Replace Individual LEDs in Tail Lights

[heinzboehmer]

I think this makes a bit more sense to me now. Are you saying: take the pliers at 90 degree angle to the face of the board, squish the LED from the side (don't touch the board) thereby breaking the LED itself but the 4 contacts for the LED will remain on the board. Then use hot air to remove / clean up any residual debris.

Is that it?

Yep! Exactly.

I would still try to get the first one off with hot air. But if you find yourself having to heat it up for an excessive amount of time, then just go the destructive route to avoid damaging the board.

[Casa de Mesa]

Yep! Exactly.

Something about a blind squirrel comes to mind.

Appreciate the tip! This is a next weekend project at this point but looking forward to getting the hot air station. The vids on YouTube are so interesting to watch and the damn algorithm keeps sending them to me I can't get anything done, lol

[Shonky]

Every PCB is different but if you have a scrap board of some type (an old motherboard might be good as it should have some decent power planes) I'd recommend having a bit of a practice to get a feel for it.

[tmast]

So as it turns out, you 100% can get into the taillights without cutting into them. However, the lens needs to first be separated from the housing.

If anyone is attempting this, I HIGHLY recommend removing your lens. The adhesive on both taillights I disassembled was very old and dry rotted. I suspect this will become a "routine maintenance" item for those with water leaking into their lights (or who want to preventatively address it) and not wanting to spend $750 per light as these cars continue to age.

I'll add to this DIY or maybe even do a separate one (how to disassemble LED taillight housings), as I took lots of detailed photos and went slow so as not to break anything. Which, in 20 year old plastic, is quite easy to do. I tested several techniques and went until I heard plastic cracking, then backed off. There is a way to get these apart without breaking a thing.

First post, and thank you to everyone in the thread!!

I would love this because i had to replace the entire last two rows of LEDs on my board (with the original method of cutting the back plastic), and I suspect it's because it was the dependent area where water accumulated because the seal is probably cooked. I don't think my repair will last too long if I go out into the rain. What would you use to seal it back up correctly? Clear silicone RTV?

For the sake of comparison, I was able to accomplish this repair with a cheapo hot air gun and solder paste. I was able to heat the solder up enough to get the old LEDs off, wicked off the old stuff, then put a dot of solder paste. I kept the board level and gently held the new LEDs in place with some angled tweezers while slowly heating. Solder flowed to where it needed to. So far so good on the bumpy roads here.