bad ground? or bad switch?
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bad ground? or bad switch?
So it's dark out. I have a bad cold. Had to venture out to pick up my 4 year old son.
Light turns red, I step on the brake and hit the left turn signal. Whoa it suddenly gets brighter and I suddenly wake up from my foggy haze... WTF?
both turn signals are lit although the left one is blinking because I hit the turn signal. My high beams are on but the blue highbeam light is only dimly lit. Speedo's mph lighting is dim up to 40mph. I complete my turn and turn the lights on and off and the high beams turn off, but the turn signals are still both on and the dim mph is still there. Looks like the blue highbeam dimly flickers with the turn signal. Turn off car to pick up my son and when I go to start it again, all I have are highbeams.
Flip the light switch 1 notch to parking light mode and all the brights turn on. Engaging high beams does nothing. drive for about 5 minutes and try the on-off flip of the switch and finally the high beams turn off.
so has anyone experienced this before? I'm going to start my suspicion with the turn signal switch since this all started as soon as I hit it.
Light turns red, I step on the brake and hit the left turn signal. Whoa it suddenly gets brighter and I suddenly wake up from my foggy haze... WTF?
both turn signals are lit although the left one is blinking because I hit the turn signal. My high beams are on but the blue highbeam light is only dimly lit. Speedo's mph lighting is dim up to 40mph. I complete my turn and turn the lights on and off and the high beams turn off, but the turn signals are still both on and the dim mph is still there. Looks like the blue highbeam dimly flickers with the turn signal. Turn off car to pick up my son and when I go to start it again, all I have are highbeams.
Flip the light switch 1 notch to parking light mode and all the brights turn on. Engaging high beams does nothing. drive for about 5 minutes and try the on-off flip of the switch and finally the high beams turn off.
so has anyone experienced this before? I'm going to start my suspicion with the turn signal switch since this all started as soon as I hit it.
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Joined: Mar 2005
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From: CT
Mine does the same thing bad solder ground on the IC board.
From Chris Millers site
On my '91 200q; when the car was started the "OK" symbol would occasionally come up as a series of lines. It also happened when the cooling fan circuit lost the fused ground and the car overheated; I couldn't tell what was alarming, only that it was red. Sometimes a firm slap on the dash over the display would fix it, or shutting the car off and on again.
When I developed further problems (putting on the high beams illuminated the turn signal indicators, the turn signals flashed the high beam indicator and the opposite signal indicator, the dash lights started going off & on, etc.) I suspected a ground fault & pulled the instrument panel.
Sure enough, there was an intermittent ground on the board. There are two ground clips which look like computer board jumper blocks. The pins which engage in these allow the circuit board and the main instrument cluster to be seperated. The spring contacts inside the jumper blocks had relaxed and were making an intermittent ground. I built up the pin diameter with solder and voila! - problem solved. I haven't had the problem with the warning display since - here's hoping!
HTH Fred Munro '91 200q 245k km<ul><li><a href="http://members.aol.com/c1j1miller/index.html">http://members.aol.com/c1j1miller/index.html</a</li></ul>
On my '91 200q; when the car was started the "OK" symbol would occasionally come up as a series of lines. It also happened when the cooling fan circuit lost the fused ground and the car overheated; I couldn't tell what was alarming, only that it was red. Sometimes a firm slap on the dash over the display would fix it, or shutting the car off and on again.
When I developed further problems (putting on the high beams illuminated the turn signal indicators, the turn signals flashed the high beam indicator and the opposite signal indicator, the dash lights started going off & on, etc.) I suspected a ground fault & pulled the instrument panel.
Sure enough, there was an intermittent ground on the board. There are two ground clips which look like computer board jumper blocks. The pins which engage in these allow the circuit board and the main instrument cluster to be seperated. The spring contacts inside the jumper blocks had relaxed and were making an intermittent ground. I built up the pin diameter with solder and voila! - problem solved. I haven't had the problem with the warning display since - here's hoping!
HTH Fred Munro '91 200q 245k km<ul><li><a href="http://members.aol.com/c1j1miller/index.html">http://members.aol.com/c1j1miller/index.html</a</li></ul>
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From: Full-time Utah skier now
Re: bad ground? or bad switch?
It's a broken solder track on the instrument cluster. If you inspect the solder tracks, you usually can see which ones break. There's a famous one near the upper right corner as viewed from the back that causes most of the symptoms you describe. While reflowing the solder might help, it usually doesn't last, so the recommended fix is to solder a jumper wire from one end of the track to the other.
There's some information on IC removal and repair on Scott Mockry's <a href="http://www.sjmautotechnik.com/trouble_shooting/instrument.html#IC">WEBSITE</a>.
There's some information on IC removal and repair on Scott Mockry's <a href="http://www.sjmautotechnik.com/trouble_shooting/instrument.html#IC">WEBSITE</a>.
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From: Full-time Utah skier now
Re: I think that is a symptom of shot trunk hinge wiring iirc. It's been a while.
The trunk hinge wiring breakdown and attendant problems was more a problem with the earlier 4KQ and 5KQ models than the 200s. Audi worked out a better harness for the later models.
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Re: I think that is a symptom of shot trunk hinge wiring iirc. It's been a while.
man, after reading that i remembered laying on my back with a box of crimp wire connectors and a paitr of wire strippers matching and connecting every single one of those wires right when my firend got the car i have now....
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more info.... not convinced
when I flick the light stalk to city light mode (I have euros) the brights turn on.
If I flick the light stalk while I pull it slightly toward the steering wheel the normal city lights turn on but as soon as I hit high beams they stick on until I turn off the lights and gently pull on the light stalk while turning it on.
I still say it's the light switch since the initial problem introduced itself when I flicked a left turn.
Time to pull out the bentley.
If I flick the light stalk while I pull it slightly toward the steering wheel the normal city lights turn on but as soon as I hit high beams they stick on until I turn off the lights and gently pull on the light stalk while turning it on.
I still say it's the light switch since the initial problem introduced itself when I flicked a left turn.
Time to pull out the bentley.
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I had that exact issue on my 4000 5+5 but I think the 200 is different and it's the inst cluster.
The turn signals used to both flash, inst cluster light dimmed, and all other sorts of posessions took over that little car. Took it to a friend mechanic, he asked me for the keys to the trunk, removed the right rear tail light assembley plug and poured some Coca Cola over it, there was foam, he wiped it down, replaced it and everything was fine. Weirdest thing I ever saw...the right rear tail light plug!?!?
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I've only owned and driven 200s or V8s until the 5ktqa I have now...
I still had to repair the trunk hinge wiring (except on Avants). I also took the instrument cluster apart on more than one occasion looking for bad grounds and/or intermittent connections. I don't think that resulted in the correction but I could be mistaken.
I fixed the trunk hinge and driver's door hinge wiring at the same time as well.
All the 5k cars I bought up were to strip parts from.
I fixed the trunk hinge and driver's door hinge wiring at the same time as well.
All the 5k cars I bought up were to strip parts from.