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Hello everyone if you have a door panel storage compartment that does not like to close or will not open correctly this is the method to get the storage compartment from the door and fix it to make it shut properly. First off remove the door panel which is very simple. Then follow these steps:
This was my initial door panel look/problem:
Start by removing the sound/vibration shield:
There are four of these:
The best way to remove them is to pry as much on one side then switch to the other, it takes a few goes but comes off simply.
Once off you can see the 16 screws to remove the storage box and speaker cover.
The first thing that needs to come off is the speaker cover because part of the storage box is behind it.
Once the speaker cover is off and all other screws are out you need to pull out the electrical connector(bottom left of the box shape), it is held in by a pretty strong clip. Once free disconnect connector by prying up on the two arms and pulling out.
Also disconnect the holding bracket by squeezing the two tabs and pulling. This is important because the wire will not fit through the hole with the bracket still on.
Now move to the front of the door panel and pull lightly to release the storage compartment from the door panel. Also while pulling route the wire though the hole, to completely free the compartment.
As you can see in the above picture the back part of the storage compartment was not able to close completely. One because the door screw fell behind it while removing the door panel(can barely see it in the first picture below) and two because the dowel was out of the gear mechanism(probably because someone once pulled it to hard).
The best way to remove the screw was to turn the compartment on it side and give it a few good shakes and it comes free to an open hole on the left side of the compartment. Now to get the dowel back in the mechanism you need to push the mechanism forward while pushing the compartment dowel towards the buttons. It takes a good bit of force but be careful not to force anything to much or some of the plastic can break. Once seated it works like new!
After fixing the compartment installation is reverse of removal. Also be careful while screwing in the speaker cover as some parts of the door panel are very thin plastic. Finally when reinstalling and positioning the wiring harness there are these clips, I think they prevent the harness from rattling:
Once everything is together admire you work and savings!
behind? from where? operator errors or defective door panel screw?
Cheers,
Louis
I am sorry I do not understand what you are referring to. The screw that fell behind the storage compartment was my error when removing the door panel, but before that the compartment dowel was not properly seated in opening/closing gear mechanism which caused it to not close fully. All of which you can see in the before and after pictures of the OP.
mine from failing. You think the mechanism was out of place at the factory or the panel had been removed and put back with the part out of place.
Cheers,
Louis
No I don't think it was out of place from the factory, but that is to hard to tell so it still is a possibility. I do believe that the previous owner pulled it to hard, or forced it in a manner that made the dowel come out of the gear mechanism, so all I had to do was force it back in. You can see in the picture that the U shape in the hole is missing the dowel for the storage door, after I forced it back in the U shape in the hole contains another hollow hole, which is the dowel.
You say removing the door panel is simple--do you have a writeup for that? I keep getting a scratch in my driver's door on my new tint and there must be something in the window track but the installer was too terrified to remove the door panel.
You say removing the door panel is simple--do you have a writeup for that? I keep getting a scratch in my driver's door on my new tint and there must be something in the window track but the installer was too terrified to remove the door panel.
Look for the Service Manual General - Interior. 401 pages of Audi service manual which explains how to remove every panel in the car plus more. I just found it last night and its been priceless already. I decided to remove the phone cradle in the box below the armrest. Its dated and doesn't work anymore so it was time to make the space more usable.
06-28-2015, 04:09 PM
Door storage fix DIY
