rxpclb

The left rear tail light on my 2008 A6 quattro has a short of some kind. Often times when I start it I'll get a warning that says "Left Rear Light Out" or "Left Reversing Light Out" and sometimes "Left Brake Light" or "Brake Light" out. I've taken my car into my local Audi dealer thinking a bulb was burnt out, but I was told there was corrosion causing the problem and once it was cleaned out, everything worked fine.

Well everything was ok for 5-7 days after the dealer tried to fix it. The dealer charged me $0.00 so I was happy about that, but the problem isn't fixed. I can live with the left reversing light and left tail light not working, but I cannot live with the Brake Light being out because when this happens the left turn signal doesn't work. I know it's not safe to operate a vehicle without working turn signals. The dealer seemed to indicate to me they were aware of this problem in cars from 2008. Can someone tell me of a solution to this problem or if there is a TSB issued covering this? The dealer won't return my call asking for further service.

daczone

My 2006 just started doing this (98k miles). I took the light out, used cleaner but didn't see anything that needed cleaning. I have heard it is the solder within the LED Module, which is your brake light and turn signal that is the problem. And this is a non fixable issue, It would require cracking open the taillights. And oddly mine do work sometimes. I'm probably going to have to bite the bullet and just replace the entire light. And to make matters worse, I have to replace both sides because my lights are tinted.

haloguy628

This is a classic problem with insufficient ground due to bad design. The whole tail light is grounded by one thin ground wire that runs from the engine bay ground point to the tail light in the tail light harness. Due to oxidation and deterioration of the two aluminum ground points in the tail light the ECU eventually gets out of spec resistance reading when it periodically checks continuity in each light bulb circuit. This then triggers the warning lights in the dash although the bulbs are still working.

The remedy is either buying new tail light or installing ground wire connected directly to the body. I need to change my rear left fog bulb so I will take a pictures on how to do it.

KevinGary

KickAss

I understand its been a while since this post. What did you end up doing eventually?

daczone

For me I replaced both sides, I bought a new set online and they worked flawlessly. I sold my A6 in Jan 2000 and bought a Tesla. I still have my Audi TT however so I'm not totally Audi-less. The A6 was a great car, comfortable, Lots of room for us tall people (6'-2"). I did a lot of work to my A6 over the couple of years I owned it, I had the dreaded oil in the spark plugs, which I promply fixed among other maintenance items.

rbhelle

Same problem here as well. It was the soldering on the cirquit card on the led that caused the problem. The middle pin was almost loose and the rear leds where in and out depending on me driving on a paved surface or a bumpy road. Only thing working correct was the break light 😊 Solution was to replace the whole left outer light. Bought it from autodoc and flawless function now.