1995 E420 Lighting Issues. Help Needed.
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1986 420sel (RIP), 1995 E420
1995 E420 Lighting Issues. Help Needed.
Hello,
I'm having issues with taillight/ instrument lighting in my w124. It's a 1995 E420 with 169k on the clock.
The problem began a few weeks ago with a binding exterior lighting switch. I attempted to jiggle it loose to no avail, and as I was in a lousy neighborhood, I ended up forcing it to the on position. I regained my lighting, but the switch no longer turned nicely, clicking into the various positions on the switch; rather, it felt kind of "crunchy" when I turned it.
A few days later, I randomly lost my instrument illumination, along with all interior control illumination (shift knob, heater buttons etc.). The "bad bulb" warning light on the instrument cluster came on. At this time I checked my taillights, and the only light that was functioning was a single bulb on the driver's side tail light bank. Additionally, I lost the passenger side front marker light. At this point my headlamps were still operating.
A few days after that, my headlights ceased to come on with the switch. The fog lamps still came on if I pulled the switch knob out. Turn signals, brake lights, dome lights, door lights, trunk lights all still functional.
Today I installed a new oem switch, and regained the use of my headlamps. Success! Not quite...
My instrument lights still aren't working (except the tiny bulb which illuminates the orange dot on the light switch when you pull it out for fog lamps), nor are the tail lights lit up (except the one bulb in the drivers side that had been working before). Front passenger marker light still out. "bad bulb" warning light still on.
At this point I tried all the bulbs on the taillights in the socket of the one bulb that is working, and all lit up in that socket, so I've ruled out bad bulbs as a possible culprit. Fuses (which I removed prior to R&Ring the switch) are all intact. At some point when I was checking these things the "bad bulb" light went out, but my lighting issues remain.
I remember that my w126 420sel had some sort of lighting control relay (gnarly looking black box) in a bank adjacent to the fuse box under the hood on the driver's side. I thought maybe this could be the source of my woes, but I don't see a similar relay in my w124, and it seems like a strange coincidence that a relay would fail in such a close period of time to the switch breaking.
If there is such a relay in my vehicle, where would I locate it, and how would I test it? What else might I look to for a source of these issues? Any help would be greatly appreciated; I'm pretty frustrated, and my limited automotive knowledge complicates the matter. Sorry about the long post, but I wanted to be thorough.
thanks,
Marcus
I'm having issues with taillight/ instrument lighting in my w124. It's a 1995 E420 with 169k on the clock.
The problem began a few weeks ago with a binding exterior lighting switch. I attempted to jiggle it loose to no avail, and as I was in a lousy neighborhood, I ended up forcing it to the on position. I regained my lighting, but the switch no longer turned nicely, clicking into the various positions on the switch; rather, it felt kind of "crunchy" when I turned it.
A few days later, I randomly lost my instrument illumination, along with all interior control illumination (shift knob, heater buttons etc.). The "bad bulb" warning light on the instrument cluster came on. At this time I checked my taillights, and the only light that was functioning was a single bulb on the driver's side tail light bank. Additionally, I lost the passenger side front marker light. At this point my headlamps were still operating.
A few days after that, my headlights ceased to come on with the switch. The fog lamps still came on if I pulled the switch knob out. Turn signals, brake lights, dome lights, door lights, trunk lights all still functional.
Today I installed a new oem switch, and regained the use of my headlamps. Success! Not quite...
My instrument lights still aren't working (except the tiny bulb which illuminates the orange dot on the light switch when you pull it out for fog lamps), nor are the tail lights lit up (except the one bulb in the drivers side that had been working before). Front passenger marker light still out. "bad bulb" warning light still on.
At this point I tried all the bulbs on the taillights in the socket of the one bulb that is working, and all lit up in that socket, so I've ruled out bad bulbs as a possible culprit. Fuses (which I removed prior to R&Ring the switch) are all intact. At some point when I was checking these things the "bad bulb" light went out, but my lighting issues remain.
I remember that my w126 420sel had some sort of lighting control relay (gnarly looking black box) in a bank adjacent to the fuse box under the hood on the driver's side. I thought maybe this could be the source of my woes, but I don't see a similar relay in my w124, and it seems like a strange coincidence that a relay would fail in such a close period of time to the switch breaking.
If there is such a relay in my vehicle, where would I locate it, and how would I test it? What else might I look to for a source of these issues? Any help would be greatly appreciated; I'm pretty frustrated, and my limited automotive knowledge complicates the matter. Sorry about the long post, but I wanted to be thorough.
thanks,
Marcus
