I've searched this site for this fix and found nothing. 2001 A4 Avant instrument cluster has a dead LED for the MIL indicator. Screwed me up on inspection and found out my cats are toast...but that's a whole 'nother story.

Anyway, has anyone pulled the cluster apart and replaced the soldered in LED on the circuit board? Or would you just send it out to get replaced?

Actually, I am a little suspicious that the PO may have disconnected this function knowing the cats were bad...not sure if this is even possible. I know LED's last a very long time and one going out is questionable...especially if it is the MIL.

Anyone have a check procedure to see if the LED is actually bad to begin with?

 

Maybe someone blocked it with a black tape.

 

take the cluster out. open it up.

locate the MIL LED you suspect is bad. you can actually hook power to it. it will be a 3258 SMD LED. two tabs. Not to bad to solder on but you have to have skills.

 

Already pulled the cluster and checked before I wrote the first post. LED is not covered...just not working. They aren't bulbs, they are the LED chips soldered onto the circuit board...thats how this cluster is lit. Of course I can pull the whole thing apart and solder in a new LED chip, but was wondering if somehow the MIL circuit can be hacked....maybe from the ECU. Was wondering if anyone knew if it was possible and how to check.

I used to check the clusters on my Porsche with a 9v battery on the rear pins of the cluster. I will give it a shot on this one...thanks for the info.

 

just FYI you can't buy single 3528 SMD LEDs you need to either buy 100+ from china of find a light source that uses them and remove them. Its tougher than "just soldering one on" They are also glued. I think i tested with a 9v or a power supply.

 

Actually they are easy to remove and reinstall. I just removed my ebrake LED when I was replacing my LCD display a couple weeks ago. Mine weren't glued on. I just used a pair of tweezers and removed one side at a time. If you are thinking that the LED is still good I tested mine with a 12v battery while still attached to the board. It's the 12v battery you use with aftermarket key fobs or electric garage door openers. I picked up 5 off eBay for 2.99 or something like that. Just make sure you have the polarity right when testing as it will only work one way. I took the pair of leads from my multimeter and had someone take one end of each lead and make contact with the battery as I touched the LED with the other ends.



If the LED is burn out, you can try your local electronics store or here is a link to an eBay auction for 10 pieces. One side is notched so take note of the orientation when replacing the burnt out one.

10x PLCC-2 SMD LEDS SURFACE MOUNT BLUE PINK RED WHITE | eBay



A little pricy when you can buy 100 for the same price but who needs 100 LEDs. I guess you could re sell them.

Good luck. Doug

 

Thank you...will give it a shot.

 

Remove the cluster, take it apart, and remove the gauge face so you can see the MIL LED. With the gauge face off, put the cluster back in the car. Using your multimeter, test the contacts of the MIL LED and see if it's getting any voltage. When I found out my ABS LED wasn't working, I removed the gauge face and found that a previous owner had left the LED in place but had taken a drill to the part that lights up to prevent the ABS light from coming on. They are not glued on and are relatively easy to replace. And you don't have to use the LEDs mentioned above. I used a 12v LED to replace mine. The leads cause it to be about 1/8" off the board but there is more than enough room between the gauge face and the board.