Kell Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Just had a warning this morning that the off-side brake light had gone. I haven't got a bulb yet, but had a quick look by taking off the trim on that side to be faced with the amp and no easy way to see into how to: a) find out what bulb I need and b) get to it to replace it SO I guess you can figure out the questions I need answering. What bulb do I need and how on earth do I get to the units to change it? Thanks in advance. Kell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soapsuds Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 What car is it??? For the A4 saloon/avant: (unsure on cab) There is a bulb changing gide in the essentials section - check that out. Essentially, there is a small plastic cover in the boot area covering a screw / bolt holding the light housing in place - pop the cover off, uncscrew and pop the light assembly out. You will be able to see the blown bulb and it is a side/tail combo, available in 2 pack from halfords for about £1.50 Pop it in, fasten up and bos yer uncle! 5 min job or £25 at the stealers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 [ QUOTE ] (unsure on cab) [/ QUOTE ] Cab instructions (with pics) coming soon. I did mine at the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted November 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Sorry - it's a B6 Avant. I did try a search, but I had over 200 listings and they all seemed to be for Brake upgrades. Got it now though. Didn't think it would be too difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 It's dead easy, I've had mine out loads. It's basically one screw in the boot holding the light cluster to the car. Try UBM's excellent guide: Rear - 1. Locate the two circles in the trim adjacent to the rear light cluster in the boot. Pull the trim back slightly (it is clipped in at certain positions). 2. Expose the hex type bolt, which is on the side of the boot and is holding the unit in place - commonly surrounded with a plastic ring. 3. Undo bolt and remove - the rear light cluster will now easily come out. 4. Unclip the bulb mounting board from the plastic cluster, which can be placed safely somewhere (i.e. in the boot!). 5. Replace the bulbs - caution 0 the brake light is at right angles to the others, so forget LEDS (sorry guys!) 6. Reverse all actions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milo Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 If you get 2 brake lights out your dashboard warning lights go ballistic as I found out yesterday Go to the dealers and plead ignorance and they'll do them for nothing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBM Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 So, at least someone finds the bulb changing instructions useful.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milo Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 The ones that popped yesterday were the third and fourth ones to blow (I've already replaced the 2 original ones this year). I've never had a car like this one for going through brake light bulbs. It's not as if I ever get enough speed up to use the damn brakes It's a good job they're only 2 for £1.99 at Halfords Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBM Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 So, how much commission have I earned and how many flowers have you bought Mrs Milo.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milo Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Only £20 saved first time 'round which I spent on beer if you recall Did you not get your cheque? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted November 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 Bizarrely - it was working again this morning... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark_90 Posted November 2, 2005 Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 Kell, Not so bizzare mate, mine did that with the nearside rear centre sidelight for quite a while! On, then off, then on again. Weird. Front offside sidelight did it for a while too. I wondered if it was DIS pissing about, but I confirmed that DIS was correct and they were/weren't working as it indicated. Very odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted November 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 Just had a look at this this weekend, but didn't hve the bulbs to hand. So the little pastic cover comes off and I can see one screw inside. Unscrew just that one screw and the whole assembly comes out? ALso, how do you retreive the bits from socket screwdriver if they accidentally fall out of the socket and disappear down into the trim? Not that I've done this of course, just wondering...(ahem). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soapsuds Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 [ QUOTE ] So the little pastic cover comes off and I can see one screw inside. Unscrew just that one screw and the whole assembly comes out? [/ QUOTE ] Yep! [ QUOTE ] ALso, how do you retreive the bits from socket screwdriver if they accidentally fall out of the socket and disappear down into the trim? [/ QUOTE ] Erm, with great difficulty - i.e removing the rear seats and all the side trim..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted November 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] So the little pastic cover comes off and I can see one screw inside. Unscrew just that one screw and the whole assembly comes out? [/ QUOTE ] Yep! [ QUOTE ] ALso, how do you retreive the bits from socket screwdriver if they accidentally fall out of the socket and disappear down into the trim? [/ QUOTE ] Erm, with great difficulty - i.e removing the rear seats and all the side trim..... [/ QUOTE ] Phew - good job I haven't done that then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBM Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 [ QUOTE ] It's dead easy, I've had mine out loads. It's basically one screw in the boot holding the light cluster to the car. Try UBM's excellent guide: Rear - 1. Locate the two circles in the trim adjacent to the rear light cluster in the boot. Pull the trim back slightly (it is clipped in at certain positions). 2. Expose the hex type bolt, which is on the side of the boot and is holding the unit in place - commonly surrounded with a plastic ring. 3. Undo bolt and remove - the rear light cluster will now easily come out. 4. Unclip the bulb mounting board from the plastic cluster, which can be placed safely somewhere (i.e. in the boot!). 5. Replace the bulbs - caution 0 the brake light is at right angles to the others, so forget LEDS (sorry guys!) 6. Reverse all actions! [/ QUOTE ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3Floyd Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 Just make sure to use a magnetic screwdriver cos as has already been discussed, the screw can very easily fall into the void which is virtually impossible to recover. I did this on mine!!! In my opinion, Audi have made a serious blunder with this design. I was always under the impression that bulbs are a consumable item and thus should be simple to replace - not so on the A4. Both the front and rear light clusters are a pain in the butt to get at. Certainly not something that can be done at the road side without a comprehensive toolkit. What happened to german common-sense??? has someone from British Leyland been fiddling with the new Audi designs??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 Audi haven't made a blunder. They don't want you to replace the bulbs, but rather get charged £20 to goto Audi and have them do it. Not right, but a money making scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soapsuds Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 and what's more, what the feck is the point in having to 'CARRY' a spare bulb set in mainland Europe when you cant even fit them in a simple manner, unless you have all the required tools.... Crazy eh!!?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted November 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2005 Well - after finally finding the time to do this, what a pain. And here, is why. Yes I lost a 'bit' for my screwdriver the other say when I was just investigating how to get the screw out - so I came up with this plan: Rolled up bit of paper which goes around the screwdriver and the head of the screw and prevents if from falling into the void never to be seen again. However, I also discovered that the 'screw' also has a socket fitment (I found that a 5/16ths was perfect) and htis also meant that the 'bit of paper' technique I was so proud of wasn't needed. This was fine except that the screw just keeps turning once the cluster becomes loose, so you need to lean against it to trap the bit the screw screws into so that they don't all turn and only the screw does. If that doens't make sense, then it might when you come to do it. Lastly, once the screw was out, the cluster still wouldn't come out and that's because it's also held on by two nipples at the far edge. To get these off, I used the flyer that I'd already rolled up earlier to protect the paintwork, and prised it off with a screwdriver. Sorry about the quality of the bodywork shot, but it was dark by the time I wanted to do this. As you can see, these nipples locate in the hols in the bodywork. Then it takes about two seconds to change the bulb and just reverse the process. Can't believe they've made it that complicated though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durrsaku Posted November 13, 2005 Report Share Posted November 13, 2005 Nice one. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now