Display cluster indicator bulb

[A6SE]

Hi all

Since I bought my 2004 A6 one of my indicator bulbs hasn't been as bright as the other (can barely see in daylight) on rare occasions it seems to be fine and will be OK for a day then back to being dim

I took the dash out the other night (quite easy) but couldnt open the dash unit I think I have to release the 6 plastic clips but it didnt seem to want to open and I was reluctant to knacker the display for the sake of the bulb.

Does anyone know if the indicator bulds are replacable or are the soldered into the electrics board of the display?

Should the display unit come apart or am I best leaving well alone.

My guess is the bulb has a fault filament or something - I look forward to a reply from someone with a little more knowledge than me

[bagpipingandy]

Hi all

Since I bought my 2004 A6 one of my indicator bulbs hasn't been as bright as the other (can barely see in daylight) on rare occasions it seems to be fine and will be OK for a day then back to being dim

I took the dash out the other night (quite easy) but couldnt open the dash unit I think I have to release the 6 plastic clips but it didnt seem to want to open and I was reluctant to knacker the display for the sake of the bulb.

Does anyone know if the indicator bulds are replacable or are the soldered into the electrics board of the display?

Should the display unit come apart or am I best leaving well alone.

My guess is the bulb has a fault filament or something - I look forward to a reply from someone with a little more knowledge than me

Follow this to open the instrument cluster:DIS LCD Repair.pdf

this shows how to change the DIS LCD but the 1st steps are to open the cluster,
not sure if the bulbs can be changed but at least it will let you have a look

Andy

[A6SE]

Follow this to open the instrument cluster:DIS LCD Repair.pdf

this shows how to change the DIS LCD but the 1st steps are to open the cluster,
not sure if the bulbs can be changed but at least it will let you have a look

Andy

Thanks for the PDF - I'll have to think about this one - A bit more involved than I thought it might be, espcially removing the dials etc mmmmmm

Paul

[bagpipingandy]

Thinking about it it is not bulbs I think they are soldered LED's

[A6SE]

Thinking about it it is not bulbs I think they are soldered LED's

Your quite right - I've just had dash out again, opened the case and found a horrible little thing (led as you put it) soldered to the board - So I guess I'll have to put up with it - thanks for all your help, much appreciated

[midge6]

Hi all

Since I bought my 2004 A6 one of my indicator bulbs hasn't been as bright as the other (can barely see in daylight) on rare occasions it seems to be fine and will be OK for a day then back to being dim

I took the dash out the other night (quite easy) but couldnt open the dash unit I think I have to release the 6 plastic clips but it didnt seem to want to open and I was reluctant to knacker the display for the sake of the bulb.

Does anyone know if the indicator bulds are replacable or are the soldered into the electrics board of the display?

Should the display unit come apart or am I best leaving well alone.

My guess is the bulb has a fault filament or something - I look forward to a reply from someone with a little more knowledge than me

That’s interesting; I have a 2004 A6 that had a similar problem, in my case the R/H indicator instrument light slowly deteriorated to the point that it hardly worked at all. As it was coming up for the MOT test and as I understand it, it could mean a fail, I decided to investigate. It turns out the lamp is an Led and it had failed, I stripped the instrument panel down, removed the dials and changed the Led, it now works fine. This is not a job for the faint hearted; some soldering expertise is necessary and care needs to be exercised removing the dial needles and getting the Led positive and Negative connections the right way round. Mark the positions of the needles at rest so that they go back the way they came off.
Good luck
PS – There are companies that fix these units if you’re not up to it.

[Tazz070299]

That’s interesting; I have a 2004 A6 that had a similar problem, in my case the R/H indicator instrument light slowly deteriorated to the point that it hardly worked at all. As it was coming up for the MOT test and as I understand it, it could mean a fail, I decided to investigate. It turns out the lamp is an Led and it had failed, I stripped the instrument panel down, removed the dials and changed the Led, it now works fine. This is not a job for the faint hearted; some soldering expertise is necessary and care needs to be exercised removing the dial needles and getting the Led positive and Negative connections the right way round. Mark the positions of the needles at rest so that they go back the way they came off.
Good luck
PS – There are companies that fix these units if you’re not up to it.

I have a similar problem and refuse to pay for Audi's recommended fix of a new instrument cluster at £560.

What type of LED do I need (it's for the indicator) and where could I buy one?

Although I have soldered in the past, including pcbs, if I was to take the low risk route does anyone know the name of a company who could fix it for me?


Tazz

[midge6]

I have a similar problem and refuse to pay for Audi's recommended fix of a new instrument cluster at £560.

What type of LED do I need (it's for the indicator) and where could I buy one?

Although I have soldered in the past, including pcbs, if I was to take the low risk route does anyone know the name of a company who could fix it for me?
Tazz

Hi, I had a few Leds lying around so I can’t tell you exactly which one I used however, once I had established the ohms value of the resistor associated with the LED (I just measured it on the board), I played around with a 12 Volt power supply until I was satisfied that the new LED was about the same brightness as the others. I can’t remember the resistor value but I think a standard 3mm green LED from Maplins would be fine. There are a number of YouTube presentations on removing dials, some better than others, but to my mind getting them off and back in the same place without breaking anything is the real job – soldering the LED is straight forward enough. Give yourself plenty of time, take lots of pictures of the dials. If you can get an association between the Revs and a particular speed in a given gear, you will be able to check you have them in the right place afterwards by getting someone else to drive in front of you at that speed; I seem to remember 30 Mph was easy to tie up with the Revs.
You can Google ‘Instrument cluster repairs uk’, to find a repairer near you, but bear in mind the parts to fix this yourself would cost less than £1.00 !
Good Luck.