Tips for removing radio with a broken clip from the PO?

[AudiMat]

Been fiddling with it for the better part of a couple hours now and after several beers, drawing blood from one of the removal tools flying out and stabbing the inner part of my left wrist and coming up with several new creative swear words, I've decided to see if anyone has any helpful tips to get this stupid thing out without damaging anything around it. I don't care about the condition of the head unit as I have a remanufactured unit from ECS that is going to slid in there once I finish giving my climate control buttons a bath, but I don't want to damage any of the expensive trim around it in the process. Lay those helpful tips on me gentlemen...

(Yes I did search, didn't come up with anything I didn't already know or tried this afternoon... outside of starting to remove interior panels.)

[rollerton]

Which clip is broken- top left - right side bottom?
I've done it by removing either the glove box or the knee panel on the left side. If you're creative you can get a tool up from behind and get it un-wedged. Sometimes just VERY slow but firm pulling the radio OUT will deform the clip enough that you can slide the radio out just a little bit and wreck/ disable the clip totally. Then take it out.

[Timtheguru]

Stupid question.. but did you try to remove it with only 3 of the removal tools in then? My radio was missing the whole metal clip altogether and I was able to pull the radio out.

[AudiMat]

I can tell the right side is still locked in there. The head unit moves around when I have the 3 tools clipped in, but the right side will not budge to slide out more than like a 16th of a inch. I've tried pulling with my fingers in the tape deck, I've tried pushing the tools towards the center of the head unit and pulling on all of them, i've tried to get a flathead screwdriver in the lower right side slot to see if I can get it loose, but nothing is working. I even started to pry around the edges of it but quickly stopped because I didn't want to damage the trim. Its clearly the pin on the lower right side of the radio that is somehow bent or broken into the locking position and the key will not free it.

My climate control unit is completely gummed up and buttons are sticky from the previous owner using the cupholder, so I wonder if they spilled so much soda in there that its just acting like glue. My ashtray doesn't work either.

[1dopea4]

sucks about the radio but heres a fix for the sticky buttons. http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?p=14527434

hope everything works out for ya.

[AudiMat]

sucks about the radio but heres a fix for the sticky buttons. http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?p=14527434

hope everything works out for ya.

LOL, thats exactly the DIY I am trying to do, just stuck on the first step. But thanks for the heads up though!

[1dopea4]

ever get the radio out?

[Halfbreed]

I had this same issue. I ripped the faceplate off the head unit... You can easily see the tabs and such to get at with a flat head that way. Lash me all you want blah blah ruined a BOSE headunit. Well it was no good to start with, they dont resell for shit, and i had a double din going in so i didnt care.

[spokismB5S4]

I had this same issue. I ripped the faceplate off the head unit... You can easily see the tabs and such to get at with a flat head that way. Lash me all you want blah blah ruined a BOSE headunit. Well it was no good to start with, they dont resell for shit, and i had a double din going in so i didnt care.

Yeah, the easy eay out of your situation is ripping the faceplate off and popping the clips with a flathead. Had to do it with an a4 at work yesterday lol

[papuc14369]

sucks about the radio but heres a fix for the sticky buttons. http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?p=14527434

hope everything works out for ya.

That DIY looks familiar.

My biggest tip is to have the right tools. OEM Radio Removal tools are the best and will work much better than any ebay radio removal tools out there.

By the way, if you can't get the radio out you can pull the faceplate off by pulling it straight back. ** this will break the tabs on the faceplate ** but it will expose the metal retaining clips that hold the radio in place. Once you have the radio out, you can screw the faceplate back in if you haven't broken all faceplate tabs. I've done this twice to two different radios and never once broke all the tabs, just one and the other tabs stretched enough to come off.

Another tip, when you put the faceplate back on, don't tighten the faceplate screws on all the way. Just enough to hold it in place. I do this just in case I need to remove the radio again and don't wanna run the risk of breaking more tabs.

[zay27]

I had this same issue. I ripped the faceplate off the head unit... You can easily see the tabs and such to get at with a flat head that way. Lash me all you want blah blah ruined a BOSE headunit. Well it was no good to start with, they dont resell for shit, and i had a double din going in so i didnt care.

this is the simplest solution imo. I destroyed my bose HU and replaced it with a pioneer ddin.

[AudiMat]

No I have not gotten it out yet. I took a break from fiddling with it for today to get my patience back. I'll give it a go again tomorrow.

I don't care if I destroy the shit out of the unit that is stuck in there, because I have a remanufactured unit from ECS that is going to go in its place. And I do have the correct tools, I have the Schwaben VAG radio removal kit.

Papuc14369- If you get a chance to explain a bit, I am not exactly sure what you mean by pulling the faceplate straight back. I have tried to pry around the edges with a screwdriver to see if it would pop off, but nothing is budging. My biggest concern is damaging the climate control unit, splintering the wood trim by the fog switches or nicking the panels around the sides. I've tried pulling straight out by shoving my fingers in the cassette deck but it won't budge at all. Is there anywhere to grab onto the faceplate to rip it off? I'm seriously close to getting my drill out, using the new unit as a guide of where to dill on the faceplate to not hit anything else and just destroying the fuck out of it to get it out.

[1dopea4]

i would remove the trim above the radio, grab onto the radio and pull hope something comes loose lol

[papuc14369]

No I have not gotten it out yet. I took a break from fiddling with it for today to get my patience back. I'll give it a go again tomorrow.

I don't care if I destroy the shit out of the unit that is stuck in there, because I have a remanufactured unit from ECS that is going to go in its place. And I do have the correct tools, I have the Schwaben VAG radio removal kit.

Papuc14369- If you get a chance to explain a bit, I am not exactly sure what you mean by pulling the faceplate straight back. I have tried to pry around the edges with a screwdriver to see if it would pop off, but nothing is budging. My biggest concern is damaging the climate control unit, splintering the wood trim by the fog switches or nicking the panels around the sides. I've tried pulling straight out by shoving my fingers in the cassette deck but it won't budge at all. Is there anywhere to grab onto the faceplate to rip it off? I'm seriously close to getting my drill out, using the new unit as a guide of where to dill on the faceplate to not hit anything else and just destroying the fuck out of it to get it out.

This...

i would remove the trim above the radio, grab onto the radio and pull hope something comes loose lol

and don't be shy, if you don't plan on reusing the faceplate just start to pull at the corners until the side starts to come loose.

[AudiMat]

Well, I finally got the radio out, LOL!

[DiscoPotato]

Haha I was just going to say rip it out and get a new one. That's what I did. They are cheap enough now.