VW door panels

["S. Joseph Mann" <joem@pswtech.com>]

Don (or anyone),

Can you get us the VW part numbers for the clips and the vapor barrier
for the Jetta GLXs?  I'll try to work up a new tech procedure for Mark
Radelow's new Jetta page. Or any of the Jetta pages for that matter. If
I wind up doing my own doors, I will take photos of the guts of the door
and the procedure.

Joe Mann
a.k.a. - Jettamann


deecee@exit109.com wrote:

> At 03:22 PM 7/28/97 -0700, you wrote:
> >The door panels on our cars suck!  After getting no where with my
> local
> >area dealers, I finally forked $200 to a competent third-party shop
> to
> >have them fixed (post 2/24k warranty, of course...).  The problem (at
>
> >least mine) stemmed from lousy (and cheap) VW engineering.  The door
> >panels on the car are held on by cheap plastic fastners that are good
> for
> >(at most) two removal cycles.  Thereafter, the fasteners get stripped
> and
> >you pretty much have to replace them.  In addition, on pre-1996
> models
> >like mine, VW left out the insulation tape btw. its door panels and
> the
> >door frames.  Consequently, my loose doors made that much more noise.
>
> >
> >My third party guys were aware of the VW fix (ie - apply tape...).
> But,
> >as Chris pointed out, that works for about one hot summer...  So, my
> guys
> >replaced all the mounting hardware and then applied a silicon jelly
> to
> >the door frame where it meets the panel.  Viola - no more door panel
> >rattles - in fact my panels seem tighter than when the car was new...
>
> >They really don't make any noise, period... (Plus the jelly isn't
> nearly
> >as ugly as the tape, because it can be applied more precisely.)  Of
> >course, the silicon might run if the car gets really hot, but it
> hasn't
> >yet and in the meantime my doors are rattle free...
> >
> >You might be able to do all this yourself for at less cash...  The
> >mounting hardware for all four doors is roughly $80.  Just pull 'em
> off
> >and apply tape or jelly and replace...
> >
> >Anyway, good luck - hope you dealers are better than mine...
> >
> >- JC
> >
> >James, As a VW tech I agree with you that our trim parts are
> terrible. It
> seems to me that everything is made to go together and not come apart.
>
> Henceforth "one way clips" Whenever I take off a door panel I will
> replace
> all the clips and the vapo barrier. If you think the A3 is bad try
> taking a
> door panel off a Fox without having the clips break. Next to
> impossible.
>
> Don