After the 'exterior light failure' lamp came on briefly, a little bit of white smoke came out of the dashboard and it smelled like an electrical fire but stopped. Then the Speedometer, RPM meter, the oil pressure and temperature gauge and the fuel indicator went dead. (Even the odometer) The car is running well except for a feeping noise that only stops when the indicator light is turned on.

It was the Multi Purpose Relay for Flasher, Wipers and rear defrost ( part # 201 821 01 47 ) in the rear fuse box. Apparently it is in charge of the overload protection and went bad.

-- fritzmeister, March 2006