ILLusive

the 06 Avant I am about to purchase has a brake light warning on the center display but the owner says he took it to the dealer and they couldn't pinpoint the problem, so they just cleared the code but he says it just came back on after 2 mos.
We checked all the LEDs in both taillights and they are all working so what gives? Random Audi electric gremlin or is there a known fix for this? Otherwise I'm gonna make him have the dealer take another look at it since he still has CPO warranty. It would be nice to know what to tell the dealer to look at so they can repair or replace the faulty part under warranty.
Thanks!

bigdadi

Scan under VAG-COM to see if any clues.

KevinGary

The intermittent brake light warning is a known problem. It is the rear right light unit. The entire unit needs to be replaced. If you search the forum you will see that it has been discussed several times. I had the unit replaced a few months back.

ILLusive

I read something about that but it didn't seem related. I assume it is. So its always the rear right or could it be either one? I'd like to be explicit when I take it to the dealer so they can focus on that one part or parts. Thanks!

KevinGary

Everything that I read on the forum indicated that it was only the rear right light.

lasonjv

I also had an intermittent Center Brake Light alarm on my 2009 Audi A4.

I removed the brake light assembly and wiggled it while it was still connected and while the brake pedal was depressed with a stick. All 18 LEDS flashed in unison when I wiggled the Brake Light connector. I examined the assembly under high magnification and found circular cracks in the two solder connections for the connector pins. I remelted the solder and added a drop or two more solder to make a permanent repair.

I have seen this kind of defective soldering on the circuit boards of fuel pump relays as well. It occurs because the more massive leads don't get hot enough to sufficiently flow the solder during mass production.

I believe these cracks tend to form more often in climates having extreme temperature swings such as here in New England.

dhoerl

I posted my experience to a related thread: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-.../#post24687333

Getting the red cover off is not easy - this unit is not designed to be disassembled. In any case, the failure was exactly as you stated - the pins are not soldered well so they break off from the circuit board.

Nick Lim

Had to replace the entire assembly. If you have a performance shop near you, go there. They did mine for 110 out the door. Also, doing it yourself, it's really hard to get the assembly back in, even with the interior pry tools.

kyle

You don't have to disassemble the plastic housing. Just cut a small hole over the connector pins and re solder them. I put the piece I cut out back on and covered it with a piece of Gorilla tape and it looks like it came from the factory. Everything now works like it should, and now I have a secret door that allows me to access the connector pins just in case I ever have to do it again. I used my Dremel tool with a circular saw disk to make the door. I just removed a triangle shape with the wide side of the triangle over the solder joints. Run the Dremel tool as slow as possible to keep from melting the plastic.

G-Can

mine 07 avant is showing me brake error for rear left (drivers side, LHD)
why would it be right hand side light then?

Also, my third brake light is dead, and probably has those conectors cracked... but finding time to deal with this is hard...

and while we are talking about taillights, has anybody tried sanding/cutting/polishing inner lights on a trunk lid? they are completelly hazed and foggy, but outer lights that are on the body itslef are completelly clear and look like new.

Ive seen a lot of avants with this problems, so anybody done anything about it?