Instrument cluster not working??

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Azazel9

New Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2022
Messages
12
Location
Wales
Car
W204 c200 cdi
Hey, new here so go easy on me I'll try to give as much info as I can.

I have a C200 CDI 2008, firstly my car would randomly die on start up, the car would unlock, all dashboard lights/radio/screen would work but when I go to turn the ignition it would completely kill the power to everything. The only way to get it to work would be to wiggle the wire on the battery then everything would turn back on and start up again.

After it happened 2 or 3 times I charged the battery up, and it stopped happening.

Now maybe 2 weeks later I've started the car up, and the clocks have stopped working, along with the controls on the steering wheel, the rest of the car all seems to have power and be working, it starts and the radio and rest of the dash works.

The strange thing is that since this has happened the clocks back Lighting is coming on, usually when the cars been left a few hours. even when it's locked, and drains the battery overnight.

I've put the keys in when the back-light is showing and it's the same situation as when it's not showing, car starts, everything works except the clocks and steering wheel controls.

I did replace fuse F28 and F5 after searching prior to writing this post - but that didn't work.

So I'm thinking next thing I should probably try a new battery? Or should I be looking to replace the instrument cluster or both? If i need new clocks is there a way to show the correct milage of the car?

Attached a pic to show what I mean. Appreciate any help
 

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Try charging the battery again and take it from there, sounds like you have an issue with the battery in any case.

The mileage isn’t stored in the cluster so if you do have to change it the correct mileage will be shown.
 
Battery on the way out? MBs do not like short trips in winter.
If the battery is newish get a smart charger.
 
Try charging the battery again and take it from there, sounds like you have an issue with the battery in any case.

The mileage isn’t stored in the cluster so if you do have to change it the correct mileage will be shown.
I'm not saying you are wrong, because I don't know for sure on more recent cars but, on my 2005 car the mileage was stored within the cluster. I know this because when I had to change the cluster, I gave the new and old clusters to a "chap" and he was able to transfer the mileage from one to the other.
 
Try charging the battery again and take it from there, sounds like you have an issue with the battery in any case.

The mileage isn’t stored in the cluster so if you do have to change it the correct mileage will be shown.
OK I disconnected the battery and charged it up, tested the Voltage after charging and its 12.2V.

Then I connected it back to the car and it read 12.1V, but the clocks have started working again. I'm not sure if this is because of the battery being charged because I did try that once before hand, or that I hadn't disconnected the battery since putting in the new F5 fuse, and maybe that had an effect with resetting the cluster or something? I dont know.

I also tested the voltage on start up and it dropped from the 12.1V to 8V, before going back up. from reading having a drop that big can be a sign there's an issue with the battery?

The clocks are working but the original issue was back, where the car would die on start up, and you'd have to move the wire on the battery for the power to come back on? I've added 2 pics, so you can see that once the wire has been moved the light in the boot will come back on and you know the powers back.

Am I best off replacing the battery? Or is this caused by something else? Now the clocks are working I assume the back-light won't stay on and the car won't drain again, the car still starts ect and there's power to everything, just sometimes you have the move the wire to enable that.

Thanks for any help.
 

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Battery on the way out? MBs do not like short trips in winter.
If the battery is newish get a smart charger.
The battery is atleast 4 years Old, (that's how long I've had the car and haven't had to replace it yet, unsure if it had been changed prior)

And yeah, it is cold at the moment and I don't use the car that much to be honest, more for taxi'ing the kids around.

Seems like replacing the battery would be the obvious choice from here
 
The battery is finished buy a new one,it should cure the problems you are having,given you are not doing much driving in the car best you buy a decent trickle charger and put that on your new battery ,that should keep it in top condition.
 
The battery is finished buy a new one,it should cure the problems you are having,given you are not doing much driving in the car best you buy a decent trickle charger and put that on your new battery ,that should keep it in top condition.
Yeah im going to order one and hope that solves the issues, do I need a MB one or should any equivalent decent brand do?

I've asked on another forum to, and someone said to look if the SAM has any water damage? Any info regarding that?

Thanks for the reply
 
Well most of us use Tanya batteries online,you do not need a MB battery ,but others say you get a competitive price on batteries at MB,water in the front SAM well it could be,check where it is ,the common place for it is in the engine compartment looking from the front it is around top left it will be near the fuse box and may well be screwed down or have a plastic top that has catches ,all you need to do is just look in it to see if it is dry,one of the ways it gets water in it ,is if a drain from the front scuttle is blocked,but the odds are that it is the battery.
 
Well most of us use Tanya batteries online,you do not need a MB battery ,but others say you get a competitive price on batteries at MB,water in the front SAM well it could be,check where it is ,the common place for it is in the engine compartment looking from the front it is around top left it will be near the fuse box and may well be screwed down or have a plastic top that has catches ,all you need to do is just look in it to see if it is dry,one of the ways it gets water in it ,is if a drain from the front scuttle is blocked,but the odds are that it is the battery.
OK last question, do I need the AGM battery or not? Here are 2 Varta battery's I found and the ebay search says both fit.


 
Well I would use the H3 it has a 5 year warranty and will do the job and it is cheaper
 
Well I would use the H3 it has a 5 year warranty and will do the job and it is cheaper
Yeah if they're both compatible I'd go with the H3, but I'm not sure if my current battery was AGM or not and the specs of the new one had to be the same.
 
Hey, back again.

The clocks started working again at first, believe this was after I left the battery disconnected for a few hours and reconnected it, the clocks were working again.

I continued to buy the new G14 Varta battery just so I knew the battery wasn't the issue, clocks continued to work after fitting, had no issues.

Then today the clocks have started playing up again, (also steering wheel controls, these were also affected before when this happened to) the car starts fine, everything else is working.

The back-light on the cluster is again staying on when the car is locked, so its going to end up draining the battery if left.

Tested the new battery also, 12.7v before start up, drops to 11v on start up, and is at 14.5v when running. So I'm assuming this is not a battery related issue?

Anyone have any idea on where to point me next? Are the clocks faulty if the steering controls are also down, and there is still power going to them as the back-light will stay on.

Any help is appreciated
 
Clocks handle the steering wheel controls. Mileage and often the service history is held in the cluster. Mileage also held elsewhere. If using a used cluster it needs to be virginised (i.e mileage set to 0 and the ID removed) in order to set the mileage and coded to set all the options, or you need to use a new cluster. We can virginise used clusters and install properly, but were a distance from Wales (particularly far from North Wales!)

Backlight is software controlled from the cluster, so does look like a cluster failure. And removing power briefly probably springs it back into life. You don't want it to die completely because replacing it is easier if the old one is just about working still.

R
 
Clocks handle the steering wheel controls. Mileage and often the service history is held in the cluster. Mileage also held elsewhere. If using a used cluster it needs to be virginised (i.e mileage set to 0 and the ID removed) in order to set the mileage and coded to set all the options, or you need to use a new cluster. We can virginise used clusters and install properly, but were a distance from Wales (particularly far from North Wales!)

Backlight is software controlled from the cluster, so does look like a cluster failure. And removing power briefly probably springs it back into life. You don't want it to die completely because replacing it is easier if the old one is just about working still.

R
Thank you for the reply.

So I'm assuming it is the clocks gone faulty then, I figured buying different ones would have that. issue.

I've seen you can send them off to be repaired for around £150ish, so I imagine that would be the easier route? Take them off myself and send them off?

People have also mentioned the SAM, I don't have much knowledge of this part, is it something that can be tested before deciding the take the clocks out and have them fixed?
 
Took it to a friend with a code reader and this is what it's showing, he also said it wouldn't let him connect to the cluster directly so he said it's worth getting them tested to know for sure.

Am I better off sending the clocks off to get tested, or do these codes point to anything else and should take it to a MB specialist?

Thanks for any help
 

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Also spoke to Revtronic (company that repairs clusters) and explained what's happening and this was there response;

I'm not to sure that the cluster had failed ? I suspect that the front sam unit may have failed or had water ingress ??
Please check the vehicle further . Faulty clocks usually start off with intermittent power loss


is the same something I can check myself or am I better off going to a specialist at this point? Thanks for any help.
 
Checked the SAM briefly, doesn't appear to be wet or have any moisture, didn't remove it or anything though.

Can't get an auto electrician to look till next week, he said its unlikely the SAM and you'd normally find other electrical problems too.

So can anyone offer any advice at this point? Should I send the clocks of to be tested and find out if they are causing the issue, or wait till the electrician is available to do a full diagnostic?

I'm assuming the only possible 2 causes are the cluster itself or the SAM?
 
Clocks handle the steering wheel controls. Mileage and often the service history is held in the cluster. Mileage also held elsewhere. If using a used cluster it needs to be virginised (i.e mileage set to 0 and the ID removed) in order to set the mileage and coded to set all the options, or you need to use a new cluster. We can virginise used clusters and install properly, but were a distance from Wales (particularly far from North Wales!)

Backlight is software controlled from the cluster, so does look like a cluster failure. And removing power briefly probably springs it back into life. You don't want it to die completely because replacing it is easier if the old one is just about working still.

R

Any other info you can offer?
 

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