Number plate lights problem

munchkincoupe

munchkincoupe

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My left number plate light hasn't been working for the last 4 weeks. I've had no fault light on dash. Decided whilst I was going to change the bulb I may as well change them to Canbus friendly LED bulbs.

I removed left holder - no signs of water ingress/rust and connections look fine as did the bulb filament - swapped in LED bulb and refitted - no light and no fault on dash

I then removed right side to try one of the LED bulbs in that side - no signs of water ingress/rust and connections look fine - swapped in LED bulb and refitted - no light and now getting a number plate light fault on dash.

Tried refitting original bulb to right side and lock/unlock to reset fault light but fault light is still on and right light not working either now

It's a 2004 2.0tdi if that makes any difference and I read through all of the LED bulb threads before going for the 3 led Canbus Festoon bulbs from ebay that a few other members have tried with no problems.

I'v also had the bootlid trim off today to try to sort out the rear washer jet but it would appear that the rear washer tube has disconnected at the front reservoir tank. No water head been leaking behind trim. I'll get this sorted along when the aircon condensor gets done next month


Any advice on the number plate light is most welcome and any other methods for clearing faults other than diagnostic (can't believe it would have to be hooked up to clear a bulb fault!!!) connection.

? Next repair - replace bulb holders??
 
a dont know but if the car has dashboard light indicator then resistors are required, as it was the same case with my leon. I am going to get plate xenon for my a3 soon and i though either they have to have resistors built in or come with the bulbs seperatly, with regards to your problem with one working i had the same problem when trying on the leon without resistors. Also i had some cambus friendly side lights which worked fine but another pair which i wanted which were cambus friendly also did not work so it maybe worth getting the ones listed if thats any help
 
Leds work one way,have you tried turning the bulb around?,i have the same you have had........no probs
 
vw754 said:
Leds work one way,have you tried turning the bulb around?,i have the same you have had........no probs
Click to expand...

I did try that but not sure if locking/unlocking is clearing the fault - would the new lights be on and the dash light be on if it was still registering the previous fault?
 
when i fitted mine,i had to tun lights on then off then they started working,if you turn bulb around,turn lights completley on then off again
 
I had similar issues on my car, I ended up changing the bulb housing itself. These are renowned for being, well... *****! I tried cleaning up contacts, didn't notice any water but small amount of corrosion. They're pretty cheap, think about £15 for both sides.

If all else fails give that a try
 
I think I remember someone saying those ones were very very bright mate, might just wanna buy new holders from Audi and stick your LED bulbs in those, look a lot better IMO, not so bright
 
Hey did you get anywhere mate? I've been messing with mine today and i have exactly the same problem. Went out and bought 2 brand new standard bulbs and they both dont work either. I'm stumped now!

The connections are clean and make the correct contact. I'm pulling my friggin hair out with them!!
 
im also having a problem with one of my gf's number plate lights, swapped the broke one with the working one and still doesn't work, anyone know what else it could be? thanks

Dan
 
Hi,
I had a problem last week when I noticed my left bulb only not working. No display message though on my display. Turned off ignition and took out bulb and gave the contacts a bit of scrub with a wire brush. Put bulb back in. Put ignition on, then both lights not working. Turned lights off and on a couple of times but no joy. Turned ignition off and back on twice then they both decided to work. Little strange. .. . .For me it seemed the contacts most likely the problem. Had to turn ignition on and off a couple times too...
 
As I said, the easiest solution is to buy 2 new housings to replace your old one £15 from Audi. Done the trick for me!
 
You have to be really sure the contacts on the housing are making contact with the power points on the car. If you get down with a bright torch you can see if the contacts are in the right place as you put the housing back in.

I spent ages fannying around with the LEDs and not getting them to work until I was told this, when I had a look the metal contacts were getting caught as I put the holder back in and not touching the power points.
 
I swapped my standard bulbs for LED's today. The first thing that stunped me was making sure the resistor end was correct, i.e swapping them 180 degrees till they worked. The other thing I found was that when i was messing around with the housing i had bent the connections outwards and they weren't touching the plates inside. I had to press the connecting legs inwards towards each other to make sure the connection was good...

Might be worth a shot?
 
Right going to give it one last go tomorrow with the stock parts then going to replace the housings if still no go

Just to clarify - are you talking about the connections that sit behind the bulb holder that are at approx 45degree angle to the vertical? Do I need to flatten them more to get a better contact?

Thanks
 
Right I got them working. The new LED bulbs were slightly longer than the OEM and they had pushed the contact arms further out. I straightened them out but that still didn't work. I checked the contact point inside the boot handle and there was a worn patch so a twisted the contact arms slightly and put a blast of WD40 on the contact points and they now work - Hoorah!
 
I have had exactly the same problem this morning! Will have another crack it later on and make sure the contacts are touching the power points, and fiddle around making sure the LED bulbs are the right way. I felt stupid when I put them in and nothing happened! Feel better now after seeing I am not the only one with the problem. Thanks guys you've helped me as well!
 
Ive had the same problem this weekend. Had LED's in for a while working fine, but one of them has gone. Replaced them with new LED's and they dont work. tried them every way round possible and nothing. So gone back to the standard bulbs, and these now bring up the error on the dash and dont work at all. Is there something i need to do to reset the error before putting the bulbs in? Ive had the ignition on and off numerous times over the weekend so dont know what else to do.
 
audi upgrades
I ran into the same problem, tried a ready made adapter cable as described above but with little luck.
Connectors fit perfect but warning did not go away.

I managed to get rid of the warning by installing a 25 ohm load resistor in the wiring harness.

● Shared the full instruction and schematics here

project-numberplate-warning.jpg
 
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I have c5w led with canbus in my A3 since 2017, yesterday the bulb out warning showed up and I thought that could be one of the lights died.
When I came home I noticed that both lights were off, so I stopped the car and turn the ignition and both lights turn on with no problem, but seconds later the went off again..

What can it be? both resistors died? I think its strange to happen at the same time with both lights
 
Disconnect the resistor loom and refit the standard filament bulbs and that will prove the lighting cct is ok or faulty. I would try this for a couple of days to prove.
Lots of peeps have used eBay bulbs and resistors and frankly 90% of these don’t work or fail after a while. Only ones that are reliable are converting to the Audi OE system or EM Tuning (site sponsor) upgrade which is the version I used.
 
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SootySport said:
Disconnect the resistor loom and refit the standard filament bulbs and that will prove the lighting cct is ok or faulty. I would try this for a couple of days to prove.
Lots of peeps have used eBay bulbs and resistors and frankly 90% of these don’t work or fail after a while. Only ones that are reliable are converting to the Audi OE system or EM Tuning (site sponsor) upgrade which is the version I used.
Click to expand...

Mine is a 05 8P SB
I dont have a resistor installed, I just removed the original lamp and placed tubular led with canbus. It worked fine since 2017 until this weekend when boot leds stopped working and the warning showed up. I know the leds aren't "dead" because when I turn the lights on, they work about 3sec (not flickering, just working normal) but then they turn off
 
Update: The error is gone and now the lights are working again... I didn't do anything :icon thumright:
 
If it’s anything like mine it’s when the weather gets moist and cold- tends to cause enough variation in the circuit that errors occur. Guessing there’s a bit of corrosion / oxidisation in the grab handle enclosure somewhere.


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