Nearly there with 1984 MBZ 240D

[Seum]

Hello again Experts,

I have replaced my RHS driving headlamps with Bosch lamps that came from
a 1983 MBZ 230E. When I removed the previous headlamps I had not noticed
that the sockets were 6-pin (No. 1 is not counted) and not the 4-pin
that I had expected from reading the MBZ manual Volume 2 page
82.1-052/8. However, in those sockets, left side and right side, there
is no wire to number 2. The other four: 3,4,5,6 are all wired.

So it seems that I must do something with pin 2 on both sockets, which
seems to be grounds. All wires are brown. One has 3 wires and the other
has 2. One possibility is to take both the wires and the pins from the
the sockets I have bought and install them in the two sockets that were
already wired to the car. The next step would be to find what to attach
these 5 ground wires to.

Comments appreciated.

TIA

[Tiger]

No... number 2 wire is not for ground. It is for the European parking lamp
... that little bulb just above the headlight. See if yours lights up.

My guess is the mechanic installed the 6 prong plugs to make your headlights
work. You didn't tell us that your headlight is already working after the
mechanic installed them for you.

Reread the posts I wrote to solve that number 2 wire situation.

[Seum]

Thanks again Tiger.

Post by Tiger
No... number 2 wire is not for ground. It is for the European parking
lamp ... that little bulb just above the headlight. See if yours lights up.

There is a small bulb about 5/16" diameter in the headlamp but it is
below the main bulb. I did check to make sure that the BOSCH on the lamp
glass was the right way up.

I traced the brown wire that came from the left front turn signal lamp
and it went to a harness in the trunk. From that harness connection one
wire went to the rear left turn signal lamp and the other into the stick
on the steering wheel. Now then, would not cutting that brown wire near
the front left turn signal not knock out that front left signal lamp?
And, would not the rear left signal lamp continue signaling, am I all
confused?

Post by Tiger
My guess is the mechanic installed the 6 prong plugs to make your
headlights work. You didn't tell us that your headlight is already
working after the mechanic installed them for you.

No mechanic has been involved yet. While I was installing the lights I
noticed those 6-hole sockets, to my astonishment. Even the manual shows
4-hole sockets. Late yesterday I plugged these sockets on the lamps and
the headlights seem to work fine but, not surprisingly, no turn signals
appeared. Some more wires definitely need to be connected.

Of the two sockets I just received from England, one has 2 brown wires
coming from no. 2 on the socket. The other socket number 2 has 3 brown
wires coming out.

Post by Tiger
Reread the posts I wrote to solve that number 2 wire situation.

I'll have a go at that now.

Thanks again :-)

[Tiger]

I have been telling you that by using multimeter, you can figure out which
wire does what. You don't need any manual to tell you what color and what it
is for.

Ground -
Low Beam +
High Beam +
Fog Light +
Parking light +

That is 5 wires. Extra ground wires you see bundles is to assist with the
load. You have to have enough wire thickness to handle the 3 lights that you
turn on.

You will never be able to turn on all 4 lights at the same time. You either
get low or high beam... but not both.

So with three lights, that is 3 positive wires... theoretically you need 3
ground wires, but two is enough because the parking light is very little
power/load.

[Seum]

Thanks Tiger,

Post by Tiger
I have been telling you that by using multimeter, you can figure out
which wire does what. You don't need any manual to tell you what color
and what it is for.
Ground -
Low Beam +
High Beam +
Fog Light +
Parking light +

Ok, so how do you make the measurements here - the headlamp socket wires
to ground or?
What position is the dip switch arm, or whatever it is called, in when
the measurements are made? Is seems to me to be a complicated issue.

The lamp- or light- switch on the dash has 6 positions. Some lights
don't light up. I suspect the missing ground connections in the sockets.

Post by Tiger
That is 5 wires. Extra ground wires you see bundles is to assist with
the load. You have to have enough wire thickness to handle the 3 lights
that you turn on.

I hope so.

Post by Tiger
You will never be able to turn on all 4 lights at the same time. You
either get low or high beam... but not both.

The ignition switch should see to that.

Post by Tiger
So with three lights, that is 3 positive wires... theoretically you need
3 ground wires, but two is enough because the parking light is very
little power/load.

Good news!

[Tiger]

First turn on your lights... do you get fog light? low beam? high beam? Are
they working correctly?

[Seum]

Post by Tiger
First turn on your lights... do you get fog light? low beam? high beam?
Are they working correctly?

I removed the sockets from both lamps and gave all the pins a little
vaseline. I replaced the sockets and found that the headlights were
fine. The dipped state seemed to be a bit on the dark side. The tiny
bulb did not give much light. I'll have to wait for a dark night to test
it.

There is no trace of turn signals at all and, it has been so long since
I drove in fog, I cannot even remember where the switch is. I doubt I
have driven in fog for more than a few weeks in the car's 27 years.

A little more work ahead.

Thanks for your help :-)

[Seum]

Post by Seum
Thanks Tiger,

Post by Tiger
I have been telling you that by using multimeter, you can figure out
which wire does what. You don't need any manual to tell you what color
and what it is for.
Ground -
Low Beam +
High Beam +
Fog Light +
Parking light +

Ok, so how do you make the measurements here - the headlamp socket wires
to ground or?
What position is the dip switch arm, or whatever it is called, in when
the measurements are made? Is seems to me to be a complicated issue.
The lamp- or light- switch on the dash has 6 positions. Some lights
don't light up. I suspect the missing ground connections in the sockets.

Post by Tiger
That is 5 wires. Extra ground wires you see bundles is to assist with
the load. You have to have enough wire thickness to handle the 3
lights that you turn on.

I hope so.

Post by Tiger
You will never be able to turn on all 4 lights at the same time. You
either get low or high beam... but not both.

The ignition switch should see to that.

Post by Tiger
So with three lights, that is 3 positive wires... theoretically you
need 3 ground wires, but two is enough because the parking light is
very little power/load.

Good news!

.... and now, the not so good news. Each headlamp has 5 pins. The
previous wires were attached to pins 1(maybe),2,3 and 4 in the socket.
But that leaves 5 and 6 without an electrical connection and the same
problem exists on the other side of the car.

[Seum]

Post by Seum

Post by Seum
Thanks Tiger,

Post by Tiger
I have been telling you that by using multimeter, you can figure out
which wire does what. You don't need any manual to tell you what
color and what it is for.
Ground -
Low Beam +
High Beam +
Fog Light +
Parking light +

Ok, so how do you make the measurements here - the headlamp socket
wires to ground or?
What position is the dip switch arm, or whatever it is called, in when
the measurements are made? Is seems to me to be a complicated issue.
The lamp- or light- switch on the dash has 6 positions. Some lights
don't light up. I suspect the missing ground connections in the sockets.

Post by Tiger
That is 5 wires. Extra ground wires you see bundles is to assist with
the load. You have to have enough wire thickness to handle the 3
lights that you turn on.

I hope so.

Post by Tiger
You will never be able to turn on all 4 lights at the same time. You
either get low or high beam... but not both.

The ignition switch should see to that.

Post by Tiger
So with three lights, that is 3 positive wires... theoretically you
need 3 ground wires, but two is enough because the parking light is
very little power/load.

Good news!

.... and now, the not so good news. Each headlamp has 5 pins. The
previous wires were attached to pins 1(maybe),2,3 and 4 in the socket.
But that leaves 5 and 6 without an electrical connection and the same
problem exists on the other side of the car.

I looked at the "Layout of Coupler" on the 230E. Hole 1 is empty. The
holes are labeled:
1 3 5
|-------- (wires)
2 4 6

The "Cable Layout of Coupling" on the 240D, according to the MBZ
manuals, is supposed to look like this:

1 2
|-------- (wires)
2 4

but it is not like that in the 240D car.

What is there now is

1 3 5
|-------- (wires)
2 4 6

but 2 wires are missing - from 5 and 6.

Should these 2 wires be there for the turn signals?

[Tiger]

Does your headlight unit work? Fog light, low beam, and high beam?

[Seum]

Post by Tiger
Does your headlight unit work? Fog light, low beam, and high beam?

This I posted on 8/18:

I removed the sockets from both lamps and gave all the pins a little
vaseline. I replaced the sockets and found that the headlights were
fine. The dipped state seemed to be a bit on the dark side. The tiny
bulb did not give much light. I'll have to wait for a dark night to test
it.

[Seum]

Post by Seum

Post by Tiger
Does your headlight unit work? Fog light, low beam, and high beam?

I removed the sockets from both lamps and gave all the pins a little
vaseline. I replaced the sockets and found that the headlights were
fine. The dipped state seemed to be a bit on the dark side. The tiny
bulb did not give much light. I'll have to wait for a dark night to test
it.

Next task is to look for the Plug Connections (Item 76 in the wiring
diagram) that are under the rear seat or somewhere in the trunk.
Disconnecting the wiring that comes back from there to the turn signals
up front should shut them off. Alternatively I may be able to remove the
double-filament bulb up front and replace it with a single filament bulb
that is for parking only. The sockets are 3-pin - they were for parking
and turn signaling. Snipping one wire in each socket might give me 2
parking lamps.

[t***@optonline.net]

Post by Seum

Post by Seum

Post by Tiger
Does your headlight unit work? Fog light, low beam, and high beam?

I removed the sockets from both lamps and gave all the pins a little
vaseline. I replaced the sockets and found that the headlights were
fine. The dipped state seemed to be a bit on the dark side. The tiny
bulb did not give much light. I'll have to wait for a dark night to test
it.

Next task is to look for the Plug Connections (Item 76 in the wiring
diagram) that are under the rear seat or somewhere in the trunk.
Disconnecting the wiring that comes back from there to the turn signals
up front should shut them off. Alternatively I may be able to remove the
double-filament bulb up front and replace it with a single filament bulb
that is for parking only. The sockets are 3-pin - they were for parking
and turn signaling. Snipping one wire in each socket might give me 2
parking lamps.

I think you're in way over your head here. This ain't rocket
science.
As Tiger pointed out, you have a light assembly that you can either
visually identify which wire goes to what bulb, or you can use a VOM,
or you could just jumper it to a 12V source and find out what lights
up.

On the car you have the old wires and using a VOM you can find
which wire is high beam, which is low, etc by just turning them on
one at a time. The whole thing should take 5mins. You could cut
a light wiring harness, hide the color of all the wires, and I could
hook it back up in 5 mins using the above method.

[Seum]

Post by t***@optonline.net

Post by Seum

Post by Seum

Post by Tiger
Does your headlight unit work? Fog light, low beam, and high beam?

I removed the sockets from both lamps and gave all the pins a little
vaseline. I replaced the sockets and found that the headlights were
fine. The dipped state seemed to be a bit on the dark side. The tiny
bulb did not give much light. I'll have to wait for a dark night to test
it.

Next task is to look for the Plug Connections (Item 76 in the wiring
diagram) that are under the rear seat or somewhere in the trunk.
Disconnecting the wiring that comes back from there to the turn signals
up front should shut them off. Alternatively I may be able to remove the
double-filament bulb up front and replace it with a single filament bulb
that is for parking only. The sockets are 3-pin - they were for parking
and turn signaling. Snipping one wire in each socket might give me 2
parking lamps.

I think you're in way over your head here. This ain't rocket
science.
As Tiger pointed out, you have a light assembly that you can either
visually identify which wire goes to what bulb, or you can use a VOM,
or you could just jumper it to a 12V source and find out what lights
up.
On the car you have the old wires and using a VOM you can find
which wire is high beam, which is low, etc by just turning them on
one at a time. The whole thing should take 5mins. You could cut
a light wiring harness, hide the color of all the wires, and I could
hook it back up in 5 mins using the above method.

Hello Trader :-) and thanks for your interest.

I have almost all the info that I need now. It came from days of
refreshment from the MBZ manuals, reading Tiger, and wiring diagrams and
I believe all the wiring will be done by tomorrow. This car was so
reliable that I rarely had much work to do on it. The past few weeks
have been a revision. The two lamps, parking and turn signal, on the
front of the car had to be modified to dump the turn signal. I checked
the wiring from those two lamps back to the trunk of the car and found a
place where I could stop the turn signals.

I also found another place, right up front at the lamps and all I had to
do was to pull the grey wire out of the socket and tape up the metal,
leaving only the brown and black/white wires for the parking lights.
Taping the turn signal lamp was done instead of cutting the wire because
I may again drive on the right-hand-side-of-the-road.

Have a great weekend :-)