New avy?

 

Eff off.. we still have the sole ownership of that space

 

 

This week I am driving my son’s A3 while my A4 is in the body shop getting the impression of a Dodge Charger license plate removed from the rear bumper.

Things to fix:

- Noisy auxiliary fan
- Loose rear wiper arm
- Missing pins for cargo cover tray straps
- Right rear tail light out
- Figure out how to set the clock

 

@svtmike
For Cargo, I used some trim clips and just pushed into the holes...probably around 9 or 10mm ones.
Wiper arm being loose is odd...I can't imagine the nut is loose and if it was I can't imagine the corrosion not holding it in place.
Aux fan might just be noisy as hell...I remember mine sounded loud too.
All of the tail light bulbs had some issues when I bought it. Some were just bulbs, some were melted housing and had to solder and get creative. Forgot about that.
Clock set I can't recall...

 

Thanks cool rockstar!

The fan is whacked- it shakes the whole car when it is running. Got one for $48. The wiper arm should be fun to pull.

Hopefully the rear tail is just a bulb or two. It is only the running lights, not brake or turn signal.

Appreciate the info on the pins.

 

yeahh, there are a bunch of bulbs, some dual filament etc...
good thing is the whole assembly comes out IIRC...so you can solder or scrape away
melted plastic to rectify it very easily...or just a bulb, even better.
$48! Shiettt...I didn't find parts to be super expensive for that platform honestly...

If the wiper arm fights you , put a piece of rubber under it or duct tape that bitch...you don't want a shattered rear glass trying to manhandle it.

 

I have a puller. Shouldn’t be any stress on the glass.

 

I should get one...
I usually just grab one end and pull as hard as my little arms can.

 

Hopefully the wiper is an easy fix & not stripped splines or anything like that.

 

No, the splines are solid. I think the wiper arm was probably grabbed and bent maybe by a car wash. The slop is in the arm.

 

I read that sometimes a battery terminal puller does the trick. I ordered the puller with the arm. Think it was $20.

 

good stuff, thanks for the head
(s) up.

 

One of the rear tires got a hole in the shoulder. Getting it replaced now.

 

Doh. How did that happen? Drove over a nail?

 

Wish I knew. It's driving my OCD crazy to have one different tire, but the car drives fine. No way I was replacing all 4 because they are practically new.

Replaced all of the bulbs in the outer tails today. So easy. Once of the housings had a fair amount of water in it, will probably be replacing that one.

 

Also found the little plastic studs for the cargo cover straps on ECS Tuning.

 

This was the reason the old rear wiper arm was loose.

 

pretty easy and cheap to maintain this car, isn't it?

 

That's why I'm trying to NOT maintain it by letting it get swamped from flash storms.

 

I guess J used her key to open the Ody and held unlock too long...
we got back from her son's soccer practice and it was drizzling.
I thought of you.

 

#ConvinceFail

You know it rains a lot in the south.

 

I don't understand.

 

All easy so far. “Cheap” is a longer term assessment.

 

I guess relatively speaking, as well...
I'm telling you, I regret hocking mine.
It didn't put a ton of money back in the bank
and that thing was a hoot to drive.

 

Replaced both cooling fans. When the small one came on, the vibration shook the rear view mirror. But oddly, replacing just the small one didn't fix it. The big one had a chunk out of it, and once it was replaced the problem went away. Must have been some kind of weird interaction.

And now the right rear door lock actuator won't lock the door. It'll unlock, but not lock.

Bought VCDS so that I can pull the codes, but I have a feeling a new lock actuator is in my future. Doesn't look too bad to rip the door apart and replace it.

 

Did you post your question on the Audi forums by chance? I'm pretty sure other people may have run into this issue before?

 

No, he came to where he knew he'd find answers!
Those actuators are finicky!!! I replaced with non-oem because
I ain't made of money and my money tree is a sapling but I'd recommend
going oem on that. or leave it locked and unplug it and manually unlock it
when your son wants to let a buddy in.

I didn't delve too deeply but that's the one gripe I had with the car.
@svtmike

 

Zactly.

I do search the Audi forums as well. The OEM actuators are pricey but without them the central locking system is not super happy. The cheap replacements are really just plebeian replacement VW parts.

 

yeah, I can attest to that.
I regret that...locking was weird after that.
Half the time I accepted it was gonna stay unlocked.

 

So it seems the main culprit of not locking/unlocking is the cheesy little DC motor in the actuator.

I'm going to do the first replacement with a genuine Audi part even though it's costly. Then I'll take the old one apart (there are several guides to this, and it's an easy process), buy a cheep VW replacement part that lacks all the central locking system stuff and see if the motors are the same. If so, I'm covered for the next one.

 

Why not just take apart the old one, replace the motor and be done with it. If there's really a DC motor in there, there shouldn't be anything special about it.

 

Can’t find the motor anywhere. It is a particular form factor to fit the cavity in the actuator and mount the drive gear.

If it were a Toyota I could get it at Walmart.

Anyway I have super limited time and I only want to take the door apart once.

 

Horreeee shittt is that actuator +700?!?

 

My bet is you could gut a DC motor and fit it in the housing if it's a custom housing. Price on part is crazy.

 

No. $300.

 

There are a bunch of microswitches that could also be at fault.

I will pay the price once. Then I will have a core to play with and refurb at my leisure.

When the lock is working again all diagnostic codes will be clear on the car except the one confirming that we don’t have XM activated.

 

Ah.. yeah 300 is easy work. Good plan.

 

You have a code because you don't have satellite radio

 

It doesn’t light a light or anything. Just something VCDS reads. Possibly there so the dealer doesn’t forget to activate the demo on initial delivery.