[s-cars] Avant Rear tailgate vacuum leak.....

[McCall, Randy]

Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2013 23:09:04 -0700
From: "Jim Fleischer" <jim at almgt.com>
To: <s-car-list at audifans.com>
Subject: [s-cars] Avant Rear tailgate vacuum leak.....
Message-ID: <E7EE5D723EE64756AAAE52F5EA4CE86D at jim5fc968a6e6a>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

Hey guys,

My '95 avant tailgate has been hissing at me when I activate the central locking system....there's a vacuum leak somewhere in the passenger side.  Before I take the rear cover off, was wondering what I should be looking at/for.....also, I'd like to rebuild the rear hatch cover as far as securing it more completely to the rear hatch.  Any fasteners I should have handy to help make that happen?  Any BTDT writeups?  Any help truly appreciated.  Thanks!

Jim Fleischer
'95 urS6 avant (hissing and rattling)
_____
Hi Jim,

I don't have any info on the vacuum leaks themselves - should be a reasonably simple tubing problem once you get in there.  But, having had a rattling tailgate problem a couple years ago, I removed and repaired to the best of my abilities, the tailgate trim - I don't have all of the specifics in mind at the moment, but there are spring clips and hidden screws that hold the trim to the tailgate; some of the spring clips were in broken holders (on the trim plastic), and there were more than a few cracks in various places of the plastic that allowed all sorts of creaks and rattles.  This thing wasn't babied before I got it is my guess.  I have a saved post (probably  from Quattroworld or similar) about removing it:

"The tailgate trim on the Avant is absolutely the most sinister piece of interior trim I have ever removed. It is simply Evil. I'd like to contribute the following explanation to the Avant owners. Take my word, and archive the following description. Otherwise, you will most likely break various parts off your tailgate trim if you ever need to go in there. TRUST ME!!!

First, remove the two screws holding the two hooks for the sun screen. Then, unsnap the top middle piece in four locations. Unsnap L and R side plastic pieces by pulling the trim pieces towards center.

Next, remove the 2 black screws underneath the latch and one screw on each side of the bottom panel. Pop out the secret flap type compartments of the lateral parts of the carpeted section with a flat screwdriver. These hidden compartments correspond to an area behind each tailight. Unscrew one HIDDEN screw behind each secret panel.

Now, at the bottom of the handle trim below the torx screws are two very small holes. Find a thin long object like a nail and push in to the two holes. (I told you this was evil). When you've pushed them down far enough the handle trim will simply separate from the tailgate trim. YOU DO NOT NEED TO TAKE OUT THE TORX SCREWS IN THE DOOR HANDLE. (Note - this part was hard to figure out, but accurate - Randy)

Now, careful pulling in different sections top and bottom should free up the whole thing. You can also reach in and pinch the inner portion of the clamp (from the backside of the sheet metal holding the spring clip) while pulling that portion of the panel out. The whole thing falls right in to your hands.

Re-installing, should be somewhat of a reversal of the removal procedure found above.

Hope this helps someone out there. 
Dan Hussey 

Another post I had included the following follow-up:  

1) the hidden screws are located in the upper, outer corner of each of the secret flap openings.

2) If you line everything with self-adheasive fuzzy side of a velcro kit, the hatch panels won't squeak and creak anymore. I also put it around all the locations in the metal hatch where a metal tang from the upholstery panel engages the body.

As for repairs on the tailgate trim, I did plastic welding with a soldering gun, along with some additional donor plastic from some ABS parts I had from a donor car.  I carefully melted and patched areas that were cracked - missing pieces were similarly put back in place in a couple instances.  I did not add Velcro all over as it just added thickness and didn't look to be a great idea, but I did make sure the felt was where it needed to be.  After two years, and careful treatment of opening/closing the tailgate, things are pretty silent still.  Not new condition, but good enough!

Cheers,

-Randy
95.5 S6 - 184K and going strong.