How do you remove rear door panel?

Can somebody please tell me how to remove the read door panel on an A4 Jetta? I've got a rattle in one that I want to get rid of.

I've found two screws at the bottom of the panel but there must be something more holding the panel on than those screws and some pop clips.

I imagine there's something around the handle as well but I haven't figured out how to get to whatever that is and I don't want to mess up the trim trying to figure out how.

Anybody with a Bentley or first-hand experience???

Thanks mucho.

Got Diesel,

I don't have first hand experience, but here's what I know.

You do have to remove the screws that hold the door handle. The front of the handle seperates along the seam. Use a putty knife and pry underneath to hide any marks you might put into the plastic.

Then, there are two screws that hold the handle onto the metal part of the door.

Check to see if there is a screw at the top front part of the panel(similar to the front door) and remove that screw too.

All of this in addition to the torq head screws you've already identified.

then it's a careful prying of the interior panel off the door itself. Be careful not to break the door clips. If you do, you can order new ones.

Door clips that hold interior panel to the outer panelPart number: 3B0 868 243



[ May 07, 2002, 08:25: Message edited by: tongsli ]

Thank you. I'll be giving it a try this afternoon.

Got Diesel,

Any luck??

L

Yes, Thanks...

I didn't have much luck with a putty knife so I just hunted around for the fatest slot head screwdriver I could find and proceeded very gently.

None of the clips broke though one did fall out of the panel and rolled part way down the drive.

Caught it with my foot and became the human pretzel trying to get it back while holding the panel up.

I put a couple of more wraps of electrical tape around the lock plunger shaft and resituated some foam padding--both dealer strategies to try to eliminate rattles in that door.

I was partly successful, the really irritating rattle is gone, but I think a less frequent and less noticeable one has taken its place. It's also being caused by another part because holding the plunger with a finger or wedging a toothpick down its side does not silence it.

So, at some point, I'll be doing this again.

Any tricks to getting the wires for the tweeter and window switch to let go? (Trying to remember if there was another set of wires in there too...)I tried wiggling and pulling gently but didn't want to push my luck.

Anyway, thanks again for the directions. It's nice these doors don't have the old plastic vapor barriers that my old Peugeot had. Those were a pain!

You know what? I have some sort of rattle in my passenger's side door and will open it up to do exactly what you tried to do.

First, I need to fix the darn squeek in my instrument cluster

L