jbszee

From time to time, my Left turn front signal bulbs appear to burn out. However, the bulbs are fine. Looking at the contacts on the bulb holder, I see black stuff on one of the contacts. Would indicate a short to me.
In the past I've just scraped that contact clean, and with a bit of judicious wiggling in the socket, gotten the signal to work.
Last week, same thing happened on the Right side. Again, pulled it out, black stuff on contact, scraped it off. But no amount of jiggling would bring the signal back to life.
A few days later, the same thing happened on the Left side.

So I have a couple of questions:

1. Is this the sign of a more systemic problem with the electronics systems?
2. I tried to remove the headlamp assembly to take a look at the contacts. I was not able to remove said assembly.
3. Any suggestions how to remove the assembly?
4. Is it necessary to remove the entire bumper (as recommended in some posts) to remove the assembly?
5. Any other suggestions????

2000 A6 Avant 2.8L
145,000 mi.

Just Me

contacts the bulb presses against? That would indicate an intermittent open (carbon deposition). Pls describe.

G

oilstain

Had an issue with my 99 Avant passenger turn signal. The long grey clip and the housing it snaps into had a little bit of damage. I was able to insert the clip the wrong way (so check that it is keyed, and that the keys are matching up)

The biggest problem was when I reassembled the clip into the housing, when I turned it snug, it went about a quarter of an inch too far and slipping off of the contact (unbeknownst to me at the time). That allowed the side marker light to work, but not the turn signal (dual filament bulb). By backing it out just a few degrees, I had full contact with both the marker and signal circuits.

Good luck!

jbszee

There is carbon deposition on the bulb holder, which comes out of the socket. Not on the contact to the bulb. I can only assume there is carbon on the mating contact within the assembly.
Can't get to that mating contact without removing the entire headlight/turnsignal assembly. Is that correct? or is there another way to access?

jbszee

I was able to get the Left side signal to work that way. Just tweaking the bulb holder until it made good contact.
However, I am no longer able to do that with either L or R signals.
Thanks for reply.

csm22

Had the same problem on my 99 C5; cleaned the carbon residue (from the arcing across the gap) on the contacts, then built the contact back up with a small blob of solder. Cleared the problem for several years up through when I sold the car.

Good luck!