starfish190e

Hi peeps! I have been looking for a while at replacement rear lights because some of the LEDs have failed in mine, I gave up and decided to remove the lens and take a look myself. So far I have discovered the correct solvents to unseal the lens from the housing and removed it, cleaned it up and started testing the LEDs on the 6 PCBs inside, managed to source new LEDs and remove the old ones from the boards and tested the remaining contacts/LEDs. Now this is not an easy job by any standard but so far will save me a large chunk of cash given that I can do it myself but I do not recommend anyone try this themselves due to the nature of the solvents involved in removing the lens so if I manage to get a good seal after fixing these would anyone be interested in having theirs refurbed?

I know it's a bit late but here's a solution. If like myself you have AlfaOBD and an OBDLink sx you can read the steering angle sensor and see if it's in the right position. If it's not in the right position (0.00 at the straightest position) the the ABS/SRS/ESC won't work. I found mine had been messed with so I found no harm in trying to centre it myself while the new sensor was on the way (eBay btw). first start with the wheels straight ahead then remove the steering wheel (Not easy) then with alfaobd reading the angle sensor I removed the centre clock spring box (DO NOT OPEN, It'll jump out at you and you will never get it all back in), then I moved the gears/cogs until it read 0.00 and replaced the box. If like me you notice alfaobd jump the angle to something other than 0.00 then you'll have to do it again. when it is at 0.00 or near enough to it (I think 0.50 or -0.50) then you are good to go and replace it all, clear the steering codes that'll be in the system and go for a test drive. I recommend when putting the nut that holds the steering wheel on you use some loctite an make sure the bolt is tight, be careful when removing anything and put all the wiring back as it came off, charge the battery while doing this as it may take quite a while and if you can't do it I really recommend taking a break and trying to set it differently. As I found out I needed to set the angle to +9.00 because alfaobd reported it being -18.00 once I put the box back in, this solved the problem and read +0.50 when replaced. One last thing, if the ESC light comes up and brakes for you on one side of the vehicle (Thinking you are turning while accelerating over 20mph) then you need to do it again, as you can see it is very trial and error and I would recommend replacing the whole steering angle sensor/clock spring to avoid this issue, I only did this myself because I have immeasurable patience when it comes to stuff like this and I didn't want to pay £300/400 for the whole assembly when I can look and see if I can fix it. Lastly, it really might be worth it to get the assembly and fit from new because of the issues ahead but also because if you have any hair left after replacing just the clock spring and not the angle sensor (I suspect the sensor has become unplugged if alfaobd just says 0.00 at any angle) then you will certainly have less than when you started.