# weird orange rear brake light warning



## audilover88 (May 5, 2017)

i was driving back from manchester yesterday and a weird orange light came on the dash and said 'rear light check' or something equivalent with a orange logo. Haven't been able to find the image through google it showed, but i was at a petrol station just as it happened, so filled up with petrol, turned the car off and on and the light went from the dash and has not occurred again. I checked all my lights and only one I can see not working is the brake light..what car bulbs do these take and where is the cheapest for a decent one?


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## SwissJetPilot (Apr 27, 2014)

Your owners manual lists the errors, and if a bulb is blown, all the bulbs you need.

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1609466&p=8342042&hilit=bulbs#p8342042

.


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## audilover88 (May 5, 2017)

well had my mechanic mate out and oddly none of the lights have gone or faulty..so am blagged as to how this has happened..he said maybe the bulb failed but is working now perhaps..will have to just keep an eye out for it i guess


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## Rouju (Mar 6, 2011)

Mine was doing this last week too


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## Zombie (Jul 8, 2015)

There is a known problem with the earth pin in light connector , there is a mod for this have a search for 'rear light problem' at the moment a lot of pictures are missing.

There are other options but not guaranteed permanent. Or have a look at this recent thread

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1613162

HTH


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## Andrew9758 (Feb 20, 2017)

This video shows how to cure the earth pin situation


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## robbiepepper (Apr 4, 2017)

yup. almost certainly earthing pin problem, mine comes and goes but usually when I have all my rear lights on :x


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## audilover88 (May 5, 2017)

Hi guys wondering if you could help, so the mechanic who is my friend came out yesterday, checked all lights and said they were fine (no warning light) I have a pic of it this time and he said maybe the light failed but started again?
Anyway driving to work today and it says 'rear brake light' and then had a orange warning symbol.
I got a picture of it this time, wheres cheapest to get the bulb..could this be a faulty electrics issue? Does audi cover this? My car is a 14 plate but has about 1 month warranty left.


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## MarksBlackTT (Nov 29, 2016)

audilover88 said:


> Hi guys wondering if you could help, so the mechanic who is my friend came out yesterday, checked all lights and said they were fine (no warning light) I have a pic of it this time and he said maybe the light failed but started again?
> Anyway driving to work today and it says 'rear brake light' and then had a orange warning symbol.
> I got a picture of it this time, wheres cheapest to get the bulb..could this be a faulty electrics issue? Does audi cover this? My car is a 14 plate but has about 1 month warranty left.


Hi, are you reading the previous posts that are telling you what the actual problem is? Constantly changing the bulbs doesn't solve the underlying issues unfortunately. :roll:


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## Zombie (Jul 8, 2015)

Show your friend/mechanic this thread and the links above.

Get the connector plug and bulb holder checked for the burnt pin.
(If you follow the link in my first response to you SwissJetPilot has added a photo of the burnt pin/plug)
If it is as we are guessing burnt,get your friend/mechanic to do the earth modification.Or take it to your warranty provider and get the pin and wire and bulb holder replaced under warranty.

HTH


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## SwissJetPilot (Apr 27, 2014)

I would agree that the "burn" indications seen in the picture below is most likely a combination of two events happening at the same time; (1) an over current situation where all five lights are operating simultaneously and pushing current through a single 18-gauge return ground and (2) a dirty or corroded contact between the male-female ground pins in the connector creating additional resistance and a "hot spot" which is sufficient to melt the plastic.

If this is the case, then yes, the alternate ground solution does makes sense. But I'd use a larger 12-14 gauge grounding wire and connect to the cleaner earth contacts inside the vehicle (trunk area) rather than an external ground which is more likely to corrode. And do this for both rear light assemblies at the same time.

Probably not a bad idea to clean the contacts once a year anyway, especially in wet, damp and salty environments where electrical contact corrosion is more likely.


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## C00P5TT5 (Jul 10, 2016)

My 2009 tts done this last year, I scratched at the contacts on the plug and all was well.... Then a year later it happened again, I'll be doing the YouTube fix soon


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## audilover88 (May 5, 2017)

hi guys am not sure if my car has got this..just it did it when i came back from manchester and says rear brake light..then disappeared..then it didnt do it again a while..then randomly today at work..turned car bck on lights coming strong for ages and quite a bit of driving..now its just gone? so not sure if its genuinely my rear brake lights or would the light stay on 24.7?


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## ashfinlayson (Oct 26, 2013)

@audilover88 It's throwing an intermittent fault because the connection is intermittent due to corrosion. Read the above replies for the fix


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## AndreiV93 (Mar 29, 2017)

Driving to work this morning, when I signaled right, I got the rear right indicator warning on the dash; when I braked, the rear right brake warning came on; and when I reversed, the reverse light warning...

So basically none of the lights on the rear right cluster work anymore [smiley=bigcry.gif] 
Will take it off this evening to check the plug and pins.
Would a burnt earth pin stop all the lights on that cluster from working or is it something else?


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## Zombie (Jul 8, 2015)

audilover88 said:


> hi guys am not sure if my car has got this..just it did it when i came back from manchester and says rear brake light..then disappeared..then it didnt do it again a while..then randomly today at work..turned car bck on lights coming strong for ages and quite a bit of driving..now its just gone? so not sure if its genuinely my rear brake lights or would the light stay on 24.7?


These are the exact symptoms of failing Earth

HTH


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## brittan (May 18, 2007)

AndreiV93 said:


> Would a burnt earth pin stop all the lights on that cluster from working or is it something else?


Yes and given the history of the burnt earth pin an obvious check to make.


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## Zombie (Jul 8, 2015)

AndreiV93 said:


> Driving to work this morning, when I signaled right, I got the rear right indicator warning on the dash; when I braked, the rear right brake warning came on; and when I reversed, the reverse light warning...
> 
> So basically none of the lights on the rear right cluster work anymore [smiley=bigcry.gif]
> Will take it off this evening to check the plug and pins.
> Would a burnt earth pin stop all the lights on that cluster from working or is it something else?


Have a look at the relevant fuses but yes sounds like earth pin Failure.

HTH


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## AndreiV93 (Mar 29, 2017)

brittan said:


> AndreiV93 said:
> 
> 
> > Would a burnt earth pin stop all the lights on that cluster from working or is it something else?
> ...


OK - wasn't sure whether it would stop some of the lights from working or all of the lights; will check it this evening and report back.



Zombie said:


> Have a look at the relevant fuses but yes sounds like earth pin Failure.
> 
> HTH


Thanks for the suggestion. Will check fuses too just in case.


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## audilover88 (May 5, 2017)

hi have sent this ot my mechanic who says he knows how to fix it...will check back on this shortly..

can i ask guys is there any cause of this occurring? i only bought my car a few months ago u see and am quite pissed off about it..is it age related or poor electrical maintaince etc..just my car is only 3 years old..surely this shouldnt happen?


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## AndreiV93 (Mar 29, 2017)

Think it's just bad design; the earth connection can't handle so many bulbs, so I guess it just goes eventually?

My rear right lights stopped working completely this morning. Just took it apart and saw the damage :lol: it's practically fried!


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## bhoy78 (Oct 30, 2014)

audilover88 said:


> hi have sent this ot my mechanic who says he knows how to fix it...will check back on this shortly..
> 
> can i ask guys is there any cause of this occurring? i only bought my car a few months ago u see and am quite pissed off about it..is it age related or poor electrical maintaince etc..just my car is only 3 years old..surely this shouldnt happen?


It's one of the common faults, not had it yet myself but assume it will happen at some point


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## Zombie (Jul 8, 2015)

audilover88 said:


> hi have sent this ot my mechanic who says he knows how to fix it...will check back on this shortly..
> 
> can i ask guys is there any cause of this occurring? i only bought my car a few months ago u see and am quite pissed off about it..is it age related or poor electrical maintaince etc..just my car is only 3 years old..surely this shouldnt happen?


It's seems it is a bad design,there have been many threads some people have challenged the Audi dealers and it's alway the first case they've ever heard of ! LOL 
Hence some one came up with the unofficial earth mod.The thread is in this forum somewhere, thanks to them as I did the mod when mine failed.


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## brittan (May 18, 2007)

There does not seem to be any specific or common age of the car for if/when this problem arises. My Mk2 RS was about 6 years old when I finally got round to checking for earth pin burning and both sides were perfect.

I did the extra earth mod anyway as a precuation and used the earth points in the boot.


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## Zombie (Jul 8, 2015)

AndreiV93 said:


> Think it's just bad design; the earth connection can't handle so many bulbs, so I guess it just goes eventually?
> 
> My rear right lights stopped working completely this morning. Just took it apart and saw the damage :lol: it's practically fried!


Yours probably is a burnt earth pin :mrgreen:  :mrgreen:

That is really bad.


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## AndreiV93 (Mar 29, 2017)

Zombie said:


> Yours probably is a burnt earth pin :mrgreen:  :mrgreen:
> 
> That is really bad.


Yes, think it might be :lol:

Would the new earth mod still work on mine? I'm going to Audi tomorrow morning to show them the pictures and have a moan; If I can't convince them to do it for a reasonable price, I will do it myself; the only thing I'm worried about is fitting a new wire connector - is that a lot of hassle?


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## Zombie (Jul 8, 2015)

AndreiV93 said:


> Zombie said:
> 
> 
> > Yours probably is a burnt earth pin :mrgreen:  :mrgreen:
> ...


Yes it would work.

It's an easy mod if you have the tools (drill,wire crimpers,multi meter) you could do with out the multi meter but it's good to check the earth point. I purchased the wire and connectors and the two bolts (about £8) 20-30 mins per side

HTH


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## Zombie (Jul 8, 2015)

If you go down the Audi route, I would be interested to know the cost ?

They will not do the mod but instead replace the bulb carrier and plug. Like for like.

So will/might go again at some point.


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## AndreiV93 (Mar 29, 2017)

Yes will just pop to Audi as it's not too far away and see what they say. I know they'll just replace the parts like for like, but I'd rather have that badly burnt out plug replaced, and I'll probably end up doing the mod anyway. I'll let you their quote.

What did you connect the earth wire to? Not the bulb carrier side, the other side.


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## TT-driver (Sep 14, 2010)

That's a nice toasty plug there. Care for some ketchup with plug sir?

Ground points: either the bumper carrier bolts if you don't want to touch any of the car's wiring or plugs. Or pass a wire along the factory loom through the rubber stop and connect to the earth point on the inside of the car, just under where the light unit sits. The trick is: bypass that plug. The original earth point inside the car is good enough.


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## Zombie (Jul 8, 2015)

I used the ones in side the car in the boot/trunk.
If you do it and have trouble post and I'll take some photos


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## audilover88 (May 5, 2017)

Hey guys mechanic come out today looked at the plug which I attached pic of and he says it's fine. Checked cables and said they fine he did clean all connections though and he said this what I have is not what's on this thread and he deems its a faulty bulb. Where's the cheapest place to buy a bulb?


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## tttony (Dec 21, 2014)

"Where's the cheapest place to buy a bulb? "

The rear bulbs are cheap anywhere and so it's not worth shopping around. Pop into your local Halfords or any car accessory shop.


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## AndreiV93 (Mar 29, 2017)

Surprised it's actually only a bulb for once! :lol: I'm still waiting to hear from Audi...

For bulbs, I usually use ABD.
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk


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## Nettleham TT (Dec 12, 2017)

Thanks for the advice above. Useful link


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## Anakin (Apr 19, 2011)

Was it me, telling you you were going to slow ?


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