Heater Lever Illumination

[rjmarco]

Are all four heater levers supposed to be illuminated when you turn on the head lights or parking lights?  Here is a picture of my dash board.  Only three of the four are illuminated.  The blue lever is not.  My mechanic has told me that all my in dash bulbs are working. 

Any suggestions for how to troubleshoot this issue?  I suspect that all four are supposed to be illuminated.  I'm having my Becker radio pulled for some work so this will present an opportunity to resolve the problem. 

Thanks much!

[BobH]

As far as i know there are two bulbs, one to illuminate the levers on the left and another for the right, see picture borrowed from ebay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264979560096?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D6784353e921e43838b842d0558d49953%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D264979560096%26itm%3D264979560096%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Afdc74003-8780-11ec-b93a-aa52159bc983%7Cparentrq%3Ad075685017e0a6e5bb8141d2fff76ed5%7Ciid%3A1

The tech manual also describes the lights, it's strange that the bottom lever is illuminated but not the top, it says there's a clear tube that carries the light to the levels, perhaps it's dirty or slightly blocked?

https://www.sl113.org/wiki/Electrical/Levers

[BobH]

This is the complete assembly

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284190987895?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item422b1a5677:g:H9cAAOSwFU9gg0qv&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACoPYe5NmHp%252B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSwcmzw5CLtzTE60FqHcnq2Dgfw2jAMj0aFNKCyk%252BVAZUARMV4Lg8QeXDCCGcgOnK12Lv0M4Wkj7nhPj%252B9paf2XBWrzUIFzDTefUTNbos6uWYY7zp2Wx9uvlputxOZ7NuG4Krfwei%252BLtdUTS0ToGtIEUrwpzK5HD19FzFsiciBJvYc9eaw7aJf4Ru%252BZcnouuKegngPwrZ3kYlO6YOQg76FxRgmzLuKX9tSFvBMMj1zFxjQhrfJhfAejjlpg5xRvyeo4fYIDugbpneVrkmG%252BuqR8ZjbAPQkZwMGX2t9VxA7hYqesn%252BFN5rQduH4iib66ehbiHyCQWgKBfvc4oo1puQdyBS3QJHYiXTu1zxofq2Q2cERKXMw%252BwHUmaSAVkTuo7WZf9Pm6UD6oswURKMmJjs5rrZZBJjnvpE0kDqu0hFQ376si6G0J6w6hxG%252Bsg%252BjpEI9GQmjtCtmDm8hgHoAwDamdXX7qsOrPUwmQpxZ%252BZBzR8%252Fm%252FvUCYBBittgeDbfu2O996vV6d54csEMOelKQg7zfQaBYzuFL2%252FadNJRDJNbR5aOd5HAZXLJz7cPP81u0Ax9takZzv8j9%252Bm%252Buv5gCBFlA70afboxjcqRjVljZrNVDZkz1avBZek3EtOTA7UxNNRZUvCqUMBsIhmcRWfQuoPGrto2xEs28g5NXhbwMeV8eUYpiN85zSOIdLraN348sJEMuGHmRevxDCG5j%252FGRGTNcr9beUBG81%252BPBxmJD8%252BiklPyQyyvXqJKh27DKjg5ZNGUQSPLJcGL5IuzdcSL2opB6W75MLMCKj2JUJH3Xrz0KRThJn8Nz3zGH7veLJsMPan0jIL0PmJ7D8FkIni0dZJ0TCdQ%253D%253D%7Cclp%3A2334524%7Ctkp%3ABFBMxMToh9pf

[Peter]

There is only one light for the left levers.
If one is not illuminated the lever is not correct.
Conclusion, change for the correct blue level. 

Peter

[BobH]

Just out of interest, what is an incorrect lever, are there different types?

Thanks

[rjmarco]

Thanks to all for the great comments.  I will study to photos carefully.  The levers installed in my car were purchased from Authentic Classics several years ago and are the "early type" for the 230SL and 250 SL.  I did retain the originals and will do a comparison.  I only changed out the originals since I was doing other in-dash work and thought it would be a good renewal.  I was concerned that the old levers would be brittle after 50 years. 

[BobH]

So, these are later levers, do these illuminate?

https://vintageeuroparts.com/index.php/mercedes-w113-230sl-250sl-280sl-heater-control-levers.html

And these are the early ones

https://vintageeuroparts.com/index.php/mercedes-w113-230sl-250sl-heater-control-levers.html

[Jonny B]

Yes, both sets of levers allow for illumination.

The light does come through on the cars with the rubberized outer piece. The early levers are clear all the way through. The later style are to remove the sharp edges. This happened at VIN ending with 2979 on the 250 SL.

[Charles 230SL]

Are all four heater levers supposed to be illuminated when you turn on the head lights or parking lights?  Here is a picture of my dash board.  Only three of the four are illuminated.  The blue lever is not.  My mechanic has told me that all my in dash bulbs are working. Any suggestions for how to troubleshoot this issue?  I suspect that all four are supposed to be illuminated.  I'm having my Becker radio pulled for some work so this will present an opportunity to resolve the problem. Thanks much!

You've got the correct levers for a 65 230SL. The early levers aren't very bright with the lights on - if your bottom left (red) lever is lit, you can bet the upper left (blue) one is lit too because they use the same bulb. It's just not bright enough to notice unless you're driving at night and even then it's not very noticeable. I've attached a picture of my heater levers with my headlights on. You have to look real close to see that the blue one is illuminated..

[Charles 230SL]

sorry about that..here's a couple of representative photos (just figured out how to turn off the flasher on my cel phone).

[rjmarco]

Thanks, Charles.  I'll give this test a try after dark while inside the garage to see if I can see any illumination on the blue lever.  Appreciate you sharing your example.  Rich

[rjmarco]

Hi, Charles.

Here is my test result in the attached photo.  The light is clearly on behind the blue lever but it is only faintly illuminated compared to the others which are quite bright.  I think this matches what you observed with your car.  Thanks again for the suggestion.

Rich

[lreppond]

I recently had my entire heater control module repaired including the replacement of the two cylinders that hold a bulb in each.  Over the years, the plastic cylinders had become fairly cloudy and I’m thinking that may have happened to yours as well.  That condition could explain why the upper blue is not more brightly illuminated.  All four of mine are quite bright including the upper blue lever. 

I believe that Katie, Merc_Girl, recently had these cylinder replaced in her 230.  I’d contact her to see if there was the same kind of improvement. 

Full disclosure: my car is a 71 and uses a slightly different set of levers. 

[BobH]

I don't often drive my 230 at night, so i didn't notice, but i've just checked and the top left blue lever is much dimmer than the other three, i wonder if it's to do with the colour, perhaps it's denser, but i can't imagine why it would make such a difference, perhaps lots of cars suffer this.  It's the same bulb and bulb holder that illuminates the bottom left and that one's bright, so makes no sense

[sandcrab59]

Has anyone replaced that center bulb with an LED bulb?
If so which one and where to purchase one.

[BobH]

I haven't changed mine, but i've read that they are BA7s 12V 2W, looks like these are a replacement, probably widely available, but best check with the vendor that they are a direct replacement

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-and-subminiature-bulbs/ba7s-led-bulb-1-led-ba7s-retrofit-car/10/