Tiny Problem.....

[Howard]

Whilst drving home from work last night, all the dash lighting went off (speedos, heater controls, shift gate, everything) however the interior overhead light still worked as did my illuminated door sills.....

Weirder yet, they came back on for a few seconds and then went again, but then later came back on and stayed on......

I checked the fuse wasn't loose ( it wasn't ) and touch wood, seems to be ok now, anyone got any ideas what happened or if it is likely to do it again, and if so, whats the fix...

As i'm sure you all know, its a 1991 230ce w124 ......

cheers

H

 

[Sp!ke]

Maybe your variable resistor is about to give up or had some dust in it.

 

[Howard]

Ok........

Whats that and where is it ? is it an easy fix if it GUTG.......

 

[SG CL500]

I had the same/similar (albeit in a different model) - everything dashwise went blank (including speedo) until I stopped and restarted the car. Happened once about 6 months ago, never since.

Hope yet

 

[andy_k]

the variable resistor will be the rheostat/dimmer for your dash panel and is certainly the most likely suspect here. It could also be that the fuse was slightly rusty and lifting it out has made a better contact. With older cars It's a wise precaution to remove and clean fuses periodically. Most of the W124s are now well over 10 years old and many of them will still be using original fuses so it's understandable that corrosion can play a part in giving weird electrics

HTH

Andy

 

[Howard]

Cheers everyone....

So, if it happens again and doesn't go away, first stop the dimmer....

Bet it'll be cheaper to buy a set of clocks off ebay than anything else ...

Is it possible to disable the dimmer and bypass it as i always have the illumination set to high anyway ?

But for now , as it's gone away i shant trouble myself unduly .....

once again - thanks all !

 

[jaymanek]

its the dimmer, a brand new one is around 9 quid...not worth messing around for, just get a new one...

 

[MangoMan]

I had the same problem on my 300te, now I know I'm going to hear screams (!) but I rectified the promblem by banging the centre console on the side by the gear selector, then the lights came back on, but it kept on happening occasionaly. I never fixed the problem permanantely because it happened so rarely and always came back on with a gentle bang. I did play with the conections under the selector cover at one stage, and it did happen less often then.

But sorry, other than that I can't help.

Cheers, Bill.

 

[pepper&boulou]

its the dimmer, a brand new one is around 9 quid...not worth messing around for, just get a new one...

my dimmer dosn't work and I think it packed in on the low setting

 

[jaymanek]

well its not a hard job to replace, its just a small white pull out unit on the back of the speedo...at least it is on my 123's and most 124's i think!

 

[Howard]

Wicked, thats great news .....

Touch Wood .... oooo errrr its not happened again, but if it does , dimmer shop here i come ....... :bannana: