W126 Mercedes Instrument Cluster Restoration Part 1 - Tear Down - REMOVE DOTS WITH SODA BLASTING!

[@pierrepotgieter8076]

You're a God send with this video mate. I have 4 W124's and one W126 Coupe, all of them need the same love. Thanks for your very nice educational service.

[@ImpalamansGarage]

Good luck with your projects sir.

[@inovahightechltd]

Hi Impalaman, You did the impossible! A million attempts have been made by Mercedes Benz aficionado’s with no avail until you came along! Congratulations! The interesting part is this, in most cars the growth is white in color, I wonder if the previous owner was a 🚬 chain smoker💨 . I believe this out grow is actually the plasticizer evaporating and the condensing. Not sure if there is a chemical compound / solution which can be applied to rejuvenate the plasticizer. Normally the plastic shrinks during this process causing a mismatch during assembly. I am eagerly awaiting part 2! With greetings from Kansas, Peter

[@ImpalamansGarage]

Dissassembly was indeed tricky!

[@eljoven2036]

good afternoon, i live in jacksonville fl, i have a 1980 mercedes 300 SD diesel 3.0 L i need a good mechanic please.

[@ImpalamansGarage]

@@eljoven2036 I'd recommend going to Pierre Hedary's website and send him an email and ask for a recommendation. His Mercedes shop is in Titusville FL so he may know someone in your area.

[@jamesbush268]

Your video got me motivated to start my 1991 Dodge D250 gage cluster work. Have two plastic gears to replace, to fix speedo and mileage indicator. Good work.

[@ahmedqaiser]

Your video was amazing and a great help for me. Just restored a W126 cluster after watching your video on how to open it up. Quite a delicate job as you pointed out !

[@ImpalamansGarage]

Thank you!

[@Slashart666]

Im in Australia and i have this issue too, not humid where i live

[@ImpalamansGarage]

Take a look at the comment from INOVA HIGHTECH Ltd on this. His opinion is that the problem is due to degradation of the plasticizer as it evaporates.

[@BruceGbamboobruce]

I have an 82 300SD with the exact same thing, so it must be something with the plastic Mercedes used.

[@ImpalamansGarage]

Yes the plastic degrades and bubbles up.

[@Johnathan_Waters]

That was made back when German engineering was actually a GOOD thing! lol... Just FYI, you can actually replace the whole "light pipe" assembly with LED's. Do a search, there is a company (Asian) that makes a kit in different color temps. So that you can have LED illumination, that still LOOKS like an incandescent bulb! Also, Im really not sure what the factory used originally for the "flat black paint" but it seems to be a type of rubberized black coating. I'm guessing the growth is actually the rubber in the coating failing.

[@ImpalamansGarage]

Cool. I will take a look. Thanks Johnathan!

[@lewism8_]

To remove my clear plastic part instead of using a hot knife I just followed around the entire edge with a dremel cut off wheel.

[@ImpalamansGarage]

Good work !

[@DaveyJonesLockerwithJazzy]

What edge did you dremel into? The raised black bit of the mould behind the bezel? I like your way as well - heat and plastic don't go well = 5 seconds is a lifecycle from solid to melt!

[@ronstjohn6780]

My W124 gauge Custer looks just like yours in construction. Now I’ll have head to the garage to see if it’s got the brown spot disease. Hopefully not since the car is always been garage kept. I’ve had the Custer out several times but don’t think I’m brave enough to attempt this level of restoration.

[@keabot]

U have more patients than me 😀

[@ImpalamansGarage]

Or I'm nuts! 🤣

[@keabot]

@@ImpalamansGarage excellent Chanel man helped me loads 👍🏽

[@jamesadams2333]

I am amazed at how well that came out! I’m also curious as to what those spots were too. Too bad you couldn’t take a sample and send it in to a lab. Well done.

[@drywaller12345]

Fab. Great detail....

[@vintage76vipergreenBeetle]

I would be afraid to take apart the instrument cluster without having a spare one nearby. I don't have patience like you do, when doing that kind of repairs either. 👍

[@ImpalamansGarage]

I did think about getting a spare actually. We'll see if we can get away without breaking anything. lol

[@vintage76vipergreenBeetle]

@@ImpalamansGarage Good luck. 🤞

[@DaveyJonesLockerwithJazzy]

I bought a spare as well.

[@TheCanadianBubba]

Mmm Mercedes mushrooms !

[@jputt12]

87 300 SDL been garaged 95% of its life has the dot disease in Western NC. Didn't notice it until after we had a dash bulb burn out and some smoke in the cluster that discolored it. Also a diesel.. who knows?

[@ImpalamansGarage]

The plasticizers tend to condense out with age. It's NOT mold or anything like that. It's literally deterioration of the plastic. Plastic rust if you will.

[@scottpoerschke8807]

There are back lit plasma dials dials you can buy.

[@ImpalamansGarage]

Interesting

[@scottpoerschke8807]

They work well. I used then for my 300SDL, painted the cluster like you are doing.

[@DScottDay]

Question: I have working Speedometer and Odometer, but definite Click, click that reflects RPM. Is this noise coming from a Mechanical Speedo cable? Thanks, DD Maine

[@ImpalamansGarage]

"All W126 speedometers from 1981-1991 are electronic, meaning they receive an electrical signal from the "sender" on the side of the transmission and convert the signal to the speedometer. The odometer is mechanical, but is driven by an electrical signal." 126board.com/threads/w126-speedometer-cable-or-electronic.14112/

[@jameslully6764]

From my observation, this white dot issue only happens to cars that located at hi humidity areas like Florida

[@vintage76vipergreenBeetle]

The 300SD up here in New England have the same issues also. You can see it in the for sale ads when the seller shows the gauges up close.

[@AzimuthAviation]

My 300SD is in the Mojave desert and picked up the dots while in a storage unit. It appears to be a fungal growth.

[@Visionery1]

Would dry ice blasting also work?

[@ImpalamansGarage]

I would not use anything that elaborate for this job. Keep it simple. Soda works fine.

[@mcapps1]

My W210 has the same problem... I'm not as brave...yet.

[@Engineerd3d]

Plastic (polymers) from the 70s and 80s was not as good as the stuff we have today. With that said when I did the instrument cluster on my w116, it's a completely different animal from yours. It has a coat of flat black paint inside. I would not go for semi gloss behind the glass, look for flat. Outside the lens I would go for a semi gloss.

[@ImpalamansGarage]

Good tip. I've got a couple of coats of satin on it now but I'm going to look it over after it cures and reassess. I may go with flat if I don't like what I see. Work in progress.

[@P.Galore]

I am so thankful you are not my cardiovascular surgeon. HeyZeus Krispy!