husbenz

Hello all!


I have spent my entire day working on my wife's 2007 E350 W211. Starting this morning, the instrument cluster suddenly failed. We had not experienced any problems with it before this. The tachometer, odometer, speedometer, and display were not functioning. I followed some of the directions I found in these forums:

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ing-works.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...ster-dead.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ter-blank.html

I tested every fuse in the vehicle with both a capacity test and voltage while running to ensure that they were all functional before reseating them. I ran the diagnostic on it, which only gave U0155, "loss of communication with your Instrument Panel Cluster Control Module (IPC)." I disconnected and reconnected the battery several times, with wait times between, to attempt to reboot the instrument cluster. Then, when that didn't work, I pulled the instrument cluster from the dash and tested it to ensure it was getting voltage to the cluster; it matched battery voltage while running and in accessory. None of the prongs or holes were damaged at the input. Upon visual inspection and testing some pathways across the cluster board itself, it appeared to be in order: no shorts, burns, or failures. Everything seemed to pass inspection. Then, after three iterations of disconnecting and reconnecting the cluster, it suddenly chimed and turned back on. Hooray! I turned off the car and called it a job done.

That was until a few hours later, I returned to the car and decided to move it, and the instrument cluster was again dead. Bummer.

Is there anything else I should try, perhaps something deep within the W211 lore I may have missed? Or is my cluster dead, leaving me to order an expensive one on eBay and drive my wife to work for the foreseeable future? If it is dead, what could have caused it to suddenly malfunction? Is this something very regular with W211's?

Thanks in advance for your help/advice!

streborx

If there are mating connectors soldered onto instrument circuit boards, you might want to inspect the solder joints under magnification to check for intermittent connections