A6 tailight

[dgraber460 at aol.com]

Our 05 A6 3.2 has been giving me fits for over a year now. The right rear tail light beeps a warning and ceases to function, leaving no right brake light or right side signal lights at all.
When this started over a year ago, I noticed all the bulbs were fine, and it would only occur after running about 10 minutes or when the rear of the car was in direct sun for awhile. Looking at the assembly I noticed a portion of the plastic housing around one bulb and next to the circuit board looked heat damaged and was cracked. I put some aluminum reflective tape over the crack but it didn't seem to make any difference. I next bought an LED bulb thinking it might burn cooler, but again no joy.
I then bit the bullet and bought a replacement from Chris Chambers, and when it arrived it showed the same plastic melting and cracking as my original. Very disappointed, I installed it anyway, and to my surprise it worked for awhile, but alas it has now also stopped working.
I seem to remember hearing that someone was able to re-solder the little circuit board or replace a component and achieve a successful repair. I can see no way to access the board without destructively removing it leaving the entire unit inop. 
Anyone with info or procedure to affect a cure short of buying a new (read very expensive) replacement?
TIA


Dennis 
Denver