Audi A3 8L Dash Display Dead Pixel Repair

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nynex

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Hi all,
I'm new to Audi ownership and when I got my car I had some horrible lines of dead pixles out which really bugged me.
When I looked online there wasn't many people who posted successfully fixing it so when I had done mine I decided to make a tutorial to help others.
I think this is very similar for a lot of others models too.
Enjoy!

http://www.nynexonline.co.uk/storage/display_repair/audi_display_repair.php

.
 
Thanks for the Link, for anyone wanting to open the link, I suggest using a different browser like Mozilla firefox, as it's pop up heaven everytime you click on something in the link.

Joe
 
Wow...that's a rather useful DIY.

I must admit that it scares me somewhat to open the cluster etc. but I will have a go at it. I have horizontal lines - many of them in fact. In the winter the LCD display was just hopeless :)

THANK YOU!!
 
Thanks for the Link, for anyone wanting to open the link, I suggest using a different browser like Mozilla firefox, as it's pop up heaven everytime you click on something in the link.

Joe
Sorry about that, I didn't notice the popups because I use mozilla. I've not used that site before I just looked for a free hosting site when I couldn't upload anything here.
Can anyone suggest a better free hosting site?
 
Sorry about that, I didn't notice the popups because I use mozilla. I've not used that site before I just looked for a free hosting site when I couldn't upload anything here.
Can anyone suggest a better free hosting site?

It's nothing major to be fair, just advertising. ;)
 
Thats awesome, mines amillion times worse than that so cant wait to fix it nar:w00t:
 
looking forward to hearing some success stories v.soon
 
Good luck with this gents. Its an old fix that works 50% of the time. However i will give it a go on the A3 to see what occurs, on my A4 the only cure was to repalce the dash and recode with VAg-tacho. Worked out much cheaper that trying to get it repaired by one of these £140 repair places
 
I tried this this morning, its a bit better. Less lines than i did have. Mine must be to far gone to repair completly. It was a right ****** to reconect the conectors. Ended up with a scrached cowling and my radio doesnt go off when i pull the key out, gutted. Worth a try though!
 
Why doesnt the radio turn off when the key's took out?
 
Not sure, just been to get some petrol now and noticed that ive lost the radio display on the dash, must of not connected one of the plugs back proply. Out it comes again!!!
 
I actually did mine twice, I don't think i let it get hot enough the first time so I tried again.
When I connected mine all back up everything worked except the controls for the display up/down on/off etc, so I just disconnected all the connectors again and pluged them back in and it worked fine again then.
One of the connectors was a pain to get to but I didn't think it was too difficult really.
 
Wehey, radios back, all working great. just pushed the connectors in a bit more. When you tried it the first time did you still have some lines? Mine seems to be a lot better but if there is a chance of getting it perfect then ill give it another go. Its the connector on the right side that was a pain, but considering ive never done anything like this before i was pretty chuffed that it all went back together and worked ( well, second time anyway)
 
I had 2 lines out and when i did it the first time one went and it didnt even start to work immediately, when it come on it made me think that the principle behind it was right so I tried again.
It is a bit of a pain to keep taking it all apart but I'm chuffed now because it looks so much smarter with them all working.
 
Its really strange, mine seemed to have got better after i went for a short spin to get petrol. Ill give it another go tommorow i think. Will let you know how i get on. Fingers crossed i get rid of them all. Thanks for your help
 
I had mine out when i first got the car and packed it out but didn't do the heatgun thing so i'll be re investigating this... can you canfirm how you get the needles off as i seem to remember not being able to get mine off for fear of breaking them.....
 
I used one of those v shaped scredrivers to get mine off. I put a piece of tape on the clock face where i was going to lever incase i marked it. Worked great!
 
I did it as I put in the tutorial.
I just twisted each needle clockwise and lifted it as it spins. When you move the needle to its zero point you feel it stop, then i just kept turning it past where it stops and at the same time pull it up as it turns.
Worked for me that way.
 
I did manage to get the metal surround off from the screen without taking the dials and needles off but it doesnt allow you much acces to anything and i'm sure that the dials would be too close to get the screen heated enough. maybe you could do it with just removing the left rev counter dials and leave the rest on.
 
So just spent the best part of 2hours doing this and im affraid its made mine even worse :keule: cant tell you how gutted i am that it didnt work.
Ooh well worth atry.
 
sorry to hear it made things worse for you. the first time i did mine it got better the next day so fingers crossed. do you happen to have any before and after photos, to see how bad it was?
it could even be worth a second try.
 
Had a go with mine earlier, didn't take the dials off so not sure if i got it hot enough, was using a paint stripper gun, so was concious of the display getting too hot and cracking, how hot does it need to be?
doesn't seem to be any different, will give it a while to see if it gets any better as it has good and bad days anyway, if not i'll have another go with a little more heat.
 
sorry to hear it made things worse for you. the first time i did mine it got better the next day so fingers crossed. do you happen to have any before and after photos, to see how bad it was?
it could even be worth a second try.

No i ment too but forgot but my display was 10x worse than yours to begin with.
Like tuffty says mine also as good and bad days.
How many lines of tape did you use to pack it out with?
 
I let it get quite hot, I was using a hairdryer with heat instead of a heatgun. I placed on line of tape all around the inside of the metal frame and i also folded over a strip to run down each side, I think that the tape doesn't make much difference it's the heat that fixes the bond of the LCD's ribbon cable to the screen.
 
I've also got a problem with my DIS. But it is not a pixel problem. (At least I think so.) Every time the engine gets hot -> the screen seems to disintegrate. On warm days the DIS is completely unreadable. But when its cold the screen seems to be just fine. Anyone else with this problem?
 
I've also got a problem with my DIS. But it is not a pixel problem. (At least I think so.) Every time the engine gets hot -> the screen seems to disintegrate. On warm days the DIS is completely unreadable. But when its cold the screen seems to be just fine. Anyone else with this problem?

The pixel problem is heat related, I think it will cure problems with the guide in this thread if you have a go.
 
The pixel problem is heat related, I think it will cure problems with the guide in this thread if you have a go.

I'll give it a go this weekend. I'll post a pre- and after operation photo.
 
Great to find a fix for this old known issue on these ones... Mine has dead pixels all over the place, and every day the dead lines are different... I'll try this fix on the weekend and post pics to compare!
Tnx again Nynex :rockwoot:
 
Here's how it's looking now...
Is it too bad to try the fix???
04062009227.jpg
 
hi, well im told that the problem is that the glue comes away from the lcd screen that joins the ribbon and thats why it has dead lines, so i guess the worse it is the more places its come away. theoretically you should be able to fix any number thats out.
 
Give it a go mate, when i first did mine it was a little better. Im going to give it another go when i get the chance and use a little more heat this time.
 
yeah i used a hairdryer on hot. i know its quite time consuming to take it all out and do it again if it doesnt work but i think safer than going too hot too quick if its not needed.
i did heat it up a fair bit though.
 
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