Bill Ball

Huge problem here!

So, everything was seemingly going along fine when all of the sudden the receiver (item 9 below) for the cargo cover cord in the driver side quarter panel literally fell out. Fortunately I was not driving at the time, so I avoided any major catastrophe.

I tried to push the receiver back into the panel and it will not stay. I can see the clip (item 10 below) in place inside. What's the fix for this? I checked Dwayne's Garage, but it's the one WYAIT repair he left it out of his intake refresh. You'd think one of his 475 illustrated steps would show this.

Does Greg Brown have a stainless braided upgrade kit that will solve this problem forever or am I doomed to be left holding the cargo cover cord again? Could this be a result of oil packing in the heads? Unlike Rob, I need a good reason to install Greg's scavenge kit.

And Stan, you don't have to remind me I should replace all the receivers at the same time - when one goes it means the others are on their last legs.

I started to work on this yesterday. So far I have the torque tube and tranny out, but I can't get to the clip.

heinrich

Bill the way to fix this is to do the following:

1) pull rear seatback, seat and side panel on that side
2) remove jacket hanger
3) remove all fasteners from rear quarter
4) pull rear quarter forward, down and inward and remove, being careful to note the sliding clip at the rear quarter window, and note speaker wires
5) insert your receiver into its hole and attach its clip (circular piece)
6) reinstal, reverse order

pcar928fan

Bill, I hate to tell you this but I think your car is totaled now. It is highly unfortunate that this happened. It was such a nice car too and had served you so well. If you don't mind the salvage title you will most certainly receive then start by removing the engine and just work your way back from there. Once all the interior has been removed you should be able to see the problem, but since so much will have been done by then, you might as well pull the trans as well. Of course full rebuilds on each of the removed parts will be in order.

Once you have put it all back together and tested it all out just send it on down here to TX! We will take care of it for you!

ROTFLMAO!!!

I have this same problem actually on my '92 GTS and I have a new "clip" ready to go, but have not put it in yet! I *THINK* on the GTS's you can actually use some long pliers and hold that clip in to place if you take out the rear Q-panel speaker. The speaker location on an S4 is not conducive to this however and you will probably have to remove the Q-panel to fix.

Please post some pics of Q-panel removal and repair if you can! I would really like to see how this is done...

Bill Ball

I HAVE TO DO ALL THAT!!?? Can't I just cut a hole in the wheel well to access this?

heinrich

LOL Bill Yes you have to do all that. Anything else will break things.

Bill Ball

Truth be told, this happened once before about 6 years ago, and I was able to fix it in short order, but I couldn't remember how I did it.

I just took another look and noticed one of the rear speakers is above this area. I think I might have removed the speaker to access it. Out to try that again.

Rob Edwards

The super secret part of the oil scavenging system (never documented here on RL) does in fact run behind the rear quarter panel, so I'd have to pull the aux scavenge pump lines to R&R the rear quarters for this receiver repair. And I agree with Stan that the receiver clips should be replaced in pairs. But before you do, dip the clips in STP, then wipe them on a black piece of cardboard and look at it in the bright sun- if there are any bright flecks, your clips are bad and need to be re-plated.

Leon Speed

I did it from the rear. It was a tight fit.

Whitesands

Cut a small slot in the bottom and then J B Weld ;-)

david_alford

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114694/quotes?qt=qt0402661

Made me think of this line from Tommy Boy...I'm picking up on your sarcasm...

heinrich

Rob, the thinking man sends the clips away for a metallurgical report on the fatigue index. You know the MTBF on those isn't that great. Who knows where those particles might have got to ... especially they might have osmosed into that very oil cooler line to which you refer. And in that case, the motor should be pulled immediately and not another mile driven for fear of tbf.

stealth

I didn't have any luck trying to get at it through the speaker opening (90 GT). Although I bought the parts promptly, it still hasn't been worth the trouble of pulling the panels, relative to other items on the cars. Looking forward to any wise trick you find.

Bill Ball

I have a variety of poking tools (screwdrivers, door clip pullers, prybars, curved forceps) that I can get to the area behind the clip with some difficulty from the speaker above it or from the smaller tweeter opening about 10" forward. I can even get my fingers on the clip from the speaker opening, but not with enough force to push this speednut type clip on far enough to grip the receiver. We need someone to fabricate a tool and put it into the OC tool loan program. With the quarter window out and a super long screwdriver, I'm sure this is doable.

Bill Ball

I figured Greg had addressed this previously undocumented issue while he was fiddling with the heads. Loose cargo covers and oil packing are all part of one big engineering flaw.

Bill Ball

I have an idea of what will work...

A large enough bushing that will support the clip from behind so you can push the receiver through it.