My temp gauge is the only one that bounces around. For the most part it holds a temp reading but every so often it bounces. Where would you look for the ground connection on it to see if it is "burnt out"? I would like to get it fixed because every so often the gauge moves from 100C to about 85C and then back.

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My first Mercedes
1983 300SD - 136K

1982 Toyota Supra - 160K currently for sale

Wow, I guess I am one of the lucky ones with "tame" gauges on my 190D. They operate as smoothly as they do on my Lexus.

Now like I said, my old 380SE was a different story.

Thanks for the replies.

After I replaced the O-ring on the center shaft of the oil filter housing in my 84 300D the oil pressure guage held still. The old O-ring was so old and hard and worn that I had to get a blade under it to pry it out. It was stone hard and was not providing any service whatsoever. It's radius did not even extend beyond the shaft. I believe it is there to maintain a resevoir of oil and therefore affects the guage when it cannot do this.

I think this part cost me under $1.

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85 300D 75K Anthracite Grey 0-60 in 13 seconds **For Sale**
84 300D 333K Black (The Velveteen Rabbit) 0-60 in 14 seconds
00 Toyota Sienna 208K (Sold)
15 Subaru Outback 43K
11 Subaru Outback 67K
98 Ford Taurus 100K (Gertie - Was Grandma's - drove it to church and shopping - really) Daughter's car now.
30 Model A Ford 2 Door Sedan (Sold) 0-60 in . . . Never reached 60

my gauges never have jumped, but my speedo has. That was also a ground issue, I just ran a line from the back of the cluster to the main ground thing behind the dash, no more jumping.

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1985 300TD Turbo Euro-wagon
1979 280CE 225,200 miles
1985 300D Turbo 264,000 miles
1976 240D 190,000 miles
1979 300TD 220,000

GONE but not forgotten
1976 300D 195,300 miles
1983 300D Turbo 175,000 miles

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e485-1-2-1.jpg

Dancing gauges are not normal. There is a poor ground, corroded connectors/wires or a failing sensor. If the oil pressure dances, you have an unsteady idle or a bad bearing. If the speedo jumps you have a bad cable (W123) or an electrical problem (W126/W201/W210/W140).

Would you pay $60,000 ($28,000 before inflation) in 1985 for a car with problems like that?

I too replaced my Oil Filter O-Rings on my W123 when I had slight fluctuations on my oil pressure gauge.

On my 300SDL, the oil pressure gauge was jumpy, when not under load. I replaced the oil pressure sending unit and the problem went away.

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91 350SD
14 F150 Eco
19 Fusion Hybrid
11 GT500

An update, I treated my fuel tank with some biocide and the fuel gauge has stopped jumping.

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91 350SD
14 F150 Eco
19 Fusion Hybrid
11 GT500

Poor electrical connections are the culprits as has been said. The multi-pin plug to the instrument cluster is the usual source of this common problem and is easily fixed. The split sleeves on the plug lose their grip on the pins and the rheostat from the fuel sender and temp gauge are most sensitive to a poor connection. Using a small electrical screwdriver (1,5mmØ) to bend the sleeves in a little on the plug to grip the pins will usually fix it. All the plugs on these old cars have this same problem.

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Beagle

Please explain how a "ground" can burn out.


I'm 99.9% sure my oil pressure gauge flickers becuase its a 27 year old mechanism behind the face plate.

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1981 300SD 512k OM603

I've never had a 123, but all of my Mercedes cars have had steady gauges. It is usually related to the voltage regulation in the cluster (or the car).

Yes, the 201 has standing lights, but no rear fog on the 201 until '90. The CHMSL (third brake light) wasn't added until '86, yours is likely an aftermarket light or someone's salvage-yard retrofit.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

On my SDL I had the same problem. It turned out to be the spring inside the gauge was bad. Try this.Remove the triple gauge from the cluster and gently move it. It should spring back to 'R'. If it does not, then it is the spring. I just yanked the triple gauge from my SD and stuck it in the SDL cluster.

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"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

I had the weird gauge problems on my 85 300D - i don't know if they're the same on the W124s but I just took the gauge cluster out, took it apart, cleaned everything carefully with alcohol and made sure all the little tabs were making good contact (there was one big one I bent a little to make sure it was in good contact), and that fixed it perfectly. No more smacking or pushing in certain spots to get accurate readings. It took about 20 minutes and was very rewarding.

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kalpol
79 280SE
82 Fiat Spider 2000
81 Fiat Brava
04 BMW R1150RT
96 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Every W123 I have owned has had the dancing fuel gauge. Taking out the fuel sending unit and cleaning the wires (VERY carefully) makes it clear up considerably.

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Current cars:
2000 ML55 AMG, 174k miles
2003 C240 T-Modell, 202k miles
1995 S320, 207k Miles

it seems that there are many different problems that can cause a dancing fuel gauge. My first car, an 84 D, had a dancing fuel gauge. I took out the sender, cleaned it, and reainstalled it. The problem was worse. BUT, smacking the top of the dash board also made the gauge dance, or correct itself for a short period of time.

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1981 300SD 512k OM603

The problem is always the same, where it occurs may vary.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42