Newbie Seeks help

[Rav]

Hi all.

New to the forum (1st post). I am a big fan of Audi's and have just upgraded from a B5 Audi A4 1.9tdi SE to a B6 Audi A4 1.9Tdi SE (130).

Having a great time with the car, but have a few small niggles that ithought you might be able to help me with.

1) Poor FM reception. Car has Audi concert single CD player. The FM reception is very poor. I have heard that there is an amplifier for this somewhere?

2) Door handle part. Car has only done 57k miles, but the drivers side interior grab handle is badly scuffed. I was quoted £62+vat from the dealers a the weekend, anyone know where i can get this cheaper? How hard is it to change this?

3) Carpet mats for front only. Dealers want over £30+vat, any ideas?

4) Key re-programming. Ive got two keys. Only one works with the push buttons, can this be re-programmed by myself?

5) Clutch operation and brakes. The clutch seems very high to bite. Is this normal? The brakes are very fierce.

6) Radio code. Car didnt come with radio code. Any ideas how to get this wthout breaking the wallet at the main dealers?

TiA, for your replies.

[nickynibbles]

First of all, welcome to the forum!! Now for some answers...............



1) Poor FM reception. Car has Audi concert single CD player. The FM reception is very poor. I have heard that there is an amplifier for this somewhere?
A common enough complaint and has been discussed a good few times before! Run a search for aerial on the forum & you'll get lots of answers. In short there's an aerial amp in the roof lining by the rear windscreen, clean all the contacts up 1st before considering a replacement.


2) Door handle part. Car has only done 57k miles, but the drivers side interior grab handle is badly scuffed. I was quoted £62+vat from the dealers a the weekend, anyone know where i can get this cheaper? How hard is it to change this?
www.vagparts.com (http://www.vagparts.com) can often be cheaper than dealers for OEM audi parts. Its changed by removing the door card & then the handle will come off.


3) Carpet mats for front only. Dealers want over £30+vat, any ideas?
Not a bad price for properly fitting mats in my opinion, you could of course try vagparts for slightly cheaper.


4) Key re-programming. Ive got two keys. Only one works with the push buttons, can this be re-programmed by myself?
This is relatively simple for you, just dont ask the dealers for a price quote on a new key, its a lot!! Prise apart your exisiting key & find the part nember on the inside, starts with 8E0 xxx xxx. Keep an eye out on ebay for a brand new & unused version of this part number, dont buy used! When you find one (shouldnt be more than £30) take apart your exisiting key & swap over the immobiliser transponder & key part to the new key. Instructions for programming the central locking are in the "how to" section.


5) Clutch operation and brakes. The clutch seems very high to bite. Is this normal? The brakes are very fierce.
A high biting clutch signals that the clutch could be on the way out, get it looked at by a good independant vw/audi specialist, the dealer will just see ££ signs if you go ask them to look!


6) Radio code. Car didnt come with radio code. Any ideas how to get this wthout breaking the wallet at the main dealers?
I presume you've looked through all the paperwork, service schedule, handbook etc to see if its written down? If not then the radio will need to be scanned to get its code, more than likely you'll need the 7-digit security code which hopefully you've got on a little tag attached to one of your keys?? If you dont have this either then it is indeed a trip to the dealers im afraid!

[inertia]

1) even with the amplified ariel, im not impressed with FM reception compared to other cars with external ariels.

2) No idea, I need to do this as well, mines not in the best condition, I would be interested to learn where you end up buying it.

3)thers a lot on ebay, geneuine and aftermarket, with the holes for clipping them down.

4) http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=25591&highlight=Remote+Re-Sync

5) the Clutch is naturaly high compared to other cars, also the breaks can feel a bit snatchy at first, once you are used to them thogh its not a problem.


6) do you have the owners handbook ? might be in there ? try contacting the last owner off your log book they may have it.

hope some of this helps.

[nutter1980]

5) the Clutch is naturaly high compared to other cars, also the breaks can feel a bit snatchy at first, once you are used to them thogh its not a problem.

Lol, I remember when i tested my A4 , breaks were super snatchy! You get used to them after afew days.

:beerchug:

[Rav]

Thanks for the info guys.

A quick update:

1) Anyone know exaclty where this amplifier can be found? I phoned Vag parts and they tell me that there are lots of different variants. Best to get a part number from the old unit first. However, i cant find it !!!

2) Got this part from Vagparts for around £6 inc Vat. Sounds like a bit of a job to replace it as you have to take the door card off....Groan.

3) New carpets bought, £45 inc for the front pair. Vagparts dont stock RHD mats.

4) Will try this over the easter weekend. Not sure if its going to work though.....

5) Getting used to the high clutch and fierce brakes, car is amazingly fast. I love it!

6) I will ask the forum to help once i get the codes from my stereo....

Thanks again.
Rav

[jonbaker]

5) the Clutch is naturaly high compared to other cars, also the breaks can feel a bit snatchy at first, once you are used to them thogh its not a problem.

Lol, I remember when i tested my A4 , breaks were super snatchy! You get used to them after afew days.

:beerchug:
True, I experienced this when test driving mine. The brakes i got used to straight away and driving other cars now i feel like i'm not going to stop!

Clutch was high on mine, however 2 years on and it started to slip so replaced £500 cash (indi). Alot lower than it was but still high in comparison to say the Puma i had before

[jasonleen]

have the same problem with my audi. does anyone know how much a new aerial amplifier for a42002 will cost?:confused:

[Rav]

VAGparts said that they cost between £12 and £40, so not much. But Audi used over 30 designs of this part in the B6 alone.
Best to try and find the offending part and take it (or a picture) and send to VAGparts.

I still havent found mine :confused:

Rav

[jasonleen]

hi rav
cheers for the reply. tried vagparts but cant seem to find the part? did you have any look?

jason

[Rav]

Ive got a B6 saloon, and it seems to have a removable section in the headlining just in front of the rear screen. Its a long oblong section.

I will try to take this out and have a look at the weekend.

R

[jasonleen]

hi all
just removed the head liner at the back of the car. removed the aerial chip thing !!!!
swaped it with my friends aerial chip and he it works fine, great recieption so need to get one. anyone knows where i can find one. went to audi and they want £130 any one has one for sale ?:confused:

[Marco34]

True, I experienced this when test driving mine. The brakes i got used to straight away and driving other cars now i feel like i'm not going to stop!


Yup, I went to Spa with a mate a few years ago and he took over driving. When he first drove it we stalled he hit the brakes that hard... :aargh4:

I like Audi brakes. That said, I had a Punto in Italy that was VERY snatchy.. uncomfortably so....

[Rav]

hi all
just removed the head liner at the back of the car. removed the aerial chip thing !!!!
swaped it with my friends aerial chip and he it works fine, great recieption so need to get one. anyone knows where i can find one. went to audi and they want £130 any one has one for sale ?:confused:

Well done that man! Any pictures to show how to do it and also what the 'chip' looks like?

VAGparts carry these parts. They are between £20 and £70 ish. Contact them on http://vagparts.com/ or 01793 487700

v

[jasonleen]

It is very easy to do. There is a separate section at the vey back of the head lining. Just prize it off slowly with your fingers. Once off, the aerial connections are located on the passengers side, in the Conner of the back window screen. There are 3 clips, open the botton 3 first then the unit should come out. Once out remove the 3 cables connected to the chip and thats it you have done it. Hope this helps

Jason

p.s.
does anyone know where i can get a replacement from? except Audi, too expensive

[Rav]

Cheers Jason,

I will try on Sunday.
Did you try "VAGparts" in Swindon. They are very reasonable.

Rav

[Rav]

Im going to have to eat my words.

I took the car apart to see the amplifier and off i went to VAGparts in Swindon.

They quoted me £89.10 + VAT. Thats £105 !!!


Part number is 8E5 035 225D but Audi are now up to itteration 8E5 035 225S.

Anyone got a CCT diagram of this or know where i can get one of these for considerably less money?

[Hash]

It's pointless trying to repair it as it's all like a moulded block. All the circuitry is covered over with this black resin. Any components that are on the circuit board cannot be accessed without destroying the unit completely.

Hey but if it's knackered any way and you want to be curious carry on and we might all learn something out of your attempt.

I've been after a cheap one for a while without any luck.

Sorry for the negative waves

Regards:confused:

[seanogrady]

I've opened my trim up too and I have the same problem, rubbish reception in certain areas. My aerial amplifier (8E5 035 225 D) also has cracks across it and the reception varies as you press on various parts of it. I have cleaned all the contacts with no effect.
I have however noticed that there are an extra set of clips to the left of the amplifier as if the one that's installed is too small? The connectors fit and the radio goes off completely if I remove them so it is working to a degree. Any help would be appreciated. I'm reluctant to splash out on a replacement if it's the wrong thing altogether.

[jasonleen]

hi seanogrady
did alot of looking and had to bite the bullet and get one from audi. :-( cost me £120 fitted it and now the radio is working great. even picking up some strange stations!!!!!. hope this helps but got no more info to help you

jason