Has anyone had any exerience replacing/fixing the license plate lights? I have the replacement light covers and bulbs but one of the screws that holds the cover is stripped and seized and the other one was seized so I tried to unscrew it with a pair of vice grips and the screw head broke off. I really want to get the entire assembly off of the trunk so that I can try to work on it but I have no idea how to remove my trunk liner and get the assembly out.

Any help is greatly appreciated!! Thank You!!!

[IMG]local://upfiles/51713/C2007E6AD65C4A628EC49D4ADF99C9EE.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/51713/00C0C2CA9C88431CA4208328A36FB939.jpg[/IMG]

 

Hmm I seem to remember someone on AZ talking about how they bought 2 new lenses, and then just cracked the clear plastic and used the vice grips to get the screw out. Now since you broke the head off it might be abit tougher, but I think there would be enough room.

You could also try to dremel out a slot and use a flat head screwdriver, but there probably isnt enough room on the screw to do that without the head.


When I had that problem, I drilled mine out, used a screw extraction kit. Once you get them out, you can get LED's!

https://www.audiforums.com/m_503304/.../tm.htm#503304

 

May need to drill the screws out. I stripped one of mine too! Its easy to do as the metal is quite soft.

Good luck,

boy412

 

Thanks for the info. I was able to have someone help me get the trunk liner out today so this weekend I am going to take that whole piece off to work on it. I am going to try drilling out the screws but I didn't want to do that with it still attached to the trunk. I am kind of worried that I will need to replace the whole assembly due to corrosion on the electrical contacts. I have cleaned them up a bit but won't know until I try!

vtecgreen, did you get your LED's from www.superbrightleds.com? Do any of the major retailers (autozone, etc...) carry them?

 

Those bulbs are pretty specialized. I got mine from 42 Draft Designs. Its a 14.5v 39mm "fuse" style bulb.

www.42draftdesigns.com

They say on their site it isn't recommended for B6 Audi's, but most people that have used them report success. I asked the company about this and they were very friendly and helpful. n fact they would like to hear feedback from people who have tried them in their cars...what works, what doesn't, etc.

The bulbs are slightly longer than the factory bulbs, which requires a little stretching of the retaining clips. Once they're in correctly I had no problems, and the look is trick.

Good luck,

boy412

 

I just did my wifes lights. Exact same problem. Fairly useless to try to save the lenses. Buy a new one and then you will have to drill out the screw that broke off. The plastic surrounding the screw is pretty tough. If you get it too hot from drilling it will melt and bond to the screw and makes it a PIA to get out. What I ended up doing was drilling out a bit of the plastic surrounding the screw enough to get a good grip with a pair of needle nose pliers. Then I heated the screw up with the tip of my soldering iron. I got that screw good and hot then yanked out the screw while turning to unscrew. The body of the bulb holder was a little corroded, but it did clean up quite well. I put a little terminal protector inside and on the contact points, and put in the new bulb. Then you may have to make a little adjustment to the contacts, bend them and such for the new bulb, but I had minimal problems to get them to work. I didn't take the whole unit out because it just looked to involved after I removed the trunk liner and saw what was required.

Good Luck.

 

I did get mine at superbrightleds.com - and I like them because I can get 6LED bulbs. The 4LED's are alright, the 6LED are bright!

You probably wont be able to find these at any autozone/advance etc. Thats why I use Superbright, I have used their bubls for years, and they work pretty well. Every once in a while you will get a Dud, or one that goes out quickly, but usually not a problem, they are only $5 so order some extras.

Plus they are in STL, so shipping is really fast

 

In case anyone searches and finds this thread, I had the same problem, broke the head off one of the screws when trying to replace a burned out bulb.

For future reference, www.genuineaudiparts.com sells the lens, bulb and screw as a set for $10. Just search for "License lamp" right or left. It was the only way I could find the screw, and I wanted the lens anyway. Didn't need the bulb but for $10 thought it was worth having a spare.

Hope this helps someone.

 

needlenose. try to grab the stripped screw with neeldenose and just twist it. saves the trouble of taking apart the trunk. I have the 9led ones they are bright enough to light the floor.
9 led next to 6 led

 

The dog looks pretty cool.