# DIY - The $17 LED License Plate Fix



## Pretarion (Jun 13, 2003)

For those of you that don't want to spend $35 -$60 on Led lights kits, and especially for the newer 2010-2011 year models that still throw error codes for the same LED kits, then this is proven to be error free for only $17. This DIY took about an hour to do on my 2011 Audi A3. I have been running this for approx 3 weeks without any error codes or burnt bulbs. The only issues are that the Equalizer gets pretty hot, so when you install it, be sure it does not have any contact with the plastic inside trim of the trunk liner. There is alot of open room inside the trunk for you to install. 

1. *Autolumination.com* is where I bought the LED's and resistor. 


2. You will need *two* of the *Super-High Powered 5050 36mm SMT 3 Chip Led Festoon Bulbs for $5.99 each*, located half way down the page. At that price, I bought a total of 4 bulbs so that I would have equal replacements in case one burned out.









3. You will need *one* of the *15-25 ohm 25 watt LED Load Equalizer for $4.99 each*, halfway down the page









4. Remove the hatch liner trim, by unscrewing the two Torx screws at the bottom of the inside of the trim. You then just simply pull the liner off the hatch. Certain spots will need some extra love as you pull harder. 

5. Locate the harness that powers the License plate lights. It looks like this...









6. There are four wires to the harness... Brown/Black, Brown, Brown/Grey, Brown 

7. You will use the supplied wire taps that came with the Equalizers. Tap into the *Brown and Brown/Grey* wires only. Be sure to peel back the OEM black tape on the wires to allow enough room for the taps. 









8. I did not take pictures of how I mounted the equalizer, but I will mention that the skeleton of the hatch has alot of open holes. What I did was use zip ties and weaved them around the skeleton of the hatch and wrapped them around the wires tight enought that they floated within the open space of the hatch so that the equailizer did not come in contact with metal or plastic. You can also use some thermal paste if you want to mount it to the skeleton. 

9. Reconnect the harness to the light module. Reinstall the liner and tighten the torx screws.

10. The results are crisp clean white LED lights without the error code in the MFD. (As some of you may say the lights look blue, it is only because of the stupid Texas plate being blue. I promise the light is pure white.


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## jowsley0923 (Oct 13, 2008)

very nice write up :thumbup:


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## NYCameron (Nov 17, 2010)

unrelated:
but I love the black and white display


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## zcspec (May 11, 2010)

lovely...thank you for the write up! On my Todo list.


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## Ultimatetaba (Feb 18, 2005)

:thumbup::thumbup: Great writeup.

And another :thumbup::thumbup: for the LED site. I've purchased a couple white LEDs for my interior air suspension gauges. That site provides cheap, good quality products, and ships real quick too


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## detour515 (Mar 11, 2011)

OP, How's your setup been running? Any problem so far?


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## Pretarion (Jun 13, 2003)

Running smooth. No codes, no burnt bulbs. Holding up just fine.


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## detour515 (Mar 11, 2011)

Pretarion said:


> Running smooth. No codes, no burnt bulbs. Holding up just fine.


Thanks for your write up. I installed mine yesterday and it works (Finally)! 

Here is a photo I wanted to share.









In case someone wants to know what's the inside of the tail gate looks like, here it is. The green circle is where the license plate harness located.


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## Pretarion (Jun 13, 2003)

That looks great! I hope the install was easy for you. Where did you mount the equalizer?


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## detour515 (Mar 11, 2011)

Pretarion said:


> That looks great! I hope the install was easy for you. Where did you mount the equalizer?


The installation was quite easy (of course with your instruction). The equalizer was suspended in the middle of the license plate harness cavity by a few zip ties. I was thinking of mounting it onto the frame for better heat dissipation but I am too lazy to go through all the trouble. The only thing I found tricky is to splice together the two different sized wires. I have to make a few adjustments so both wires will connect properly without cutting anything in half. This is a very fun DIY project with exceptional result.


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## Pretarion (Jun 13, 2003)

That is exactly what I did. I was going to mount it to the frame, but worried that the fascia would be pressed up against it and get hot, potentiallly melting the plastic. So I did exactly that, suspended it in the opening spaces. I did this mod on my 08 A4, got 3 years of it working perfectly. I expect this exact same result. I am glad you like the outcome.
Cheers!


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## detour515 (Mar 11, 2011)

Pretarion said:


> I did this mod on my 08 A4, got 3 years of it working perfectly.


Which part gave up after 3 years?


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## Bronco (Mar 3, 2011)

Sorry guys, I most likely missed something so I'll ask:

1. why do you show pictures of the instrument panel / dashboard ? Just to show no error codes or is there a change in instrument lighting as well ?

2. What / where / why is the equalizer ?

Thanks in advance,


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## Pretarion (Jun 13, 2003)

detour515 said:


> Which part gave up after 3 years?


Actually, it was still working. I traded my A4 in after 3 years and got the A3 that is represented in this DIY. So, nothing ever stopped working.


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## Pretarion (Jun 13, 2003)

Bronco said:


> Sorry guys, I most likely missed something so I'll ask:
> 
> 1. why do you show pictures of the instrument panel / dashboard ? Just to show no error codes or is there a change in instrument lighting as well ?
> 
> ...


Instrument pics are exactly what you said... to prove no dash error codes when the lights are on.

The equalizer is used to trick the ecu from thinking the bulb is burned out. LED's use a very low current and when you install them in our vehicles, the brain of the car thinks there is a bulb out, so it will throw a code in your instrument display. The equalizer changes the current from the bulb to the ECU and will prevent the code from happening.


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## Bronco (Mar 3, 2011)

Pretarion said:


> Instrument pics are exactly what you said... to prove no dash error codes when the lights are on.
> 
> The equalizer is used to trick the ecu from thinking the bulb is burned out. LED's use a very low current and when you install them in our vehicles, the brain of the car thinks there is a bulb out, so it will throw a code in your instrument display. The equalizer changes the current from the bulb to the ECU and will prevent the code from happening.



Sorry man, silly me. I just went back to look at your DYI and realized the equalizer is actually the resistor.

Thanks for your reply, and my compliments on your DYI and the results. Cheers,


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## AzNPuLSe (Nov 20, 2006)

Do you know if this equalizer will work with these lights? http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-A3-Quattro-2.0T/Lighting/License_Plate/ES1899488/

I just installed them in hopes it would be a safe upgrade but it looks like I may need to order a fix for it.

Audi A3 2010


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## Pretarion (Jun 13, 2003)

Those lights have a built-in resistor, so my wiring technique would not work with those. Most of those types of plug-in lights wont work with our cars, even if they say Error Free.


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## rawaudi (May 15, 2010)

AzNPuLSe said:


> Do you know if this equalizer will work with these lights? http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-A3-Quattro-2.0T/Lighting/License_Plate/ES1899488/
> 
> I just installed them in hopes it would be a safe upgrade but it looks like I may need to order a fix for it.
> 
> Audi A3 2010


I thought someone on here had those and hasn't had any issues with them. XsmurfX or NYCameron.....


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## 3waygeek (Jan 21, 2010)

The ECS bulbs didn't work on my 2010 A3 TDI -- they lit, but threw a bulb-out code.


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## Pretarion (Jun 13, 2003)

rawaudi said:


> I thought someone on here had those and hasn't had any issues with them. XsmurfX or NYCameron.....


Those seem to only work on the prefacelift cars, not the 09+


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## degraffb (Jan 30, 2011)

You guys should look into using these bulbs instead of the LED type http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polarg-M28-...ies&vxp=mtr&hash=item230a6abf09#ht_4189wt_986. 
I have a 2009 A3 and installed these. Looks just like the LED type and took two minutes to install and there are no error codes as they aren't LED. I'll try to throw a pic up for you guys to see what they look like.


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## cldub (Jul 2, 2010)

rawaudi said:


> I thought someone on here had those and hasn't had any issues with them. XsmurfX or NYCameron.....


I have them on my '06, no bulb out errors










They look crazy bright in this picture, when in person they aren't


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## degraffb (Jan 30, 2011)

cldub said:


> I have them on my '06, no bulb out errors
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I might be the pic but I think the brightness of the replace bulb I have look great and there is no worrying at all if they'll work on the 2009+ Here's a pic







[/url] Number plate lights by degraffb, on Flickr[/IMG]


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## cldub (Jul 2, 2010)

degraffb said:


> I might be the pic but I think the brightness of the replace bulb I have look great and there is no worrying at all if they'll work on the 2009+


That's about how mine look, its a soft white


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## jpnA3 (Jan 22, 2012)

*HELP!!!*

I recently received my led bulbs and tried to install them, but they didn't work, so I tried installing the original bulbs back and now THEY don't work neither!! Would this DIY process help fix the issue? Please help!


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## krazyboi (May 19, 2004)

jpnA3 said:


> I recently received my led bulbs and tried to install them, but they didn't work, so I tried installing the original bulbs back and now THEY don't work neither!! Would this DIY process help fix the issue? Please help!


 did you check fuses?


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## jpnA3 (Jan 22, 2012)

Fuses are absolutely fine.


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## C3MH. (Jan 26, 2010)

I have these LED plate lights running on my 09 with no problems and no modifications


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## PSundara (Jun 12, 2012)

This mod is awesome! Just did this for my 2010. This is one of the only mods that will work on a 10.


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## Pretarion (Jun 13, 2003)

Thanks for the support. I am glad it worked for you. 
Cheers!


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## beckermanex (Jan 25, 2011)

C3MH. said:


> I have these LED plate lights running on my 09 with no problems and no modifications


 Same here on my 2008, just took off four screws, put the bulbs in, a little electrical tape to keep them from moving as the heatsink seems to make them very top heavy and swivel and 5 minutes later, voila!  

Sorry for the crap picture


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## naudia4 (Sep 22, 2007)

A resistor with a little bit higher resistance might have been a better choice. Perhaps a 5W 30ohm would have been sufficient and not have produced as much heat. You would be surprised how much heat those little resistors can put out. Just make sure it is not touching any plastic or anything.


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## jetta8vwolfsburg (Jul 2, 2001)

yes that is one thing i wanted to ask, how to reduce the heat of the led bulbs because it cause mine to burn out but i didnt get a code cause the built in resistors where still working fine. just the led part that burnt out. so getting a resistor?


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## SoSoA3 (Sep 10, 2012)

Thanks op, I'm going to try this. I'll post pics when I'm finished


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## SoSoA3 (Sep 10, 2012)

Ok got my bulbs and load equalizer couple days ago and decided to install them today. The load equalizer gets super hot I'm afraid its going to burn something...I mean like super hot! I zip tied it so it's not touching anything and just suspended but still I worry. 

Here are the pics: 
























Not sure why the bulb color comes out blueish in the pictures but its actually a white color like the second picture


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## Pretarion (Jun 13, 2003)

^^^ 

Looks great. 

I know you are concerned with the heat. I have had these on my A3 for quite some time now without any issues of burning, melting or smells of burning plastic. As long as you suspended them in the open skeleton, you will be fine. The one thing I do is limit when I use my lights to minimize the amount of time that the bulbs and resistors are on. Although, I have been on a 4 hour drive down to Houston in the middle of the night and had no problems with them being on continuously. 

Cheers 
Glad it turned out wicked white. 

T


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## SoSoA3 (Sep 10, 2012)

Pretarion said:


> ^^^
> 
> Looks great.
> 
> ...


 That's good to hear! I was thinking of doing some heat insulating wrap or something, just for piece of mind.


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## Pretarion (Jun 13, 2003)

What I would recommend is drive around for about a few weeks to see if you see any signs of concerns. You can always take off the cover and be sure there is no melting or other issues. The heat wrap would be a good idea, but I just feel that I don't want anything touching and smothering the resistor.


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## DanTMWTMP (Feb 12, 2016)

*Any other ideas?*

2013 Audi A3 2.0T

I did this mod, and it still didn't work. Now instead of staying on with an error, the LEDs turn off after a few seconds + error.


Any other ideas? I've tried so many different brands with canbus, and hoped the load resistor mod would finally get rid of it. Instead, now it just shuts off + error. ARG.


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## Pretarion (Jun 13, 2003)

Try reversing the connections of the LED. Most bulbs are specific on power and won't work if they are installed reversely. I am not sure why it is not working. Everything should work. Did you get the same equalizer?


DanTMWTMP said:


> 2013 Audi A3 2.0T
> 
> I did this mod, and it still didn't work. Now instead of staying on with an error, the LEDs turn off after a few seconds + error.
> 
> ...


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