How to DIY Repair a malfunctioning third brake light

[98A4TurboAWD]

My third brake light has been out for a while throwing an annoying light.

I decided to take it out just to see what was in there.

I noticed it was an LED strip and thought to myself that it was weird that none of the lights worked.

So I pulled it apart and threw 9v of power to it. I noticed that the connector prongs were loose and that when I moved them the lights would come on in certain positions.

I soldered it down tight and it is working good as new.

Probably pretty common. Easy to pull apart and fix yourself if you have a soldering gun.

The loose prongs.


Powering it up.


Good as new.

[dand.]

Can you provide some tips how to pull apart from beginning, especially how to take it off from a car? Thank you.


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[lettuce]

Did the same thing. When I got my car the 3rd brake light would go out on hot days so I pulled it off and soldered the two leads. Fixed it right up. I didn't take the board out of the housing though so if anyone has trouble with that like I did it's not necessary.

[A4 Centaur]

Thank you for the quick update!!

[98A4TurboAWD]

Did the same thing. When I got my car the 3rd brake light would go out on hot days so I pulled it off and soldered the two leads. Fixed it right up. I didn't take the board out of the housing though so if anyone has trouble with that like I did it's not necessary.

Yep, not necessary at all. I was expecting a break in the LED and thought I'd have to buy an LED strip to replace it.

Once I got it out I noticed that the prongs were loose.

You can totally avoid pulling it apart.

[98A4TurboAWD]

Can you provide some tips how to pull apart from beginning, especially how to take it off from a car? Thank you.


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Just put your fingers underneath the plastic and pull it along the same plane as the glass. It takes a lot of power to do it. TBH it's a ridiculous design.

[dand.]

Just put your fingers underneath the plastic and pull it along the same plane as the glass. It takes a lot of power to do it. TBH it's a ridiculous design.

I have watch some how to video, the hardest part is the first step. Afraid to break something. Does it covered by the warranty? My A4 is 2014.


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[endy1]

Did the same thing. When I got my car the 3rd brake light would go out on hot days so I pulled it off and soldered the two leads. Fixed it right up. I didn't take the board out of the housing though so if anyone has trouble with that like I did it's not necessary.

Have/had the same problem but it works fine now but i guess thats why its cold(er) outside now?

Thanks for this DIY !

[Ward]

I thought I might have been the only one having this problem. My mechanic saw this and soldered it for me. Great post thanks for sharing with others! I actually cracked the plastic when I tried pulling that light out, its a pain in the ass.

[NguyenerA4]

I brought a new one install it works fine then a couple days later it doesn’t. Warning light came back on. Exactly how do you solder it? I see the pics but what parts needs to solder?

[NguyenerA4]

I fix it today. Apparently my issue was the connector was somewhat loose I guess bc I pull the old piece out too strongly and also crack the old one. I reclamp the connector by squeezing the metal piece of the connector and put electrical tape around it and a zip tie. It’s working fine now fingers crossed it won’t go out again. For me the first time was hard to remove the assembly but piece of advice use soapy water around the glass make it easier to slide, pull toward trunk with both hands with fingers underneath the 3rd brake light, try to be careful but a little force is needed. To reinstall I got oem so it was easy, just pull your headliner down a little just enough for the assembly to click back into place.

[NguyenerA4]

By connector I mean the piece of wire/connector that is hanging off the headliner of the car

[audrobotic]

I fix it today. Apparently my issue was the connector was somewhat loose I guess bc I pull the old piece out too strongly and also crack the old one. I reclamp the connector by squeezing the metal piece of the connector and put electrical tape around it and a zip tie. It’s working fine now fingers crossed it won’t go out again. For me the first time was hard to remove the assembly but piece of advice use soapy water around the glass make it easier to slide, pull toward trunk with both hands with fingers underneath the 3rd brake light, try to be careful but a little force is needed. To reinstall I got oem so it was easy, just pull your headliner down a little just enough for the assembly to click back into place.

Nice work. I don't know if I'd call this brake light issue common, but it's not unusual. I think I was too afraid to damage the headliner (I probably wouldn't have) so I had a window tint shop pop it back in. Popping it out wasnt too hard, but the popping back in was a no go for me, even with the OEM part.

[NguyenerA4]

Nice work. I don't know if I'd call this brake light issue common, but it's not unusual. I think I was too afraid to damage the headliner (I probably wouldn't have) so I had a window tint shop pop it back in. Popping it out wasnt too hard, but the popping back in was a no go for me, even with the OEM part.

Yeah, when I tried to install the first time around it wouldn’t go all the way in bc it was hitting the headliner then I pull the headliner down slightly and the oem piece just click back in easier. As long as you don’t pull the liner down too far it will fine, my liner is still perfect lol

[DownhillA4]

Can you solder it in place? I notice little corrosion around the outside of my 3rd brake light housing and getting an intermittent bulb out.. Don't want to pull the whole housing out and cause the corrosion to get worse.

[RPMtech147]

Thread from the dead. I've been meaning to do this for two years, but mine only faults when it's hot out. It's cool now, so maybe in the spring.

[caradvice]

Thread from the dead. I've been meaning to do this for two years, but mine only faults when it's hot out. It's cool now, so maybe in the spring.

Have a Audi A4 B6 2001. Engine still going strong. Had people tell me the AWX ones turned out to be decent engines. Seems so.

The central light warning has come on so found this. Will have a go fiddling with the prongs.

Just curious if anyone is still going with a A4 B6 out there?