Rear tail light issue
12-07-2016, 05:10 AM
#1
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Rear tail light issue
2005 Audi A8L
So I recently noticed that my corner tail light on the driver side is half as bright as the corner tail light on the passenger side. (I'm talking about the 4 vertical lights specifically and not the whole tail light.) When I first start the car they are both bright but after awhile the driver side goes dim. They have no bulbs for them and I don't even see where the connections are on the inside of the trunk. Has anyone had this issue? Does anyone know how to fix. It bothers me probably more then it should...
Thanks in advance, Drew.
So I recently noticed that my corner tail light on the driver side is half as bright as the corner tail light on the passenger side. (I'm talking about the 4 vertical lights specifically and not the whole tail light.) When I first start the car they are both bright but after awhile the driver side goes dim. They have no bulbs for them and I don't even see where the connections are on the inside of the trunk. Has anyone had this issue? Does anyone know how to fix. It bothers me probably more then it should...
Thanks in advance, Drew.
12-07-2016, 07:54 AM
#3
AudiWorld Super User
Lights are all LED's and fixed w/in tail light. Not replaceable in ordinary course other than sourcing equivalent individual emitters, soldering, etc.
But your description also has me think it could just be wiring/ a slightly corroded connection since it is consistent across the four. Try getting back there and unplugging the main connector for the assembly and re-inserting.
May just be a phone camera type distortion, but tail light color also doesn't look true. Do they have a slight tint applied by chance that is darkening them at margin?
But your description also has me think it could just be wiring/ a slightly corroded connection since it is consistent across the four. Try getting back there and unplugging the main connector for the assembly and re-inserting.
May just be a phone camera type distortion, but tail light color also doesn't look true. Do they have a slight tint applied by chance that is darkening them at margin?
12-07-2016, 08:07 AM
#4
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Lights are all LED's and fixed w/in tail light. Not replaceable in ordinary course other than sourcing equivalent individual emitters, soldering, etc.
But your description also has me think it could just be wiring/ a slightly corroded connection since it is consistent across the four. Try getting back there and unplugging the main connector for the assembly and re-inserting.
May just be a phone camera type distortion, but tail light color also doesn't look true. Do they have a slight tint applied by chance that is darkening them at margin?
But your description also has me think it could just be wiring/ a slightly corroded connection since it is consistent across the four. Try getting back there and unplugging the main connector for the assembly and re-inserting.
May just be a phone camera type distortion, but tail light color also doesn't look true. Do they have a slight tint applied by chance that is darkening them at margin?
Do you know which connection is is by any chance? It's very tight and it's hard to figure out which connections go to what? And yes my tail lights are all tinted.
12-07-2016, 05:03 PM
#5
AudiWorld Wiseguy
Mine did this a few years back. One of them was either dim or flickered and it annoyed me. By trial and error by swapping out parts from the lamp unit from the other side I traced it down to the ECU board inside the tail lamp module, but not what the specific problem was with it. All connections were cleaned and good. The ECU board shapes are handed so you can't swap circuit boards/led boards out with the other side as they won't fit together. However they are electrically compatible.
I wasn't prepared to purchase a new lamp unit, so I simply disconnected the side marker LED boards inside the lamp unit on both sides. No more issues, no error codes, and it emulates the Euro spec cars.
The lamp modules are removed by popping off the two round screw covers on the inside trunk opening lip and unscrewing the two nuts inside (careful not to drop them inside the body cavity as they'll be long gone, BTDT). Then just pull the lamp unit out and disconnect it.
I wasn't prepared to purchase a new lamp unit, so I simply disconnected the side marker LED boards inside the lamp unit on both sides. No more issues, no error codes, and it emulates the Euro spec cars.
The lamp modules are removed by popping off the two round screw covers on the inside trunk opening lip and unscrewing the two nuts inside (careful not to drop them inside the body cavity as they'll be long gone, BTDT). Then just pull the lamp unit out and disconnect it.
12-07-2016, 06:10 PM
#6
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Mine did this a few years back. One of them was either dim or flickered and it annoyed me. By trial and error by swapping out parts from the lamp unit from the other side I traced it down to the ECU board inside the tail lamp module, but not what the specific problem was with it. All connections were cleaned and good. The ECU board shapes are handed so you can't swap circuit boards/led boards out with the other side as they won't fit together. However they are electrically compatible.
I wasn't prepared to purchase a new lamp unit, so I simply disconnected the side marker LED boards inside the lamp unit on both sides. No more issues, no error codes, and it emulates the Euro spec cars.
The lamp modules are removed by popping off the two round screw covers on the inside trunk opening lip and unscrewing the two nuts inside (careful not to drop them inside the body cavity as they'll be long gone, BTDT). Then just pull the lamp unit out and disconnect it.
I wasn't prepared to purchase a new lamp unit, so I simply disconnected the side marker LED boards inside the lamp unit on both sides. No more issues, no error codes, and it emulates the Euro spec cars.
The lamp modules are removed by popping off the two round screw covers on the inside trunk opening lip and unscrewing the two nuts inside (careful not to drop them inside the body cavity as they'll be long gone, BTDT). Then just pull the lamp unit out and disconnect it.
Awesome info! Thanks! I've also noticed occasional flickering. I may take the same route as you if cleaning up the connections does nothing. I'd like to keep them on cause I like the look of the light set up in the rear at night but the dimness on one side really does drive me nuts lol. I'll look into it tomorrow.
12-07-2016, 07:55 PM
#7
AudiWorld Wiseguy
Another anomaly I discovered was with the trunk lid lights and the brake light function. On the early pre-facelift cars the brake and tail light functions work on both the body and trunk lamp units simultaneously. For whatever reason, Audi changed that on the facelift cars to only the body lamp having the brake light functionality.
The lamp units are physically the same and are interchangeable between model years, except the trunk lamp units no longer have the brake light function. I learned this the hard way after buying a used replacement lamp from a newer car (my original had some LED's that were out), and for the life of me I couldn't get the brake light to work on the replacement. It was driving me nuts knowing I was driving around in a car with lopsided brake lights! The car was still sending it the brake signal, it just wasn't responding as I expected. I later learned that it was not because it was broken, rather because it wasn't even designed too! Anyway, problem solved by again removing the brake light signal wire in the other trunk lid lamp unit to even out the look. No error codes either with that, and no more problems since.
The lamp units are physically the same and are interchangeable between model years, except the trunk lamp units no longer have the brake light function. I learned this the hard way after buying a used replacement lamp from a newer car (my original had some LED's that were out), and for the life of me I couldn't get the brake light to work on the replacement. It was driving me nuts knowing I was driving around in a car with lopsided brake lights! The car was still sending it the brake signal, it just wasn't responding as I expected. I later learned that it was not because it was broken, rather because it wasn't even designed too! Anyway, problem solved by again removing the brake light signal wire in the other trunk lid lamp unit to even out the look. No error codes either with that, and no more problems since.
