HowTo: MK4 Headliner Replacement

[4loops]

I thought I'd post here to show my recent experience in replacing my Mk4's headliner. Since the other threads out there have had their pictures broken by photobucket and images being removed from other sites, I thought I'd create another how-to. My Jetta was a sedan, but most of this will apply to the wagon, too. Only- the wagon's headliner should be easier to remove!
So, I'll start then.
My headliner was becoming detached over the past couple years. It was getting annoying to sit in the back with baby on longer trips as the headliner would keep brushing on our heads. Then came the foam the blew about in the cabin. Then a big rush of wind pulled the fabric completely from the headliner, only holding by the handles and sunroof. So, it was time to go ahead with it. Also annoying over the years: realizing you've been lied to by the previous owner who said "oh, no, I never smoked in it..", only to find a cigarrette burn in the headliner by the drivers window. Live and learn. Take your time and don't get overly excited about a car-purchase that your vision is clouded.
Here it was before I started:
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I cut a section out in the above and took that to an auto interior place in town to match it to a similar color. I simply removed the fabric and wire-brushed all the glue off the headliner and pillar covers to save some labor charge. Probably should've cut the whole middle section out though. It was difficult/more challenging to drive with my rear view obstructed. I figured I would pay a professional to apply the new fabric, as the fabric is expensive, and is really an art to get to stretch and stick. Especially with the VAG products the guy tells me: Volks/Audi really have some large recesses where stretching the fabric so that it sticks and doesn't wrinkle is challenging. I really didn't want to try doing this myslef because I know I really don't want to remove the headliner again to redo it. It took me a good 4.5 hours to remove the headliner and pillar covers, and about the same to install. I don't think I was working slow, just carefully.
My first trick was to pull off the a-pillar covers. The MK4s have side curtain airbags, so it's a good idea to just go ahead and disconnect the battery (negative). I know they will only go off if the ignition is on, but extra safety that costs 10 seconds is worth it.
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Pulling back the door seal/side trim will allow a bit more visual access in this location.
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Since the car is equipped with side-curtain airbags, the A and D pillar covers are designed to bend to allow the airbag to exit its space. Because of that crease, it makes it easier to bend the pillar cover without damaging it.
My pictures are alternating between the right and left A-pillars, but you get the idea.
Pull the bottom of the pillar cover out to gain access to the clip holding on the pillar at the top. It is easier to gently push the airbag a bit away from the pillar frame to see the clip better.
This is the clip you're trying to get to:
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[4loops]

It clips to the pillar cover and slide-locks into another clip attached to the pillar-frame:
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So, the 1000's of words expressed by those images means that you must fit a flat-head screw driver or awl into the top of the clip and pull up on it to release the pillar. Once that clip is off, you still have to yank (carefully) on the pillar cover.

EDIT: 8/14/2017-
User Genesis has voiced some reason for concern and caution here. He mentions that these clips are vital to keeping the pillar cover in place when the airbag goes off -so it doesn't protrude into your face. In my above pictures, my driver's side clip-on the actual pillar is fine. Both tabs (ears) are still in tact. But also in the above pictures, the passenger side clip -on the actual pillar, one of the tabs is broken. This seemed to hold fine and tight when I reassembled everything in the end, and it may hold just fine in a wreck if the airbag deploys, but then, this is not something I'd like to gamble with. So as my own voice of reason -and Genesis' caution has warned, I'd say it's probably best to order/find a new clip if this is broken.
-Thanks Genesis -for keeping us safe!

Edit: 8/14/2017 (2)-
It's probably best to order these clips before you start the project, so they arrive in time. They are cheap. Go ahead and order them (or pick them up at your local VW dealership) ahead of time for safety's sake. The dealership is usually quite cheap on this kind of stuff. Expect around a dollar per clip, and shipping if you order them online.
Clip: 1J0 880 385 A
Clamp: 1J0 880 287

Next, I removed the B-pillar covers. The seatbelts must be removed first. Pop the back of the cover so that it swings out to gain access to the 17mm bolt. Be careful with the hinged cover. The hinge is prone to breaking if torqued too much.
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When removed, close the cover again to prevent the hinge from being torn apart while working.
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[4loops]

To remove the B-pillar covers, a screw must be removed underneath the plastic "Airbag" symbol. That symbol must be pulled off. I was able to fit a small flat head screw driver underneath and pull straight off. Pull, don't twist lest you nick and mar the edges. I was able to get the second one off without it breaking but the first one I cracked the edge a bit. The edge is still hanging on for now, we'll see how long that lasts. I'm sure you could pick more of these up on ebay if you break yours.
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When extracting the screw, it may fall before you get it completely extracted. There is a large void between where the screw holds and where the access hole is. An bendy grabber helps here.
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Pull the B-pillar lower cover out a bit, which helps. It pulls right off. The upper part will pull off now. Work the upper B-pillar cover off with a screwdriver or better yet -a trim working tool. Work from the bottom. When you get near the top pull down on the pillar cover a bit. It will slide down enough to then pull off completely. The top ears of the B-pillar cover are a bit more fragile.
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[4loops]

The D pillars are next. They are held on in the same way as the A pillar covers, but they are much easier to work with because the panel pulls out a bit more for easier access. First pull the door seal/trim back so you can bend the D pillar cover a bit. Before the cover can be removed the seatbelt must be removed. Again, pop the cover from the back to access the 17mm bolt. I found it a little more difficult to pop the cover off of the rear belts. One of my trim working tools came in handy.
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Switching sides on you again ;-)
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Remove the bolt, washer, and bushing and set aside for safe keeping.
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Again, close the cover to keep the hinge from being torqued and broken.

With the seatbelt removed, pry back the top of the D-pillar cover to reveal the clip. As I said, it is much easier to see this clip on the D-pillar than on the A-pillar. Use your screwdriver or awl to remove the clip.
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The top can now be pulled back to pop off of the clip.
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Pull the D-pillar cover off. Don't just pull from the top. Weasel your hand in to the middle of the pillar cover and pull from there as you go, so you don't bend things too much. The cover is pretty strong, though. It's just good practice.
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[4loops]

Now remove all the little do-dads attached to the ceiling. The visors visor clips, o-sh!t handles, lights, little useless visor over the rear-view mirror, sunroof panel, and sunroof control/front lights.

Sunroof panel: (clip was already broken. Going to have to melt some plastic over this clip to put it back on. Superglue is useless in these applications.)
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Useless visor over the rear-view mirror:
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[4loops]

Sunroof Control/Front Lights:
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Two short screws:
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Pull to the left:
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DSC_3261 by Harrison Wells, on Flickr

Lights: (push in to press in clip, then pull straight down. Be careful to only pull the light, not the metal bezel that's attached to the headliner)
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Again, don't pull on the bezel.
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[4loops]

Sun Visors:
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Might need to pry a little here to remove:
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Visor Connector: (pull back with your fingernail to release)
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O-Sh!t handles:
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All of the little bits and pieces should now be removed from the ceiling. To remove the headliner, the front first needs to be unstuck. Pull down here.
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The front will pop down just a bit. The sunroof and the back of the headliner are holding it up. Grabbing from the back opening for the sunroof, pull the headliner rearward. The headliner will start to sag near the rear glass, as the headliner is formed to hook around the top. Pull the rear down just a bit so that the lip of the headliner will no longer catch, then push the whole headliner forward by pushing on the front of the sunroof hole. That back part of the sunroof is lipped around the topside of the sunroof bracket. Moving forward will dismount the headliner completely. Don't pry and peel at the headliner's back lip or either lip around the sunroof. Doing so will make the headliner limp and pliable in these areas, and this is what holds the headliner up. You don't want a saggy headliner after this is all said and done because of impatience!
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[4loops]

Now the headliner is down, unplug the sunroof's blue connector and the two connectors at the A-pillar. DO NOT yank the wiring harness off of the headliner! It is supposed to stay there! Just unplug it from the car instead.
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Oh yea, and before the headliner is dropped, it's really best to go ahead and push both seats forward and recline them all the way. And if you think you can get by with leaving the carseat in, well, you can't. Remove that too.
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[4loops]

Now remove the headliner from the car. We're going through the passenger door, NOT THE TRUNK! No reason to bend this thing! If it has creases it's more likely to buckle and sag later! As others have said, these doors don't open 90degrees for no reason!
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[4loops]

Headliner removed. Now is a good time to replace your antenna if you need/want. Probably should've done mine since it doesn't look the greatest but it functions just fine so I left it.
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Now to remove the sunroof headliner.
For this, the sunroof should be opened a bit so you can pull the front of the sliding panel down enough to clear the catch on the sunroof pane/bezel. Use the allen wrench included on the sunroof access panel that was previously removed to wrench the sunroof open manually.
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Pull the sunroof panel rearward, pull the panel front down while moving back to clear the sunroof bezel's catch, and keep going. You're going to remove the panel through the back. Disconnect the draintubes from the rear of the sunroof rack, and unclip the white plastic drain adapter. It is sealed with goo, so it will take some effort. Just make sure all the clips are free so it can pop up. Do this to both sides, and move them out of the way a bit.
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https://flic.kr/p/X1JydU

 

[4loops]

The sunroof panel glides on four of these:
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Be careful when pulling it out not to break or bend these. It will come.
Alternatively, I would simply unbolt the sunroof, lower it, and take the sunroof panel out from the top, but because there is an airbag shroud that covers the rearmost sunroof bolts, and the side airbag would have to be unbolted and messed with, I thought it best to not touch the airbag stuff more than what I already had to. I'd like that stuff to work properly when needed..

Headliner is out, pillar covers are out, sunroof panel is out. Take this time to now clear and test your sunroof drain tubes. Blast them out with air, then pour some water down the tubes and make sure they are draining out onto the ground. Nothing like installing a new headliner only to find a bad rainstorm has soaked it. The sunroofs will leak a very small amount sometimes, and it is the tubes job to exit the water properly.
Test all 4.
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Now remove all the old headliner fabric and remove all the old foam. The headliner and the sunroof panel need the foam removed. The pillar covers only need the fabric stripped. When the fabric is removed from the pillar covers a bunch of white fuzz is left stuck to them. Leave that on. It's really on there. It will give the glue for the new material something to adhere to better. Just go over the headliner and the sunroof panel lightly with a wire wheel or brush. Be careful not to go too fast and start cutting through the board. If using a drill, please use eye protection. A fast spinning wire bristle could break off and cause you to never experience life the same again if you're so unlucky. I could do without sound. Not sight. Those are precious sensors. Protect them. <End tirade>
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I then took the headliner, sunroof panel, and pillars to Kelly's Auto Interiors in Columbus Indiana. He did superb work, and also did a great job on my B5 that's in the background in many of these pictures. I saved a bunch by removing the panel myself. Total cost for the fabric and the installation on all the bits was $250. Still expensive, but a deal compared to what it would be to have them do it all. And I say expensive, but I think this is actually a good price for the fabric and labor. I just say expensive because $250 hurts the wallet no matter what it is. But then, I'm a bit of a cheapskate! Great work and quality for the price! I'd recommend anyone around the Columbus IN area to Kelly.

Anyway, a day later and they were done. Installing is essentially the reverse of removal. There are a few tricks, though. To install the sunroof panel, a bit of care must be taken. Also, since there is a lot of tar-ish sealant on the rear of the tracks, I thought I'd protect the panel's fabric by wrapping saran-wrap around it a bunch of times. This actually worked, but I should've been more careful to get all the way to the edges, because I got a little goo on the edges. Some fabric cleaner helped to get it away, but my lesson is your gain: do this, but go all the way to the edges!
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To get the panel to slide in, you must take care to push in the glide springs gently and get them to seat on their track. There is no easy way for me to explain this, and I couldn't take pictures as I was installing because it required both hands. Just be gentle. Once it's in you can slide it forward and past the bump on the bezel to put it in its normal position. Here's what might happen if you don't wrap all the way to the edges: (And yes, this will show, as the headliner doesn't take up that much room)
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The Tough Stuff took care of it. Didn't take a pic, but it looks good.
The saran wrap can now be cut and pulled off. Reinstall the rear drain brackets and connect all drain tubes. Don't forget this!

 

[4loops]

Installing the headliner is the reverse of removal. Fit it in the car the same way it came out. With both seats fully reclined, remove your shoes and sit in the middle of the back seat, in between both reclined front seat backrests, under the headliner. Yes, this is a contortionists job. But you get to role-play today ;-)
Lift the headliner and hook the backside of the sunroof opening bezel of the headliner on the sunroof bracket and pull rearward. Then hook the headliner's curve/channel around the rear window headliner support/bracket. This was tough for me as the headliner wanted to not grab in all areas. When you got the rear hooked properly, hold that with both hands to keep it hooked, and with both socked-feet, push on the front of the sunroof opening of the headliner to push the headliner forward and solidly catch the rear of the headliner on its support. While doing all that, as you are pushing forward with your feet, you must make sure you're pushing up enough to have the sunroof opening's front lip of the headliner catch the sunroof front bezel. Easy peasy, right? Yea, this probably would be easier with two people. But for me, it worked.

Connect the sunroof blue connector and the A-pillar harness.
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Pull connectors through their holes in the headliner. If you bolt the headliner up tight and forget to do this, it's a bit too tight to fish them out.
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Clean all the ceiling bits and pieces and reinstall.
Then reinstall the pillar covers in the same way they were removed.
A tip on the b-pillar covers, put the screw in the hole at the top first, then engage your philips screwdriver first, then move the whole panel to the pillar and screw it in partway. If you try to install the screw after the pillar is already mounted to the car you will just lose the screw in the hole. You'll try to fish it out and it'll either get lodged in there and you'll need to remove the panel to retrieve it or you'll drop the screw in the seatbelt mechanism below. Hold the screw and move the panel, screw, and screwdriver to the pillar as one unit.

And here it is on my MK4 Jetta, reinstalled and looking great. The dents will go away as it sits out in the sun and all the foam settles. Did that on my Audi, and looks great now. Looks stock.
-And isn't that a bit of a disappointment? All this work for something that, when executed properly, doesn't even warrant a thought? -But when it doesn't look right it attracts attention like a moth to a light. Ah well, looks great now!

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[forrest resto`s]

WOW! what an incredible write up!.. great job.. I am going to do this on my daughters car soon.. and even tho I own a shop this will be a great help! thanx!!

 

[PGM jetta]

Excellent write up with excellent detail and pictures. This should be added to the how-to list

 

[hskrdu]

Thanks for doing a new how-to! So many of the other sites and and old posts have lost their pictures or have broken links. These kind of posts help make Fred's the go-to resource for DIY projects.

 

[volmaniac]

Ours came out through the driver's side rear passenger pretty easy.

 

[Blacktree]

Great write-up!

My Jetta also has the side-curtain airbags, and the headliner is starting to sag. I've been putting it off, because I was a little intimidated by the special clips for the pillar trim (specifically, the part that snaps into the chassis). The Bentley manual says those clips are destroyed when removed. And apparently they're no longer available.

So my question to you is, how did you re-install the pillar trim without damaging those clips?

 

[hskrdu]

Great write-up! So my question to you is, how did you re-install the pillar trim without damaging those clips?

The OP and others will chime in also, but in my experience the easiest way to remove those clips is with a long hook tool (found in many car trim removal tool kits), and that removal and re-installation did not require replacement. The hard part with putting them back in (depending on your model) is accessing that area, otherwise there was no damage when removing (unless you pull the trim away without removing the thin metal clip itself).

 

[4loops]

I forgot to mention that the sunroof needs to be reset to the "0" position after manually moving it. Basically, remove the motor, cycle the motor through all its positions, then reinstall with the actual sunroof glass in the closed position. Otherwise, the sunroof will not open to the desired position.

Procedure, Copied from this forum:

If your sunroof refuses to close fully when the potentiometer is in the "roof closed" position, this is what you need to do:

1. Take off the sunroof motor cover.
2. Get the sunroof as close to the fully closed position as possible, either by messing with the switch a bit or using the "emergency operation" hex key located on the back of the sunroof motor cover. If you're using the key and the sunroof seems a bit hard to move, try pushing the key in a bit further. The sunroof should then become much easier to move.
3. Detach the sunroof motor. It is held in place with three T25 screws. One of the screws is a bit hard to reach, so if your Torx bits aren't long enough, you might be able to get by with removing only two screws.
4. With the harness still attached to the motor, turn the ignition on. If you weren't able to remove one of the screws in step 3, tilt the motor a bit so that it is able to move about freely. Cycle the sunroof switch through the following positions: roof tilted, roof closed, roof opened, roof closed.
5. Keep the ignition on and re-attach the motor. The Bentley manual discourages from re-using the screws, but I didn't see a problem with it. The torque spec is 3.5 Nm.
6. Test the sunroof operation. Everything should now be back to normal.

If you happen to be swapping the motor on a properly-working sunroof, make sure that: the ignition is off, a door is open, and sunroof is in the closed position. Otherwise, you'll have to reset the motor using the steps above.

 

[4loops]

Great write-up!
The Bentley manual says those clips are destroyed when removed. And apparently they're no longer available.

So my question to you is, how did you re-install the pillar trim without damaging those clips?

I always take the Bentley manuals with a grain of salt. They're such a detailed manual, they're bound to get some information wrong or not have the easiest method in mind. -Learned that with my B5 4.2 swap, and trying to follow electrical diagrams.

While I don't have a Bentley for my Mk4, I'd be willing to bet they don't say anything about prying the top of the pillar's plastic out to see the top clip, and inserting an awl, a screwdriver, or hook into the clip and pulling upwards to remove. I'm betting they just say "yank away" in more germanic-english terms.. -and get more clips if they break.

Look over the first part of my posts again, around the A-pillar and D-pillar cover removal. You can see there is a metal clip that attaches to the plastic pillar-cover, and slides down over another metal clip attached to the actual pillar. If this is pulled up, it frees the pillar cover to pop off. In one of the images I put the clip that belongs on the plastic pillar cover, slid it onto the clip that's still on the car. Granted, in that picture it shows that the clip attached to the car has one of the two spring-clip ears broken off. I just got a little impatient when removing and accidentally snapped an ear off. Go easy and this won't happen. If it does, like mine, it will be fine when the metal clip (the plastic pillar-cover one) slides back over it to lock it in place. I hope the images capture the design/operation of the clips and how they lock together. I don't know how else to describe it in words. A video would be handy, but I've already passed that point, sorry!

And if you do break them off and there are none to be found in the aftermarket as you say, I can say that I find a lot of Mk4s in the junk-yard. You could go and "practice" on those a bit to find some more clips!

-Good luck.

 

[Genesis]

One caution: Do not replace those airbag covers without functional clips!

If the airbag deploys without the clip securing that panel you will EAT IT. The point of the airbag is to protect you from serious injury, not impale you with pieces of the vehicle's interior.

If, for whatever reason, you cannot re-secure the covers properly then disable the airbag system entirely (e.g. fuse-pull, etc.) It's far better to not have it and rely on the seat belts in a wreck than to have it, get in an accident, and have an A-pillar cover sticking out of your forehead when they find your corpse.

 

[4loops]

Hmm.. Good point. Very good point Genesis. I was thinking the same thing actually.. I don't want these things driving through my head if I ever were to get into a crash and the airbags deploy. I was thinking it would be allright to replace with one of the ears still on my clip, since it seemed to hold solidly. But now that someone else is appealing to my own voice of reason and caution, I might seek new pillar-clips just to be on the safe side. It might function perfectly well with one ear still left on, but then again, I'd rather not wish I had found and replaced undamaged clips later, possibly with a pillar cover sticking out of my forehead.
Good point. I think I'll edit my original post to caution here.

This also makes me worry for the many folks who have had their headliner replaced by an auto-interior shop. Would they have broken this clip? -Probably; Would they have replaced the clip if badly damaged? -Probably not. I'm thinking this must be the scary truth!

 

[4loops]

Well I'm searching for those clips too at the moment. Yea, it is hard to find these things. I've found only one place online that has these: ECSTuning, and yes, at their crazy prices. $40 for some clips and a removal tool is absurd.
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-volkswagen-audi-parts/pillar-trim-installation-kit/t10078kt/

I'm going to stop by a VW dealership next time I pass one and ask their service department if they have one. Most of the time the dealer is actually a good cheap resource for tiny bits like this -believe it or not. Maybe I'll find the same for this clip.

 

[4loops]

Ok, I found the part numbers for the clip and retainer for the upper part of the A-pillars, from this post:
Clip: 1J0 880 385 A
Clamp: 1J0 880 287

Surprisingly, for how much the kit was at ECS, the Clip (one that secures to the A-pillar frame) is only a dollar per. Not bad. ECS prices are all over the place.
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-volkswagen-audi-parts/pillar-clip/1j0880385a/

 

[Blacktree]

While I don't have a Bentley for my Mk4, I'd be willing to bet they don't say anything about prying the top of the pillar's plastic out to see the top clip, and inserting an awl, a screwdriver, or hook into the clip and pulling upwards to remove. I'm betting they just say "yank away" in more germanic-english terms.. -and get more clips if they break.

Here's what the Bentley manual says, in a nutshell:

Use a special tool (T10078) to release the clips. Then remove the pillar trim. Also extract the clips from the pillars with channel-lock pliers and discard them. They will be damaged during extraction, and need to be replaced. Then mount the new pillar clips onto the trim piece. To re-install the trim piece, simply snap it into place.

I imagine leaving the pillar clips in the chassis and trying to line up the trim piece to re-attach it must be a PITA. I'd like to avoid that, if possible.

Edit to add: Nice find! Those pillar clips are the ones that need to be replaced.

 

[Genesis]

On most vehicles you can't get the body piece out of its notch without damaging or destroying it. If you think about it the job of that clip is to NOT let go when a literal bomb goes off behind it; the sides of the cover are forced outward so the airbag can deploy but the cover remains attached to the body of the vehicle.

This isn't a safe place to try to save a couple of bucks.

 

[4loops]

Yea, the one good clip on the drivers side was a bit hard to find the hole in the A-pillar cover and align it just-so to pop it back into place. The clips themselves, once I found the proper part number, are very cheap. I'd just recommend being armed with new clips when doing a headliner job. I'm thinking Bentley says "they will be damaged, get new ones" because it's such a critical clip they recommend installing new known good ones anyway. Makes sense.
I'm ordering my clips now.

 

[Blacktree]

I'm ordering my clips now.

Ditto.

 

[astonishedboy]

Can’t beleive you didn’t go with shag!