Posts: 57
Joined: 4/29/2004 From: United States Status: offline
Has anyone had problems with the contacts of the front directional units corroding/burning to the point where the bulbs won't flash? I've cleaned both the bulb holder contacts and the contacts in the headlight bucket several times, but they've gotten worse. The metal looks like it's been overheated and some of the surrounding plastic is actually scorched. Too much current draw for the contact material to handle? There are no TSBs on the subject that I can find. My Q has 164K miles. Anyone?
Posts: 2660
Joined: 5/25/2003 From: United States Status: offline
Just a thought (and not a very good one admittedly), but with 164K miles, the contacts may have reached their usable life. If they've been subjected to a lot of "on" time during those 164k miles, they may have slowly overheated. The corrosion is another issue. Bear in mind that if some of the area is corroded and cannot conduct well, then the remainder will have to bear the full load of heat dissipation. That greater concentration of heat could contribute to the problem as well. I know this doesn't resolve your question. Sorry. I'm just considering how it might have come about.
Posts: 57
Joined: 4/29/2004 From: United States Status: offline
You're probably right about the long-term effect of a hot contact imolas4. I've replaced the bulb holders which will prolong the life of the headlight housings a bit -- but they'll eventually need replacement. This is my fourth Audi and, up til now, I've been happy with the improvement Audi has made in the dependability of their electrics in this '99.
I became convinced auto manufacturers sometimes take cost savings too far after a Ford Taurus I once had fused the wiring behind the headlight switch. Turns out that the car had no headlight relay and headlight current was being drawn through 16 guage wire to the switch. The local Ford dealer sold me a replacement connecter with 10" of wiring harness that I could splice in to cut out the melted stuff! Wonder how much they saved in relays through a production run.
Recently I have been noticing that my indicator has worked some times and not others. I decided to take out the plug and found that one of the pins appears to have "exploded" or coroded. I need a replacement part, but I havn't had much success. The part looks to be made by Hella, the writing on it says "PA6GF30" along with "DOT 24/2,2co" Can anyone tell me where I can find one or what the part number is?
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Front directional problem on '99 A6Q - 
