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Hi there, I have just fitted a remote roof module in my 2006 A4 Convertible (actually it was to replace one that had partially stopped working after six years). The job requires the driver's side door card to be removed, so, forearmed by watching a YouTube video, I took their advice and bought a bag of 20 after-market door trim clips, as they are very likely to break during the removal. I bought these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08V88CZNS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 So, the job went well. I removed the door card (I hadn't done this before, as I wasn't the one who fitted the original module), removed the old clips (about half of which were broken) and then fitted and tested the module - all good. When it came to replacing the card, it unfortunately became clear that these are the wrong clips - the expanding end that fits into the metal of the door was a good couple of mm too small. I rechecked the listing and confirmed they were for an A4 (amongst a slew of other VAG types), so I'll be returning them. Unfortunately the listing gave a couple of measurements, but not the critical one. I've just ordered these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07C2TJKP3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ...which look like they'll fit. If they don't, other than going direct to Audi, does anyone have a link to a part that will fit, or a part number please? If they do fit, I will update this thread to confirm this. Thanks, Mike😎

I don't own an A3, but it sounds like you might have a gear lever linkage of some sort. Is the gear lever stuck in one position, or can you stir it about like a pudding?

I'd do that right away. If they're not willing to stand by their work, then you still have the expense of repairing the gearbox. To talk about 41k being 1k late and thereby not being under warranty is the mark of someone who knows they've screwed up, and have been searching the small print to see if they can avoid the consequences. Gits. Good luck - keep us informed. And make sure you never use that dealer again.

It's a beautiful day, with hardly a cloud in the sky, and already warm when I take the convertible out of the garage... Let's get all sweaty working under the bonnet, eh? 😆 Half an hour before commencing work, I'd given the wiper trim joint a fair spray of penetrating oil. I remove the battery cover, scuttle cover and pull the scuttle seal off. I then remove the two front screws on the ECU cover. Crouching down at the side of the car, I remove the trim clip and then try to see if the wiper trim has any 'give' in it. No joy. No matter. I remove the wipers and then gently l manually prise the wiper trim up to try to gain access to the rear driver's side screw. I have a wide selection of tools to try to do this, and it would have been easier if it had been a hex head bolt, as I could get good access at a slight angle. No good for a torx, alas. Eventually I pull the trim up as much as I dare and jam a small block of wood between it and the ECU cover... This gives me just enough room to get a tiny ratchet driver with a T30 bit square onto the screw. I can turn about 10 degrees at a time, but it's a fine tooth ratchet and makes short work of it. I then undo the other side and the slightly difficult back screws. So far this has taken me about an hour - but I'm taking my time trying not to damage anything. I juggle the cover about and get it off... ...to reveal the ECU, held in place not by bolts, but by a large spring clip. I'm pleased to see everything looks watertight and like new in this area. I undo the clip, carefully lift the ECU out of the way and there it is... ...relay 614. I pull it out (even access to do this is a challenge 🤦‍♂️) and have a look... As expected, it's the original fit in the car, and the contact blades are showing various degrees of corrosion. I spray a little contact cleaner into the sockets in the car. So, out with the old and in with the new. I wet the contacts on the new Herth relay with contact cleaner and wiggle it gently into place... Right - time to start reassembly. I replace the ECU and secure its spring clip, then clear all tools etc from under the bonnet, plug in my OBDeleven, open the App and start the engine. I do a full scan and find three faults: All three are Code 01304 - saying there's some problem communicating with the radio. I am expecting this, as I have an afterrmarket stereo fitted in the car. More importantly, it does NOT have a fault code 1314. The fix has worked. 😎👍 So - time to put it back together. Weirdly, it took very little time - the driver's side rear screw (which I'd put some rubber grease on, as it was a bit dry and rusty) went in finger tight until about a turn from set, the other screws also behaved themselves. I refitted the scuttle cover, seal and battery cover, then put a dab of copperslip on the wiper splines before refiittlng them. Time to take it out for a spin, I think... 😎

Well, first of all, you've got a really sh*tty dealer. Yours sounds like a cut and dried case, from your description. Did you pay with a credit card?

It certainly was! 😃

Good call - will do 👍 I've just found this (really low quality) YouTube of removing the ECU from a LHD S4. The ECU housing is on the opposite side from mine, but it shows the chap pulling the wiper trim up just enough to gain access to the screws - so this seems to be the way to go. Thanks, Mike 👍

Thanks Stevey, I was expecting it to come away easily (I could only find a single clip at the far left (as I was looking at it), but the trim disappears under both sides of the windscreen edge trim and I was reluctant to pull it too hard as it's quite thin plastic and I felt sure I must have missed a step, as it felt like it was glued in place along the bottom seal trim of the screen. If I can get it off, then undoing the screws will be easy. I can't believe how much effort I am going to without experiencing any symptoms 🤣😂🤣 I suppose it's because I feel the car (after the flywheel and clutch work) is now in tip top condition and this is the only fault stored... 🤦‍♂️ I'll report back, thanks again - and thanks for confirming what I though about the parts diagram. 👍 Mike 😎

Top tip - Having nearly been stranded when the remote for my motorbike's immobiliser failed, I now replace the batteries on the remotes for my cars when I get them MoTed...

So, I decided to have a look at the ringed black box above. Once you have removed the scuttle cover and the edge seal, it looks like this: I have already removed the two screws on the front edge (T30) and the one on the right of the picture - all these are easily accessible. Then we enter the dark side... Buried way back on the right back (as I face it) is another T30 screw, access to which is blocked by the wiper trim. I managed to get a short T30 bit in a ratchet drive in there and get it finger tight (after about 10 minutes), but it became clear there had to be another bolt somewhere, as the cover didn't want to budge... Dammit - how the hell do you get to that? Hey-ho - I remove the wiper arms (16mm) and undo the clips on the wiper trim panel - and reach a block. The trim panel seems to fit under the windscreen trim on both sides and all along the bottom of the screen... I can't see how to get the trim off and decide that I'll button everything back up and live to fight another day. After washing up, I go to my computer to find my mate Kev has sent me this pic as a guide: ...which confuses me further, as it shows a slightly different shape and a different screw pattern. I am aware, though, that sometimes these are generic drawings to cover a number of models, so maybe that's what's happening here. So - can anyone tell,me how to get the wiper trim off please? 🤔😆 Mike🤦‍♂️

OK, I have found another video, which shows the location of the relay panel is under the ECU. Since my car has a pollen filter where the YouTuber's ECU and panel is - I wondered if it changes depending on which side the steering wheel is... 🤔 The area ringed has a plastic housing, secured by screws hidden under the scuttle cover - is this the location of the ECU? Any help appreciated (couldn't get to the car to check today)... Mike😎

Watching the first video more carefully, the chap accesses a relay and fusebox on the left side of the car by the washer cap... Unfortunately, that space is occupied by the pollen filter on my car. I removed the scuttle cover and had a good hunt around, but can't find another location... 🤨

So - a fifteen minute job - or so I thought. I popped the crash panel off the driver's side of the dash, and then expected to see this: ...with Relay 614 on the far left of the row. What I actually saw, was this: ...a completely different layout of relays. Ignore the charger thing - it's a power supply for the GPS, put there because it was a convenient space. There is another row above this one, obscured slightly by cabling: ...but the 614 relay doesn't appear there either 🤨 There must be another relay box somewhere - I'm going to start Googling to find it - any advice appreciated. Thanks, Mike 😎

Since the sun was shining this morning, it seemed like an opportunity to have a short run to get a spot of breakfast... So I picked my mate Adrian up and headed over to The Goat Shed, which is a cafe added onto the side of a very high-end farm shop. The green welly count was high... 😆 The food was pretty expensive (you could have eaten for literally half the price at Wetherspoon's (😄), but of excellent quality. We both had the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) breakfast... ...which came with sourdough toast, which was excellent. If you happen to be in mid-Norfolk and want breakfast (or just look at goats - I'm not judging you), then give the Goat Shed a look. The car drove brilliantly. I had only previously noticed the juddering from the flywheel when pulling away from stationary, but it was clearly there throughout the drive - as the car feels as smooth as silk now... Mike 😎

Hi there, I bought myself an OBDeleven the other day, to code a new battery into my Škoda (what an age to be alive - coding batteries 😆). So naturally, I thought I'd plug it into the convertible this evening and see if there were any faults in the system. There were half a dozen, all but two of which were clearly quite old and cleared immediately (and didn't reappear). The first is a radio code - this is expected as I have an after-market stereo fitted. The other is an ECU code 1314 - intermittent. So, I have no symptoms and did a quick Google search and came across this chap's YouTube video, which basically says to pull and replace Relay No 614. Relay 614 is in the glowplug and fuel pump circuit. I'm tempted to replace, rather than pull and immediately replace the current relay (which is 16yrs and 103k miles old), with a new one. Any thoughts please? Thanks, Mike 🤔

I just thought I'd pop a solution post in here. As some of you may have read, I had the dual-mass flywheel and clutch replaced on the A4 this week. Since the old girl was going to have her insides hanging out, I discussed whether this might be an opportunity to replace the brake lines (to the front wheels). They agreed it would be very much easier to do with the car apart, so I had new cupro-nickel (reflareable) brake pipes fitted - and my braided HEL hoses fitted to the front calipers. Oh - and a fluid change for the clutch (natch) and the brakes. My paranoia is thus satisfied... 😆

Just got back with the old girl - what a transformation! Power take-up is now as smooth as silk (or - if it isn't - it's my fault 😆). I'm pretty sure they had the same poor tech working on the car for three days straight. I'm taking the techs a box of doughnuts in tomorrow to say thanks (and maybe a bottle of something for Kev, as they stood by their quote). The front brake pipes have been replaced with cupro-nickel, which can be cut and reflared if necessary; HEL braided hoses fitted to the front (the rears were done a while ago). An expensive job all told - just under £1300 including everything 😱 - but I don't think I could have got it done any cheaper (or better). It's clearly not worth doing if I wasn't planning on keeping the car, but I am. Thanks very much for all the great advice - especially Stevey Y for your excellent breakdown of the issues 😃 Mike

I dropped the convertible into Norwich Audi late yesterday (when I could get a lift back), and told them I was happy for them to have it for a couple of days if needed. My buddy Kev has just sent me the following pics, and tells me the jobs are going well...🤞😃

Hi Gareth, I'm afraid that any forum will have a proportion of posts where advice is given and nothing is heard from the OP again. I know how frustrating that can be if you've spent some effort diagnosing a fault for them and giving your advice - with no follow up. It's also a pain, because if someone has a similar problem and does a search, there's no information as to whether the diagnosis and advice were correct. For this reason - and because my Mum taught me to be polite 😃 - I always thank the individual(s) involved and post a follow up to the initial post. Regrettably, human nature means you'll - for a variety of reasons - have members who take without giving closure. Good luck with solving that one... 😆 Cheers, Mike

Well, reading your comment above, I wonder if you have an accurate idea of what your membership is looking for? I like driving my Audi, but I have no interest in motorsport, nor, I'm afraid, in attending club meetings. I joined the forum to learn more about my car and - who knows, in time - be able to give advice to others. The couple of motorcycle forums I frequent have free sign-up, but often have areas you can only access if you pay subs (often the free chat 'virtual pub' areas). As I mentioned earlier, I wouldn't start paying subs without knowing what level of knowledge was here on the forum, and how committed people were to helping members out. I could have posted my DM flywheel question and only got tumbleweed - unlike the excellent response I did get - you don't know until you ask and I think it's unlikely people will pay to find out... I think requiring people to pay subs before they can advetise is quite reasonable (although the For Sale section should be available to all, as it's in everyone's interest for it to be open). Perhaps restricting PMs (DMs?) to subscribers might work? I expect to be here for a while. I've received great information and been made to feel welcome, but I didn't and don't want to be a member of a club in meatspace. What is your ideal club member like? Do you think you are attracting them? I have a feeling I'm not the type you're hoping to attract... Mike🙂

Personally I'd be against having to pay to join to ask a question - I wouldn't have joined had that been a prerequisite. The nature of good forums I am a member of is that there tends to be a lot of experience built into the membership and - if you're new to a vehicle, or to a particular problem with a vehicle - it allows you to get advice free of charge. I always acknowledge advice I receive and make a point of posting follow-up news on how the solution works (or doesn't), but I recognise that some posters don't do this and just post and run. I think this is the nature of the internet, and I don't think it has changed suddenly. If you follow the path of 'subscribe before you get advice' - before you know how good or bad that advice is - then you'll see posts dwindle as you'll have thrown the baby out with the bathwater... Others will feel differently, I'm sure... Mike 🙂 ETA - I found this forum very welcoming and the advice (especially on my flywheel replacement) first rate.

The 'keeping your foot on the pedal when stopped' was the route BMW went down with my bike when they were trying to chase down the problem - and reading up on it, it's a genuine cause of disc warping. In the case of my bike it was different, but it sounds like a possible cause in your case...

So, Norwich Audi are getting the car next Tuesday and I've said I'd leave it with them for a couple of days, in case they run into any snags🤞😆. The work they've agreed to do: Replace the complete clutch, dual-mass flywheel, slave cylinder, plus the clutch arm (not expensive and 'whilst you're in there ' etc). They will also be replacing the front brake pipes (which I asked about in another thread), as access to them will be much easier with the car apart. They will supply: Clutch arm and pivot; fasteners as required (if not supplied with the kit) and the front brake pipes. I have ordered (and cross checked part numbers with the supplier👍 ) Sachs dual-mass flywheel and complete clutch kit; Sachs slave cylinder; I already have braided hoses for the front brakes. Now, I am a long time customer of Norwich Audi (over 30 years😱) and am good mates with a couple of the chaps there, so they always try to give me the best deal they can, although they've outdone themselves here 😃. They've quoted me four hours labour plus the parts they supply...😳 My parts cost: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334388783307?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 £409 inc delivery https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234452219546?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 £77 inc delivery The brake pipes are around £120 and the ancilliary clutch parts around £50. So, next week will be an expensive one, but - as I said earlier - this car is a keeper and it'll allow me to relax about what could be a major pain in the parts breakdown if I'd not decided to tackle it sooner. Many thanks for your comprehensive reply Stevey - much appreciated. I'll post an 'after-action' report when the job's done... Mike 🙂

Absolutely 👍

I'd suggest that's very unusual wear Mark. Any idea how worn the pads are that they are replacing? I see you're using a main dealer, so they'll be using OEM parts. Sorry, but I'm not sure what could cause a recurrence of this type. I had a similar situation years ago with my BMW motorcycle, and that ended up being a warped disc carrier (ie the hub) - they replaced the wheel and it cured it. There's nothing that's similar on a car, AFAIK... 🤔