[Biturbos4] Audi Ash tray/CD removal issue.

[northrup]

Hello Tom.

Saw you posted to both the UrS4 and BiTurbo lists.   I  had a look at the 
bently, and there is no shortcut for you, but alas, all is not as bad as 
it seems. 

People will tell you that removing the radio, the climate control and the 
ash tray is a huge problem, but alas, it is not!  have no fear, but DO 
HAVE radio removal tools.    For me, i purchased them at crutchfield.com, 
but you can get them lots of places.   

I actually took some pictures, but for now all i have to offer is text.  I 
will try to locate those photos, and post them for you.

For now, these will have to do:
http://ctny.audiworld.com/mark/s4/boostgauge/boostgauge.html

only thing is, at least one of these is photos is not correct.  Please 
read.


First, you'll need to remove the radio.  If you are like me, you are very 
concerned about the CODE for the radio.  Fortunately, you can actually 
remove the radio and go to the next step without disconnecting any cables.   
This is what i did, and what i suggest.  If you konw your radio unlock 
code, then maybe have nothing to worry about there.

So, on with the instructions.

Overview: you'll need to start from the radio and work your way down.  
This is what is indicated in the manual, and it is the easiest way to do 
what you want.  Now that i've  done it, i can probably complete this task 
in about 10 minutes.   The first time i did it, i went very slowly, had 
lots of bad advice, and it took me much longer because i was very 
concnered about breaking anything.   

1. insert 4 radio keys into the Symphony radio, until they click.  once 
they click you are good, or screwed, depending on how you look at it.  I 
say this because once they click you have to pull the radio out in order 
to retrieve your tools.   if you try this with only two tools, you'll be 
driving around with tools in your radio, until you get another two tools!    
I have heard some were able to do this with nail files, but i don't 
recommend that route.   The tools are not THAT expensive, but it was 
annoying to hvae to buy them.  

Once the radio starts to come out,  pause and ensure everything looks 
good.  Now, ensure the car can not roll anywhere, ebrake on, chocks if you 
have them and move the gear shifter back. 

Get out of the driver seat if you are sitting there, slide it foward. put 
a cloth or something protective on it, as the radio will be sitting there 
shortly.  You may want that cloth to drape on to the center console as 
well to protect it from scratches.   The radio is metal.

Now, in the passenger seat, pull the radio out some more.  You'll be able 
to see what is locking your tools in place.  Unlock them and remove them 
from the radio.  you won't need them again until next time. 

Take the radio out, slowly tilt in and put it on the driver seat/center 
console.  there should be enough slack in the wires.  If not, you'll have 
to rig something up to hold the radio such that there is no tension.

Now, you're looking at the top of the climate control.  There are two 
metal tabs which you will need to push back.  see here:

http://ctny.audiworld.com/mark/s4/boostgauge/dsc01460.jpg

Next, the climate control needs to come out, but not all the way. If you 
have heated seats, you'll have to release them from the panel -carefully. 
these have very thin metal clips that are easy to damage.

To get the climate control out, DO NOT DO THIS:
http://ctny.audiworld.com/mark/s4/boostgauge/dsc01462.jpg

Instead the bently manual specificaly states to reach your hand in behind 
the radio and with a few fingers placed in the middle, just pull it toward 
the rear of the car.  The climate control may not move at first, but a 
little libral pressure and it should come right out as designed by Audi 
engineers.  Peice of cake.

You can easily and without cncern take out the connectors in the back of 
the climate control and remove the assembly.  each of them are keyed and 
can only fit in one place. 

Now, at this stage, you sohuld have complete access to the ash tray.  
resolve your CD issue.

Note: while yo have the climate control out, if the buttons are not 
operating perfectly, now is the time to clean it.   Too often people say 
to spray solvent and other goo into the buttons to clean out the crud that 
is inside.   A 6 MM torx driver will remove the front panel.  Take that 
panel off and let it sit in hot water (i left mine over night). It's just 
plastic and aluminum. nothing to rust.    Upon reassembly, every button 
clicks beautifly, as it did when the car was new. 

Reassemble in reverse order (Though i recommend sitting the radio back in 
it's slot and not leaving it on the seat for a long period of time. note 
that you can wait to click everything back into the final resting location 
until the last minute.  

Anyway, i can have this whole area removed in less time then it took me to 
type this out, and I type pretty quickly :)  It's not a big deal, you just 
need those radio keys and a small flat head screwdriver to resolve your CD 
issue.

Be well, and let me know if you have any questions.

wilson '00s4