W124 200 TE Warning Lamp

[phoenix_nights]

Ok went to see a w124 '94 auto estate with 141mls. Seemed to be in good order. Fronts seats were a bit bouncy but that a known common problem.

On the dashboard one of the warning lights stayed on. It was an amber/orange light with a bulb icon. The guy said it was for a blown bulb but could not trace it as all lights worked. (passed the NCT test here with is the equivalent to the MOT in UK)

Any ideas on the warning light ?

Was a 7 seater. Dark wood trim. Green. Not my favourite colour but very hard to get 200TE's over here. Never saw it on any car before but the front door handles had lights; so green when unlocked (via remote) and red when locking. Was this standard on the model. Like the touch of the seatbelt warning on the overhead display.

Auto seemed fine. No visible leaking of oil on cyclinder.

Might be closer to becoming a fully fledged member of mbclub. (instead of a wannabe! )

Any thoughts on the warning light would be great....

 

[PJH]

Re: Warning light, had you checked the number plate light(s) ?

 

[Flash]

Brake pad wear indicator perhaps....

Was the W124 equipped with bulb failure indicator? (sorry I dont know much about the W124...)

 

[phoenix_nights]

Never thought of that. I'll note that when i see the car again.

Re: Warning light, had you checked the number plate light(s) ?

 

[grober]

Wrong wattage of bulb??

Very common on that vintage of car.Poor contact somewhere-bulb ok ,but connection needs cleaning up. Either that, or as PJH suggests, a bulb thats not obvious. I sometimes get that on a rear tail light, sure enough the light is out, a sharp tap on the light unit and it comes on again voila! poor connection. Take bulb out ,very easy at the rear on coupe ,saloon,dont know about estate, cleanup contacts ,problem gone. I would not turn down a car for that ,but get the guy to sort it first since the cure is easy. OH!! just remembered can also be caused by using the wrong wattage of bulb, e.g. 3watt instead of 5watt so bulb works but because resistance is wrong warning light comes on. Another possibility is a problem with the wiring loom which is common in this age of car but normally restricted to engine compartment due to heat. This is a expensive problem if present but unlikely in this case. lights in door handles are LEDS and part of the remote locking system if you see green unlock and red lock they are working fine. being LEDS they dont go wrong normally and are not linked to the warning light circuit as far as I know..

 

[Dave Lewis]

The only time the bulb failure warning light comes on in my car is when one of the brakelight bulbs fails.
Not sure what you mean about the lights on the door handles.
Has the car got a good history, with receipts? At this mileage, it's important to know what's been done, and what hasn't, particularly regarding the head gasket.

 

[phoenix_nights]

Thanks grober. Yep figured it was a small problem with bulb/connection but you know how it is when you are thinking of buying an old car....you try to go over everything.

Dave. Yep good receipts. No work done on gasket but could not see any problem with it.But am taking it into account when agreeing what price to pay for the car.

Not sure if i am right here but with the updated version of the E class (ie from 200 to E200 in '94) did the engine get upgraded so that the common gasket problem did not rear its ugly head as much. (did the number of valves change?) . Or was the changes just comestic. Would love more info on this.

The LEDs on the door handle, Dave, must be a '94 upgrade over the previous models.

 

[Howard]

Hi Phoenix,

My 230ce w124 has a bulb light come on every now and then, i traced it to a dodgy connection on the left front fog , i find that slamming the brakes on reseats the connection and it goes away.....

The lighting system on mercs can be very sensitive , its not uncommon to have all the bulbs functioning correctly but the warning light on , this is usually caused by using cheapy bulbs (halfords etc) , the car seems to know , although its probably just down to filament thickness etc... also using LED sidelight and indicator bulbs can cause the light to come on as there is not enough resistance in the lighting circuit....

I'm not sure about the 200 engine, but i know the 230 engine (8v) was replaced with the 220 engine (16v) at the facelift , and the 300 engine was replaced with the 320 also, so i would assume that the 200 engine was upgraded in some way and that the changes were not just cosmetic.....

Hope you find the car you want ....

H

 

[grober]

At 1992 Frankfurt show old M102 1997cc single cam 122bhp engine (used also in the 190's) was replaced with M111.941 1998cc 136bhp twin adjustable overhead cam multivalve engine complete with new electronic management system-no distributer-twin ignition solid state coils etc. Not so prone to blowing cylinder head gasket but some problems with cylinder head bolt-stretch on some early engines symptom is oil leak from gasket area. But some go on in this state for years! Provided fluids are clean no oil in water or water emulsion in oil should be ok.

 

[phoenix_nights]

Thanks howard. Thanks grober for the engine details. Just noticed you are from Perth. Used to own a SAAB 900 in sydney for a couple of years and was a regular on saabcentral.com. Hoping to become a regular here.

 

[grober]

Sorry thats Perth Scotland mate not Australia.

 

[phoenix_nights]

oh yeah. Both front windows (electric) were a bit squeaky and slow to go up and down. Is this a know complaint and is it relatively easy to fix ?

 

[grober]

windows

Merc windows are slow and do squeek a bit so dont think thats a problem. probably just not used a lot. Windows that JUDDER are more of a problem since that might mean more serious probs. I havnt had problems but others may have more experience.

 

[phoenix_nights]

was looking around the forum and came across sp!kes gallery.

http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=588&highlight=w124

Did he really go to slovenia and get a complete paint job done. Looks awesome. Wonder how much it cost him !

 

[MangoMan]

It does look a 'Beaut' doesn't it !!!

Sorry, but picking up on a couple of things mentioned here;

My passenger side door window is real slow, half the speed of the driver's side. Both rear windows work well, none of them squeak though.

Also, I have a slight leak coming from the front of the engine on the right hand side, (facing forward), just around the rocker cover, not very much, haven't had to top-up yet, but leaving an anoying mark on my drive-way. Should I just leave it?

No Oil in Water, or vice-versa.

Cheers, Bill.

 

[Howard]

My passenger door window is slow too... makes an awful clunking noise too sometimes.... but .....

On the w124 coupes (don't know about estates and saloons) the winding mech. and the motor are attached very sturdily, when Sp!ke went to change his he needed to hire a big rivet gun to reattach it and it was a huge nightmare apparently...... so unless it actually stops working, best to leave it alone....

See this :-

http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=9172&highlight=hire+rivet

 

[grober]

if it aint broke dont fix it

Also, I have a slight leak coming from the front of the engine on the right hand side, (facing forward), just around the rocker cover, not very much, haven't had to top-up yet, but leaving an anoying mark on my drive-way. Should I just leave it? No Oil in Water, or vice-versa.
Cheers, Bill.

Bill if it aint broke dont fix it. A leak in that area from the head to block "gasket line" may spell future trouble but may last years. If your loss of oil isn't great and fluids ok I would leave well alone. Others may disagree.

 

[MangoMan]

Bill if it aint broke dont fix it. A leak in that area from the head to block "gasket line" may spell future trouble but may last years. If your loss of oil isn't great and fluids ok I would leave well alone. Others may disagree.

Thanks Graeme, that's what I thought.

Cheers, Bill.

 

[Dieselman]

Others may disagree.

Well yes and no.

Fix it when you feel like it, but remember it won't heal on its own.