RangeK1D

Like the title, my question is, has anyone ever attempted opening a headlight on the D3 Audi A8?

I had the pleasure of having dust make its way into the headlight which when paired with moisture from a car wash made a beautiful layer of mud on the inside of the headlight. Goal is to clean the inside of the A8 lens.

Any help and or advice is appreciated.

Jack88

They are sealed with an adhesive. Putting it in the oven at a low temperature, like 200 degrees Fahrenheit, for 15-20 minutes softens it so it can be opened. This is normally done with tail lights, but I suppose you could just as easily do it with headlights. Alternatively, try pouring some warm water in there with a lot of salt, more than can dissolve, and slosh it around. After a couple minutes, it should have a cleaning effect without damaging anything. If that works, reinstall. Works on coffee pots, don't see why it wouldn't for a headlight. Couldn't hurt to try it first.

Mister Bally

Be sure to correct the cause of the leak as well.

haggisuk

Oven Baking is the only way I would do it.

the link below has a good video of doing it

richard-tx

Salt would be death to the wiring. Just take it apart and clean.

Jack88

Salt is only recommended if you can remove all electronics from the housing first. I should have been clear on that, sorry.

RangeK1D

Hey guys thanks for the replies. I thought about the oven trick but from what I saw on YouTube, it didn't work out well for Audi owners. Most of the videos with A6 headlights didn't really open per say. Regardless I'll do more research.

I thought of sticking a high pressured dust removal can from the back of the headlight and hoping that might clear some dirt off the lens but progressively that seems like a shot in the dark ahaha.

Also are there anyways of uploading sound clips to threads? I have this weird turbine type sound coming from the passenger side of the vehicle near the wheel well, the sound starts up as the car starts up and after the rpms calm down to 800-900 RPM the sound also dissipates instantly with the RPMs (it's almost harmonious).

Mister Bally

The noise is your Secondary Air Injection Pump. When it makes that noise, that means no output and it has reached the end of it's useful life.

richard-tx

WHen faced with either repair or replacement, I went the replacement route.

RangeK1D

Oh! Okay, I just realized there was always a little hose hanging form the bottom end of the air box and I assume that connects to the pump (for the past 2-3 oil changes it was definitely not connected). Perhaps this was what made it go bad.

I did a bit of research but all threads related to the fixing of the pump are on the A6 or Allroad threads. Would it be a similar procedure to fix the pump? I have this week off (Reading Break) so would love to save some money on that darn pump and do anything except read.