300D dash lights fail after radio install

My old Becker radio in the 300d gave up, so I replaced it with something new. Everything seems fine except now it seems I have lost dash lights? Any advice would be appreciated.

Was having hard starts in the cold last week, the glow plug light went out. Ordered the clean=out tool and 5 new glow plugs. Job went smoothly with your instructions. Starts great again, Thanks!

Jonathan

Forums

Body and Interior Specific Aid

Chassis Model Number

W123

Dash Board lights

Jonathan,
If you are talking about the lights around the radio area then I can tell you they are tender. Which means pull it all out and push and pull the little lights and be careful sliding the unit back in. A pain, and you may have to repeat. Get a magnifying glass and inspect the bulbs for burnout as long as you are going to the effort. To me the dash board is the speedometer section. If that is what went out its the little twisty thing that controls the brightness. If it does not work have it hotwired full open or replace it. I hope some of this helps.
Kelly Dunn

how do i adjust the brightness of my dashlights on my 84 300sd?

how do i adjust the brightness of my dashlights on my 84 300sd?i have no visable lights with my headlights on or off and cant figure out where the switch would be or if my bulbs are shot

Dash Board lights

Brain,
You have two knobs on the instrument cluster. One right one left. On my 81 the left one if I push it in resets the trip meter to zero. And if I roll it left or right it brightens or not the cluster lights. I think its the left one anyway. Mine was giving me grief from age and I had my mechanic hot wire the unit to full brightness. The right knob resets my clock. Do you by chance have your operators manual? The whole dash is laid out in mine and says what each thing does.Hope this helps.
Kelly Dunn

Brightness of dashlights

Your rheostat is a knob on your instrument cluster. It adjusts your dash lights from dim to bright, but if the metal-to-metal connection isn't made, you won't get any lights at all.

I had this problem on my 115 300D. I took out my instrument cluster and saw that the spring inside the rheostat box was encrusted with white gunk. I picked and scraped it out with a pin, and twisted the knob a million times to ensure a proper connection, and now it works just fine.

Ken has an Instrument Cluster Repair manual for sale here on the site. It's worth every penny!

question about extra light

I have a 84 300dt when I removed the face plate over the heater ac controls (to replace the bulb in the temp wheel) I found one extra bulb socket not in use total of five. one for temp wheel, two and three for vent control, #4 for fan control and one extra in the back not in use all have small 1.2 volt bulb.ps, light in shifter on and working. Any idea what extra socket is for? Question two all four switches across the top of center dash do not light up. (rear light switch, antenna ,sunroof, rear defrost) rear def lights up when activated. when I pulled out heat controll unit behind attached to the wall was a plastic ring with about six black wires coming out. these wires go up to the four switches on the top the wires end at the switches in what look like what could be a tiny bulb or led. Previous owner or some mech tried to splice one of these little wires together but they have no metal in them they appear to be glass fibers or some other material. do you sell replacments or can youoffer any tips on repair. thank you