I just bought an 86 300E not 3 days ago and the Dashboard lights and the console lights dont light up. My first thought was that it could be a bad fuse, so i replaced #3 and the lights still dont work.. I also saw that #3 controls the back headrests, and those work.. so what would you guys reccomend? could the fact that the lights were just 17 years old and need to be replaced anyways or does the dimmer switch conrol all of the lights and maybe that broke???


Thanks,

James

 

have you tried turning the dial on your dash that controls the lights?
(one is for lights when you turn it, the other is to reset miles when pushed)

 

congrats on new car and welcome to the forum.

 

thanks man ive been doing research on here before i bought the car and you guys seem really knowledgable... now on to the problem..

Yeah i have tried that knob (rehostat..sp?).. thats what i was referring to when i talked about the dimmer switch.. but is it normal for neither the dash nor the console lights to not work together? are they all connected?

Thanks,
James

 

i've never had that happen before. I would have some bulbs burn out but not all lights would go off. I guess i can't help you on this one. sorry.

 

to check the dashbord lights, pull the headlight switch and find the wire that sends juice to the dashlight array. If you have a repair manual they will contain wiring diagramsand tell you what color wire that is. Or you can screw around with the volt meter.

The console lights are powered by a grey wire with a blue stripe. They all meet at a junction box behind the ashtray. There are about six of these grey/blue wires. There will be one that brings the juice into that junction box. Check for a short there.

I had these problems on my 88 300E, I hope this helps you.

the shemdogg

 

if that does not work...you may need a new one. Yes, it does control all those lights.
Another possibility could be that you have a short. Unfortunately, depending when your car was built in '86, you may or may not, have a red fuse (looks like a lught bulb but, it is red) behind the instrument cluster. I think, MB started to install these fuses in early '87. Yes, the instrument cluster has to come out for this one.
Good luck!

 

ok guys.. now this is weird.. i went out to dinner with all my friends.. and the dashlights come on when the rear passengers door is open... whats up with that?

Thanks,
James

 

lol your car is possesed. thats all i can say haha jk

 

My dash and console lights went out recently on my 91 300CE.
It was the "Instrument cluster illumination control switch"
Part # 000-542-38-25 Should be about $35-40 for the part and about 1 to 1.5 hours for labor.

 

Simple problem. As time passes the wires that power the rear window motor and actuating switch chaff (especially on the early cars) inside their protective sheath (in the door-jam). More than likely this is causing the intermittent failure, when you open the door the wires move and shorting stops. The illumination for the rear switch is tied to the rest of the cars lighting system. I had some serious wiring issues with my lights,and ended up rewiring much of the system with the correctly coded wiring and adding a few more grounds while I was at it.

 

I have these problems right now. My cluster do have light, but my climate control panel and window switches had no light at all. What is up?

 

I had no dash lights about a year ago. Try this....

1. Check your rheostat (replace or repair if necessary. Repair is easy, just jump the connectors....did this on my mom's car, now her dash is super bright)

2. Check your fuses...both under the hood and behind the dash. (Best to just invest 10 cents and just replace them with new ones)

3. Attach a ground wire to the back of the dash (this solved my problem)

 

Is the dash Rheostat control the dash board cluster instrument light only? Thanks for info

 

No, it controls all the lights inside, incl. radio, power window switches, etc.

 

Yeah, my climate control panel, radio and window switches are not working, except the cluster instrument. I guess I am going to buy a new rheostat for my 300E. I hope this is the problem. Thank you

 

Don't buy a new one. Usually you can fix the old one by re-soldering it. Pull instrument cluster out and take a look at it.You'll have to pull it out to replae the rheostat anyways.

 

Well, I have replaced the rheostat for my 300e, but it's still didn't work. Is there a fuse some where behind the cluster? I have a 1991 300e. What else could happened? My next steps is to change the headlight switch even thought I don't that's the common problem. Please let me know what should I do to diagnostic my car. Is there a ground wire for the climate panel, radio, and window console? Maybe the ground wire came lose some where. Please advise me what to do next. Thank you

 

Anybody still around to answers this posted. Thanks

 

try what i did. all that jerry did was disconnect the cruise control. it is just two wires held together by their own force somewhere in the engine bay. i don't know what or where but the lights came back on just fine.. but of course no cruise control. if it doesn't work, you can just connect them back... i think.

 

Will take your advised. I will let you know the result. Thanks

 

best of luck to you