Nitrousbird Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 Wife's 06 A4. Stock Symphony double din HU. Fucker won't come out...period. I ordered the 4 keys (cheapest ones on E-bay). No go. Got a slightly nicer set @ Walmart. No go. I watched every Youtube video out there on doing it. You simply slide the key in (it looks like a mini, dull, thin knife, with the longer side out), and it is supposed to slide out VERY easily from what the videos show. It doesn't. I hear the fuckers click in (sometimes at least, but I've heard all 4 click). Yet, it will not pull out. Yes, I've seen the trick of pushing towards the outside of the car with the keys, and it doesn't budge. Not even a little bit. I've installed a lot of head units, but never in a stupid German car. Fuck this POS. Any ideas worth anything, from someone who has actually done it (not just a link to a thread from some Audi/VW forum that I've probably already seen). Hell, I've read you can remove these with a mini screwdriver set, thin pearing knife, cut credit card, or even the metal from a hanging drawer folder. I can't even get it out with the proper fucking tool. I'd have been done with everything by now if this was a GM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRN96WS6 Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 You sure there isn't a bolt holding it in towards the rear? I know the fords used to use those keys but also had damn nut on the back of them in some models. That's the only thing I could think that is keeping it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buck531 Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 Jones would probably know . I think you have to pull off the front bumper or something to get the radio out . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossle Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 There is not a bolt on the back... The last A4 I had to do was wiggle it back and forth and ended up pulling the keys outwards towards the sides of the car and out at the same time and it literally popped out to point I would have fallen over backwards if the seat hadn't been there. Don't give up, getting all 4 to click is a great start, it's a pain in the butt and it hurts my fingers when pulling if I'm not wearing gloves. You may also try to pull on one side only and see if you can get it to creep out a little. When you get it out take your time taking the keys out of the slots it is a pain once the head unit is out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neonkiller Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 Some get stuck, Mine did. Only reason I changed mine out was it started not playing CD's.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Jones Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 Like Shanton said, they can get wedged in there good. Either it's stuck in there a bit, (find one of those plastic/putty tools) and see if you can help negotiate it out. Or, in your angry/frustrated attempt to remove it, you have somehow mangled one of the clips. Worst Case: Stick to GM products, and pay someone to assist with this "German POS". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicksredline Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 yeah i worked a vw and the radios are fairly tight in there. he is right just snap all 4 in and pry like hell lol... the stock radio is a heck of a nice unit if its a b7 a4 (great s/q and can get very loud with no problems) may i ask why ur replacing it? anyhow the key to it is keep pulling and then relax and pull it and relax... just gets rilly tight in there. Another help could be turn the car on and let the heat come on maby it will warm up the dash and let the plastic expand a little... just enough to help u squeeze it out of there. sug. tools : keys( ofcourse), plastic prybar / pry stick , bandades from when it hits u in the face after u pull it out... i have cut my hand up pulling one out before so watch out lol. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeye1647545503 Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 http://www.bartcop.com/jpg/012ham.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mensan Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 There are notches in the keys you are using. Make them bigger with a tool like a Dremel. I had to do the same thing with the Porsche. I could get one side out, but not the other. If you do it right, you won't be able to get the keys out until the head unit is out too. Also, stick a screwdriver into the keys and grab the handle to pull it out so you don't hurt your fingers. Good luck, let me know if you want me to come over and help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted January 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Got it out. The face plate ended up popping off, so that will need some minor repair (if it is ever used again). Had to use screwdrivers to get the springs to disengage, and pliers to pull off the now-exposed metal. But that's only half the battle. Because I am using an Eclipse head unit, I have to use the PAC units to retain steering wheel controls. (SWI-CAN and SWI-ECL2). To power those two, plus get outputs for VSS and Reverse, you need the C2R-VW harness (plus it's PAC "processor"). Now is where I was baffled, and where the Audi forums either lied or didn't provide any information. That harness is not designed for this car at all. What i figured out is I needed to simply cut and hardwire the power constant and ground (no biggie). I had to figure out which wires were Can+ and Can- so I could wire those in correctly to the 20 pin harness, which is all figured out. But on the Metra harness, the Acc+ wire has no voltage on it (there is a pin on the factory harness, but no voltage and no documentation as to what it is for), and the parking light output doesn't even have a pin for it on the factory harness (though I can jump that from the output of the C2R-VW unit). The C2R-VW has a Acc+ output, but for some reason I'm not getting any voltage off of it. I only have a test light right now until I go grab my multi-meter from my rental house to see what the full deal is, because I am now thinking the C2R-VW might be defective. The SWI-CAN and SWI-ECL2 look to be working, as I can get an LED out of the ECL2 when I hit the programming button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted January 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 While taking a shower, I think I might have figured out the no Acc+ issue on the C2R-VW; I will know tonight when I can work on it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neonkiller Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 On most VW/Audi's if you notice you can take your key out while the radio still plays. I mean I'm sure you already know this I just figured I would put that out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted January 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 On most VW/Audi's if you notice you can take your key out while the radio still plays. I mean I'm sure you already know this I just figured I would put that out there. A lot of car companies do that (I know GM and Ford offer it, as do some of the Japanese makers). They all have different names for it (RAPS is one that comes to mind); but it's all the same system - just something that keeps power to the Acc+ wire, nothing more. From what I have read further, the Acc+ is told to turn on by the Can Bus, so this is why the Acc+ wire from the standard Metra harness does nothing (not sure what the wire on the factory harness does, but sure as hell doesn't put out +12v. What I forgot to do when testing the Acc+ output from the C2R-VW unit was to re-attach the can signal wires; stupid tired oversite on my part - of course it wasn't on, as it didn't know to be on. So that's my guess on the issue; I'll know tonight for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicksredline Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 glad u got it out and yeah keepin the stearing wheel controols and all is retarded hard lol... to much extra stuff and boxes u need to have back there. glad u got it figured out and working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted January 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 I called off sick from work today with the flu (awesomeness), so I've been working on this a few minutes at a time, depending on how I feel. I got everything working for the most part now: - There is no Acc+ from the C2R-VW like there is supposed to be. It shares the same soldered connections for the SWI-CAN for the Can-Bus info, power, and ground, so that's not the issue. Reason I know for 100% sure is the SWI-CAN ends up having it's own Acc+ output as well - they just decided to put it into a harness that has no output. Don't know why, the wire is even tagged for it. De-pinned that wire, and it works. - Steering wheel controls work too. The instructions for the SWI-ECL2 were semi-correct. Programming the version is 100% correct. They say you are supposed to connect the black wire off the Eclipse remote harness to the white wire on their harness if there is a black wire (but don't state if you are supposed to disconnect the white wire on the Eclipse harness). I just wired up the brown and white wires, and it works, leaving the black disconnected. - Programming the ECL2 is actually much easier than the instructions state. You simply turn the key on and hit the program button. After that, do a quick flick up on the volume wheel. Watch the unit blink. Do the same thing for volume down. For mode, just press the button quickly. Do the same flick up/down for the track wheel. That's it. If you follow the instructions, it doesn't work. Tested all of the functions, and they work great, without the delay some people say happens with the PAC stuff. - Not sure if the C2R-VW is actually working, as I still need to install the GPS antenna (I could tap into the factory sharkfin antenna, but that requires running a jumper wire through the car to where the connector is since this is a non-factory nav car. Also need to mount it and take a test drive to see how all the Nav stuff works. That said, the sound quality is pretty good...I'd say as good, if not better, than the factory head unit (I'd almost say better). I am going to write up a full guide and post it everywhere on what this takes, as the current online info is just plain aweful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted January 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 Update: The C2R-VW unit is faulty. Spoke with PAC tech support and they agree. There is good power/ground at the connection point to the module. Can info is working on the SWI-CAN, so that shouldn't be an issue, as it shares the same harness. Also, for some reason, I am getting zero bars for the GPS. The antenna is hooked up, and should be working fine. Have it outside, put antenna on my hood for testing, and no go. I e-mailed Eclipse to see if they had any troubleshooting info for that, as I see nothing online. I don't have a spare GPS antenna to test with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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