Rear brake LED strip repair / replacement?

[gavsta2k5]

Hi all, my rear LED brake light strip on the boot lid has a couple of LEDs out. Has anyone ever had a go at fixing these? Is it possible?

Vehicle is C230 CDI 2005.

Has anybody tried the cheap alternative aftermarkets on Ebay etc?

Thanks

 

[Craiglxviii]

Hi all, my rear LED brake light strip on the boot lid has a couple of LEDs out. Has anyone ever had a go at fixing these? Is it possible?

Vehicle is C230 CDI 2005.

Has anybody tried the cheap alternative aftermarkets on Ebay etc?

Thanks

Gav,

hi there.

it's a sealed unit. Fixing it is possible yes. If you're a competent LED electronics engineer you could give it a go, but only if you know which LED (specific part no.) is fitted to that lamp. To give you a clue, MB won't tell you but it will be made by Osram.

I wouldn't recommend an aftermarket unit as it will not be homologated to that car, you will be modifying the car and risk invalidating your insurance should there be any question of the 3rd brake lamp working in a manner even slightly out of tolerance to the part the car was released with.

How much is the correct part from, say, MB Newcastle's eBay shop?

 

[onefortheroad]

bout 60 quid at MB AFAIK. comes with new gasket .

 

[umblecumbuz]

I had three led's out on my high level brake light. I took it apart and found that they are wired in banks of three or six. Tried to repair with replacements and failed - I am not good with electrics.
In the end I just bought a new light - it fitted easily. Problem solved. It is not an Mot failure, but I just didn't like the missing strip.

Umble

 

[Craiglxviii]

I had three led's out on my high level brake light. I took it apart and found that they are wired in banks of three or six. Tried to repair with replacements and failed - I am not good with electrics.
In the end I just bought a new light - it fitted easily. Problem solved. It is not an Mot failure, but I just didn't like the missing strip.

Umble

Umble, it's not that you aren't good with electrics (well, not only ) but that you'll need to ensure you have exactly the same LED being used as a replacement. MB won't tell you what it is- hell, Valeo or Lumax or whoever probably won't tell MB what it is- so unless you can identify the part from experience and ID marks, you'll be stuck.

 

[Blobcat]

I wonder if it's LED's failing or breaks in the connections / dry joints. I'd strip it down and go over all the joints, but I was an electronics engineer by trade

 

[Craiglxviii]

Highly likely to be either dry solder joints or tin whiskers causing shorts.

Automotive LED component failure rates from Osram Opto are running at about 0.0001% and that's been stable for the last half-decade or so now. Still, at 1.3 million cars with 30 red LEDs on them, that becomes around 40 individual LED failures for this year alone.

 

[gavsta2k5]

I had three led's out on my high level brake light. I took it apart and found that they are wired in banks of three or six. Tried to repair with replacements and failed - I am not good with electrics.
In the end I just bought a new light - it fitted easily. Problem solved. It is not an Mot failure, but I just didn't like the missing strip.

Umble

How much did you pay? Is it MB or after market?

 

[Craiglxviii]

How much did you pay? Is it MB or after market?

For £30 why bother going for a cheapo replacement?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-...-Class&hash=item41ad40d07c:g:vi4AAOSwSclXLCif

Google is your friend.

 

[gavsta2k5]

For £30 why bother going for a cheapo replacement?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-...-Class&hash=item41ad40d07c:g:vi4AAOSwSclXLCif

Google is your friend.

Do you think that is a genuine part coming from China for that price off Fleabay?

 

[Craiglxviii]

OK, £14.61 then.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-...D-BRAKE-LIGHT-LAMP-A-2038200456-/272372859529

Go and look for your parts, they're all out there and you learn more by digging through some adverts than just buying a cheapo aftermarket bit.

 

[gavsta2k5]

OK, £14.61 then.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-...D-BRAKE-LIGHT-LAMP-A-2038200456-/272372859529

Go and look for your parts, they're all out there and you learn more by digging through some adverts than just buying a cheapo aftermarket bit.

That one does appear genuine, thanks for the help!

 

[Craiglxviii]

That one does appear genuine, thanks for the help!

When I bought my CL I had problems with the driver's seat. I went and got stuck into the UK breakers, spoke to them, used their request-for-quote websites and had some really good finds (full driver's seat for £70).

If I'd gone to MB and just asked for a new seat I wouldn't have learnt half of what I did about the car.

One thing I do know though is, cheap aftermarket replacements only very, very rarely make financial sense to fit. Almost all of the time they are a false economy, especially where safety and visibility are concerned.

 

[umblecumbuz]

How much did you pay? Is it MB or after market?

Genuine MB - about £30 from memory. Easy to replace.

Mine's a S204, and I found, when I got the strip out, that there was corrosion along all the led connections.
At first I put this down to the fact that the strip also contained the rear screenwash nozzle, but after closer examination I am now sure that regular pressure washing did the damage. The seal is a poor one.

Umble.

 

[gavsta2k5]

Sound advice. I will get around to swapping it soon. Thanks all.

 

[David minnikin]

Gav,

hi there.

it's a sealed unit. Fixing it is possible yes. If you're a competent LED electronics engineer you could give it a go, but only if you know which LED (specific part no.) is fitted to that lamp. To give you a clue, MB won't tell you but it will be made by Osram.

I wouldn't recommend an aftermarket unit as it will not be homologated to that car, you will be modifying the car and risk invalidating your insurance should there be any question of the 3rd brake lamp working in a manner even slightly out of tolerance to the part the car was released with.

How much is the correct part from, say, MB Newcastle's eBay shop?

these are my 2 rear LED brake lights and I feel £200 for each unit is absolutely disgusting. It's a sealed unit on my 13 plate a200 and i might have a go at replacing leds if anyone can advise how to get into sealed unit without breaking it

 

[EmilysDad]

View attachment 44899 View attachment 44900 these are my 2 rear LED brake lights and I feel £200 for each unit is absolutely disgusting.

That doesn't sound too bad to me considering a tail light for my Smart Roadster was around £90 a few years ago.
If it's any consolation, when I told an Aston Martin driver he had part of his tail lights out he already knew but wasn't prepared to give Aston over £400 for a replacement ..... there again if you can afford an Aston

It's a sealed unit on my 13 plate a200 and i might have a go at replacing leds if anyone can advise how to get into sealed unit without breaking it

What's the worse that can happen .... you could end up with a tail light that needs replacement

 

[Xtractorfan]

View attachment 44899 View attachment 44900 these are my 2 rear LED brake lights and I feel £200 for each unit is absolutely disgusting. It's a sealed unit on my 13 plate a200 and i might have a go at replacing leds if anyone can advise how to get into sealed unit without breaking it

You could advertise for 'other' used lamps with leds that are shot, then remove some of the good leds and replace your blown leds.
Getting the lamp apart will be a big problem as most are plastic welded enclosed units. But you could experiment with the old or donor units.
A dremel with a fine cutting disc could be useful in getting the lens off. and plenty of fantastic glues out there to get it back together again.