spring is here.. lots of maintenence to do!!

[S4evr]

ok guys, i hope you can help me out here because i have alot of work to do and i dont know where to start really. i have alot of small things that are annoying me, so thats what i want to start with first.

1. driver door handle: inside driver side is very sloppy in the handle movement.. if i replaced the handle assembly would that fix it?

2. passenger door handle: does not work from the inside. pulled the door panel off to try and fix it. i found nothing wrong so put it back, and magically started working again! however, it just stopped working again so something is definetly wrong. what could be a fix...

3. Floor mats: mine are in junk condition, but i can only find rubber ones. were can i get oem carpet floormats?

4. Belly pan: mine has been missing since i bought the car, where can i get a new one?

5. 100,000 miles is right around the corner from me. what should i do for checkup? i went stage 3 about 8k-9k miles ago which included timing belt kit and waterpump so alot of the stuff is new.. but what else should i replace/maintain?

6. headlight bolts: i am missing the rear headlight bolts on both lights (the hard to reach ones) where can i get these?

7. seats: my alcantra is in rough shape. driver and passanger sides needs to be washed. what can i use to wash them? driver side seat is shedding, what can i do to remove some of the alcantra peeling off? i saw a thread about shaving the seats? can i do that?

thanks in advance everyone!

[Aggv]

You can find the first four things at ECStuning.com.

The rest of your questions i cant help with much

[S4Per]

i'll tackle some easy ones:

2. look again :-) it's all mechanical, so shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

4. get a passat w8 belly pan from a dealer (or anywhere else) should be ~$50 and is perfect fit. don't forget to get the retaining 'screws' for it also.

7. water with a little bit of soap is all you need. you can also do Mr. Clean's magic eraser (I've only used on silver alcantara, no idea what it does to other colors). Use a sweater 'defuzzer'...pick up at any walgreens or similar place. all of these have worked very well for me for the last 6 years.

[WMi_S4]

i have stock floormats lying around my house from my 2000 that i don't use anymore. PM me if you want them, they are in really good shape.

[casawhites4]

i always see this about the w8 oil pan...any special reason for it, or is it just that much cheaper?

[S4evr]

i'll tackle some easy ones:

2. look again :-) it's all mechanical, so shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

4. get a passat w8 belly pan from a dealer (or anywhere else) should be ~$50 and is perfect fit. don't forget to get the retaining 'screws' for it also.

7. water with a little bit of soap is all you need. you can also do Mr. Clean's magic eraser (I've only used on silver alcantara, no idea what it does to other colors). Use a sweater 'defuzzer'...pick up at any walgreens or similar place. all of these have worked very well for me for the last 6 years.

thats the thing, i did take it apart and look, everything was fine. put it back on and it worked.. then it quit. ill try it again.

as far as replacing the driver side door handle, what color do i need to get for the black/blue interior?

[Kruat]

i always see this about the w8 oil pan...any special reason for it, or is it just that much cheaper?

Ya I wonder this myself.

[YBLEGL]

I can answer #1 becuase I had the same problem and replacing the handle housing does fix it.

[ny02s4]

i was quoted $250 by my local Audi dealer for a replacement belly pan, lol. ECS FTW!!

[Rapter]

1. driver door handle: inside driver side is very sloppy in the handle movement.. if i replaced the handle assembly would that fix it?

Mine did the same and I just swapped out the spring and it now feels like the rest of them. On the inside part of the metal handle there is a split down the middle on the top portion. Make sure one of them isn't bent and causing the sloppy play. It's either going to be the spring or one of those prongs are bent and allowing play when you pull on it.

2. passenger door handle: does not work from the inside. pulled the door panel off to try and fix it. i found nothing wrong so put it back, and magically started working again! however, it just stopped working again so something is definetly wrong. what could be a fix...

When you take the DP off and are looking at the back of the handle. Make sure that the white cylinder thing on the cable is snapped into place. Then make sure you snap on the metal U shaped clip on over the white cylinder thing correctly

5. 100,000 miles is right around the corner from me. what should i do for checkup? i went stage 3 about 8k-9k miles ago which included timing belt kit and waterpump so alot of the stuff is new.. but what else should i replace/maintain?

thanks in advance everyone!

YW

[wasup0818]

i can sell u my used decent floor mat ( OEM Carpet) PM me.

[S4evr]

ill let you guys know about the floor mats^

any word on the 100,000 mile service check?

[lsc2g]

let me know if you fix the door handle.. my driver side is loose too.. i took the door apart and redid the pull cable to it and it fixed a bit but not much.. i think i need a whole new assembly .. doh

[S4Per]

i always see this about the w8 oil pan...any special reason for it, or is it just that much cheaper?

Yes, because it's that much cheaper. ECS tuning sells the W8.

[thebigchu]

On the floor mats, I've always wondered about these aftermarket ones on ebay. If they're made well, they could be cool:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/carpe...ayphotohosting


Regarding the Alcantara, here's the 2 step process I did and had outstanding results.

Use hot water with a little bit of mild dish soap and a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Pick up several packs because these fall apart pretty easily, but they pick up dirt like wow. Get the eraser slightly more than damp and rub in even strokes. Turn it or get a new one as it gets dirty. After you feel you got the as much dirt as you can, let the seats dry over night.

(BTW, the other day I was putting in my JHM SSTS and I cut myself and didn't notice it and got blood on my Alcantara. The magic eraser took it out even after it had dried for 2 hours).

The next day get a new mach 2 or similar razor and shave gently in one direction the areas where you have burrs or shedding. It should take them right up. Then vaccuum your seats and pat yourself on the back for an amazing restore job.

Good luck!

[Rapter]

On the floor mats, I've always wondered about these aftermarket ones on ebay. If they're made well, they could be cool:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/carpe...ayphotohosting

Good luck!

Good god $220 shipped for floor mats??? [O_O]

[eliTTe]

On the floor mats, I've always wondered about these aftermarket ones on ebay. If they're made well, they could be cool:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/carpe...ayphotohosting


Regarding the Alcantara, here's the 2 step process I did and had outstanding results.

Use hot water with a little bit of mild dish soap and a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Pick up several packs because these fall apart pretty easily, but they pick up dirt like wow. Get the eraser slightly more than damp and rub in even strokes. Turn it or get a new one as it gets dirty. After you feel you got the as much dirt as you can, let the seats dry over night.

(BTW, the other day I was putting in my JHM SSTS and I cut myself and didn't notice it and got blood on my Alcantara. The magic eraser took it out even after it had dried for 2 hours).

The next day get a new mach 2 or similar razor and shave gently in one direction the areas where you have burrs or shedding. It should take them right up. Then vaccuum your seats and pat yourself on the back for an amazing restore job.

Good luck!

that sounds like the thing to do! never thought of using the mr. clean eraser, I'll have to try that... my drivers seat is in need of a little restoring.