Alright guys i did a little searching but nothing really seems to be of any help so here's my problem:

when i turn on my headlights the instrument cluster should light up. last nite i turned on my lights and my instrument cluster didnt light up. that includes the speedo, tach, all gauges, etc. My turn signal symbols light, my low fuel symbol lights up and i can still see my outside temp and mileage, yada, yada, yada. So there's my problem. I checked my fuses and they all work fine.

I think the cause might be the heavy rain in the Bay Area yesterday. I was driving on the freeway, about to go on an overpass. there was so much water built up right where the freeway and the overpass meet that it caused the front of my car to dive way down. felt like i blew both my tires and hit a huge wall. i wasnt trying to go fast through it or be stupid. i just didnt even see it cuz my wipers couldnt keep up with the buckets of water being poured on my car. i didnt notice at that time whether my lights went away because it was fairly light outside but when i leftfor home from work about 3 hours later i noticed my problem. Any ideas would be great.

 

That sucks man... Have you checked to see if water got into your ECU? I know that sounds wierd, but it's worth a look. Maybe something fried somewhere. Is there anything else that isn't working? Also try taking the cluster out and make sure one of the 3 wire harnesses didn't come loose or something.

Josh

 

No, i havent checked the ECU yet. That is the next thing on my list. No, i dont think anything else is out of comission. just the cluster lights. I'm gonna search for how to remove the cluster but if anyone has any pointers they would be appreciated. thanks Paintball Guy.

 

Here is a link that describes how to take apart your gauge cluster:

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/int43.shtml

hope this helps!

Josh

 

Damn that easy huh? Good thing i looked i was ready to take out my whole dash... haha. thanks for the help man.

 

Well if you have got to get your cluster replaced, it's going to coast around $1000. I went over to Steven Creek Audi to get a quote and they said it's $700 for the unit, $300 for labor. It would be cheaper to go with someone outside the dealership. According to the mechanic that I talked to before heading to the Audi dealership, Audi released a notice to all mechanics a couple years back saying that they didn't want anyone messing with the clusters outside of the dealership because of security numbers or something. So if you can't fix your cluster, this was just a little information, but hopefully you can fix it on your own.

 

SH*T... i'll make my own lights if it costs that much... my gauges work. it's just my lights that dont come on.

 

The lower half of my speedometer 0 to roughly 90 doesn't light up. Do these have LCDs and replacable or bulbs. I read somewhere they used LCDs and you can't replace them. What is the real story here?

Thanks...

 

I couldn't tell you man. But when i rip my cluster out tonite i'll let you know. I think that OUR cars have only led bulbs because we dont have the LCD screen in the middle like the slightly newer than 96, A4's. I know those screens are a Sh*itload to replace which is i think whatSkunk was referingwhen he said it'll cost a grand. But i could very well be wrong.