sixto -

I might be able to help you on this one. Can you email me a high-res image of the board (both sides) via PM? I've done some transistorized circuit board design from scratch, and have built them, both as a hobby.

If you are talking about one of the smaller cylindrical items between the buttons, you are looking at resistors (the ones eith the colored bands) and reddish items that seem to be diodes, not capacitors.

Often you will find a protective coating on the either one or both sides of a board, covering all components. It is brownish in color, and can form drops. The components you are looking at do not contain any liquids.

The wire jumpers you see (the wires spanning different holes, with no purpose but to form a connection) can have bad solder joints, and are much harder to get right than the components, because the solder has a harder time sticking to them. You might want to start messing with those. The good news is that though they are a pain, they won't damage by heat. I have found one bad connection of this type on my cruise control unit.

Again, send me a high res of both sides, and I see what I can figure out.

HB

__________________
Henry Bofinger
1989 560 SEL (black/black)
2001 Audi TT Roadster (silver/grey)