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Dash stopped working!

2K views 11 replies 3 participants last post by  hamada128 
#1 ·
Hi!

My dash stopped working. Seriously, I get speed, tach and water temperature. That's it. The ambient temperature display says it's -36 degF outside. The center LCD is totally blank. The clock LCD works, but the bulb went out months ago and I haven't had time to fix it. The fuel gauge shows empty.

The last time I had problems with the dash was in December, and it was raining very hard. The car registered a number of odd, unrelated errors and the dash lights wouldn't work when it first started up (but would come on eventually). Since then I've had no problems, but it did rain very hard again yesterday.

Any advice? Thanks!
 
#3 ·
Press the volume button that should work, if not sorry.

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#4 · (Edited)
Interesting. The steering wheel-mounted volume buttons? My car does not have the COMAND system it came from the factory with installed any more, so I never press those buttons. I'll give it a shot. Thank you for your advice.

It occurred to me that there is one other symptom that may prove useful to somebody. Since the instrument cluster problems I mentioned earlier, I had an 'orange spot' in the center of the main LCD. It looked like an ant farm and grew bigger and bigger until about two months ago, when it started getting smaller. It has all but disappeared. The spot was not dead pixels. I suspect it was moisture in another layer of the display, though how it would have gotten there I have no idea.
 
#5 ·
I tried the steering wheel buttons and saw no change.

I did see, when I was in the car last night, that the center display does actually work. It's just incredibly dim and very hard to read from most angles. If I navigate to the 'fuel remaining' screen, it shows dashes for the number of gallons and distance to empty.

With the number (and combination) of failures and the fact that it registers no malfunctions, I am leaning towards an issue with the instrument cluster itself. I wonder what would be the easiest route to a solution. I understand the cluster actually stores the odometer reading. If I buy a working cluster, can I have the new odometer reprogrammed to reflect the actual mileage of the car? Should I try to repair the cluster I have with parts from another?

Thanks.
 
#6 ·
Your 2002 E320 Wagon has more than one battery, your last resort would be to change them. I suggest you take it to your local certified Mercedes-Benz mechanic, tell them your problem, and have them fix it. It may be dirt cheap or pretty pricey. Hope this helped.

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Current Vehicles: 2014 Mercedes-Benz S550, 2012 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé, 2011 Rolls-Royce Ghost, 2012 Rolls-Royce Phantom Saloon EWB, 2013 Bentley Continental GTC, 2012 Bentley Mulsanne, 2012 Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG, 1993 Mercedes-Benz 600 SEL, 1986 Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole, 2012 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, 2011 Porsche Panamera Turbo S, 2007 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG, 2011 Aston Martin Rapide, 1995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, 1954 Chevrolet Corvette 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, 2011 Ferrari California, 1956 Mercedes-Benz 190SL Roadster, 2003 Ferrari 360 MODENA, 2014 Ferrari F12, 2012 McLaren MP4-12C HS, 2013 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT, 2011 Nissan GTR, 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé, 1977 Toyota LandCruiser, 2012 AstonMartin DB9, 2001 BMW Z8, 2012 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG, 2014 Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG, 2009 Maserati Quatroporte, 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL 65 AMG, 2012 Porsche GT3-RS, 1939 Cadillac Series 75, 2005 Maserati Cambiocorsa, 2011 Cadillac Escalade, 2012 Campagna Motors T-REX RR, 1957 Porsche 356 T-1A, 1975 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 Dino GT4, 2006 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, 2004 Maybach 57, 2012 Fisker Karma EcoSport, 2013 Tesla Model S P85, 2012 Ferrari FF, 2006 Hummer H1, 2010 Lamborghini Aventador, 1986 Lamborghini LM002, 2004 Maserati MC12, 2014 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGS Estate, 2015 Porsche Panamera Turbo S Executive, 2010 Lamborghini Murciélago, 1990 Lamborghini Diablo SV, 1974 Lamborghini Countach SV, 1966 Lamborghini Miura, 1965 Mercedes-Benz 220SE, 2014 BMW B7 ALPINA, 1984 Ferrari Testarosa, 1987 Ferrari F40, 2012 Porsche Carrera 4S, 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, 2005 Ford GT, 2007 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, 2007 Lotus Elise, 2003 Bentley Arnage, 2003 Bentley Azure, 2010 Bentley Brooklands, 2012 Maybach Landaulet, & 2014 LandRover LR4
 
#8 ·
So, my dash works again. It flickered a bit and now it works all the time. I'm going to chalk this up to the same possible moisture problem I had back in December. At some point I'll have to pull the cluster and figure out what's going on back there.

Good, thing, too. I see now that I have three gallons left. :)
 
#10 ·
So, I've determined that rain probably has nothing to do with the instrument cluster and whether or not it works on a given day. Lately it works less often than it does.

I pulled the cluster out last night and didn't see anything glaringly obvious that was wrong. There was no sign of moisture getting in. The wiring to the cluster appears to be in good condition, the grounds on the firewall are fine and the dash doesn't appear to have any iffy solder connections.

I'm leaning towards getting a used cluster that has a similar number of miles on it. I wish I lived in a bigger town and could find another owner who would be willing to swap clusters with me for ten minutes to make sure mine is bad and that it's not wiring.
 
#11 ·
FYI, this turned out to be the instrument cluster itself. I bought one on eBay that had mileage within a couple hundred of the car. The sub-LCDs on the sides don't work properly, but I'll fix those eventually. I'm just glad to have the main LCD and the gas gauge work again.
 
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