Hi, the lights in the instrument cluster on my 1987 W126 300SE do not seem to work, neither does the light that would normally illuminate the gear lever. The reostat makes no difference and there is a warning lamp on the dash for a burned out bulb. I think that the light is telling me that an exterior lamp bulb has gone and it is nothing to do with the dash board/gear stick. It only comes on when the head or side lights are on. Any assistance gratefully received. Jim
Dashboard Lights
Sep 13, 2006
1 Replies
The warning lamp is not related to the dash light failure. The latter is almost certainly caused by the rheostat as all the electricity for the dash and gear lights must go through it (to be dimmable) and when (not if) they fail all the lights stop working.
The rheostat is not particularly cheap but if you are halfway handy you might be able to repair it. I fixed mine (AFTER buying a new one, doh). You have to pull the cluster to get it out and you probably ought to replace all the bulns as long as you're in there given the age - they're gonna be pretty dim by now. These bukbs are not ones you're gonna find in autozone but aren't expensive at the dealers.
Instructions are here:
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