[W126 Coupe] electrical expertise needed

Wed Oct 5 20:55:05 EDT 2005

 Axel, I bought a whole cluster off ebay and still have it, too bad I didn't know.  If you need anything from it, let me know. I know what you mean about getting good at removing the ic, me too (although hopefully I will forget now for a while!). Markus--- On Wed 10/05, Axel Wulff &lt; axelwulff at hotmail.com &gt; wrote:From: Axel Wulff [mailto: axelwulff at hotmail.com]To: mfmeyer at iwon.com, mbcoupes at mbcoupes.comDate: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 16:38:45 -0400Subject: RE: [W126 Coupe] electrical expertise needed

Markus,

I think organizing a get-together is a great idea.

Speaking of creating more problems than you are solving; here is my sad list of accomplishments with the instrument cluster:

I first started out with a stock instrument cluster with all parts working properly, except the clock. As I was going to remove the instrument cluster, I thought I’d do some “upgrades” while I was at it so I bought White Face Gauges off of ebay for $25, capacitors at Radio Shack for $2.50, red paint and black paint (for instrument needles) for $5 at Wal-Mart, Chrome Rings for the instrument binnacle for $60 and Wood Surround for the dials for $120 from mercedesperformance.co.uk.

Well, the burled walnut wood surround is impossible to install unless you separate the front glass from the black plastic binnacle and those parts are very well glued together. I broke the damn $120 part in the process of trying to insert it through the openings in the back.

Next; fix the clock. Not very successful, as you can tell.

Install white face dials. Broke the fuel gauge needle, put the oil pressure needle on while the paint was still wet an glued it to the pin it rests on, put the temp gauge needle on wrong making it show 20 degrees more than it should (giving me a heart attack as I thought the engine was overheating). Had to buy a new fuel/oil pressure/economy/water temp gauge off ebay for $20 to replace the one I wrecked.

Chrome rings, a PITA to install as you have to insert them through the binnacle and then press them in place. There is no going back because the glue they come delivered with is sticky mess and impossible to remove.

…..and my clock still does not work (I’m really getting good at removing and installing the instrument cluster though…).

Cheers,
Axel

-----Original Message-----From: mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com [mailto:mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com] On Behalf Of Markus MeyerSent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 3:43 PMTo: mbcoupes at mbcoupes.comSubject: RE: [W126 Coupe] electrical expertise needed

Axel,Check out Chet's writeup. If you need it, let me know, I have the email saved off. I believe he said the capacitor is the same as in the two configuration. Funny thing is, it doesn't look like my capacitors were replaced, or if they did, they found ones looking just like the stock ones. I bought the ones from Radio Shack, and they were a lot thinner than the stock ones on my clock, maybe other manufacturers make them looking more like stock. Anyhow, it is exactly what you state (replacing them and it still not working) as well as having an issue when I tried fixing one to begin with and causing more problems that I decided to let someone else do it. Didn't want to spend the money if $2 worth of parts would have cured it, but when I caused more grief than fixing I gave up and decided my electrical skills weren't going to be practiced on the SEC anymore.BTW, how's your car? We should get together, living so close. Actually, the Del Valley "group" should speak up and let us

know if sometime next month is good to get together, it's been a while!Cheers,Markus--- On Wed 10/05, Axel Wulff &lt; axelwulff at hotmail.com &gt; wrote:
From: Axel Wulff [mailto: axelwulff at hotmail.com]To: mfmeyer at iwon.com, mbcoupes at mbcoupes.comDate: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 13:58:05 -0400Subject: RE: [W126 Coupe] electrical expertise needed
Hi Markus,
I have the same issue with the clock in my 90 SEC. It works intermittently and has only one capacitor.
I got hold of a write-up on fixing the two-capacitor clock, which needs two 100uF 35V DC (Radio Shack part number 272-1028) capacitors.
When I removed the old capacitor from my clock, I could not find any identification on the part, nor its technical data, so I tried the 100uF capacitor which did not solve the problem.
Does anyone know if the capacitor is different in the one-capacitor clock from the two-capacitor model?
I may have other problems than the capacitor.
P.S. My instrument cluster has an electronic dimmer unit, not the mechanical one with a coil.
Cheers,
Axel
-----Original Message-----From: mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com [mailto:mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com] On Behalf Of Markus MeyerSent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 11:44 AMTo: figstir at yahoo.comCc: mbcoupes at mbcoupes.comSubject: Re: [W126 Coupe] electrical expertise needed

An update on my intermittent working clock issue. I took the clock out and attached it to a free standing 12 volt battery from my alarm system, as well as the car battery. Didn't change a thing. Everything else checked out okay, so I UPSed it off to The Benz Store, and a few days later I got a box back with a unit that I plugged in, and since Monday night, has been working non-stop. Not sure what they changed or fixed or updated, but all I know is I have a non-intermittent working clock again (knock on wood!). Thanks to Dick for the suggestion on using them. Chet - if you are out there, I still have a spare I picked up on ebay from an 89, and you are correct, it only has 1 capacitor as opposed to my 87 with 2. Anyhow, next time we get together maybe you can show me how to swap the capacitor on that unit to see if it will also start working regularly again.Thanks to all who offered help and suggestions.Markus--- On Wed 09/14, a figment of the imagination &lt; figstir at yahoo.com

&gt; wrote:
From: a figment of the imagination [mailto: figstir at yahoo.com]To: mfmeyer at iwon.comDate: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 09:31:58 -0700 (PDT)Subject: Re: [W126 Coupe] electrical expertise neededHey Markus,It sounds like a voltage problem right off the bat.Dick's suggestions can be confirmed by myself, aswell.I would like to add the following.1. The terminal off the back of the instrument clusterbehind the tach is attached to a reddish wire whichprovides 12-volts. Test this wire to make sure youare getting the proper voltage; it should be around 12volts, although the clock should probably be able towork with as low as 9-volts. 2. If the voltage is low, then you have other obviousissues, with regards to the battery, alternator, orother.3. With the clock and/or instrument cluster off thecar, simply connect 12-volts directly to this samelead from a separate 12-volt source. Use the negativeterminal as your ground; you should be able to findthe common terminal to the clock easily on the 
clockitself or on the back of the instrument cluster. I amsure that this is what you were thinking and wereasking about.My only concern here is that you make sure you areconnecting directly to the clock. There are indeedcapacitors, IC chips, transistors, and resistors inthe back of the instrument cluster that could bedamaged, by accident, if the are connected to 12-voltsdirectly when they were not designed to be. Theterminal mentioned in #1 should be fine but check itjust in case.4. Your ground on your instrument cluster could befaulty. While for me the jury is still out, I amaware of others with SEC's having problems with faultygrounding on their instrument cluster. I currentlyhave possibly a faulty ground to my instrument lights,causing them to fail. My comment about a faultyground is that, if this was indeed the problem, thenyou should see other problems with other electronics. 5. Based on this logic in #4, which may not be fullycomplete, I would suggest that you may not 
have theproper voltage being sent to the clock. As stated in#1, check it. Check the battery level, check thealternator, check for other problems with otherdevices or shorts. 6. In general, a faulty capacitor should have nothingto do with intermittent operation of your clock. Acapacitor merely stores a set amount of voltage, afterbeing in properly adjusted with resistors and otherelements. You seem to be describing a run-down typeof phenomenon, kinda like a "subclavian steal" inmedicine or even "sun-downing" in psych, or somebetter analogy. [Hence, alternator, battery, etc..issues]. I highly doubt a faulty capacitor would allowfor intermittent operation, but a faulty andnon-constant voltage supply would.I'm sure your clock is good! You may need to takecare of a loose connection somewhere. You can checkcontinuity and resolder broken or faulty leads orterminals. Make sure you check voltage, as Imentioned in #1. Another analogy is your analog clockin your home/work, which slowly 
runs down or stopsworking as the AA battery dies off. If you aredraining the battery as you go throughout the day,your clock will be affected. If this is indeed thecause, how this drain is occuring needs to beinvestigated.7. Regarding a good direct grounding point, Irecommend the common ground source behind theinstrument cluster. There are at least 3 big boltsholding down the terminals of numerous brown leads.If this is helpful, that's great. If not, keep tryingwith these and others' suggestions. I am certain itis very simple. Please keep me informed.Cheers!-fig__________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com

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