightness? It uses an analog potentiometer that can get flaky.

eteller

Huh, it does dim but not really linearly. Me thinks a squirt of DeOxit might be in order. Being an audiophile who sometimes messes with vintage gear I can't believe I didn't think of that, pots get flaky and need to be cleaned.

Rudeney

Remove the cluster and take a look at it. Here's a tear-down I did for the W203 C-Class, and the CLK is the same:

http://benzbits.com/w203/cluster.html

Go through about the 4th photo to remove the housing and you can see the potentiometer there.

eteller

Thanks Rodney, I'll do that when I'm swapping out my steering wheel.