RS6 hood-release/grill-tab failure repaired. Details...
03-13-2006, 10:20 AM
#13
someone could have fabricated a repair part and saved them money on the whole grill replacement
but after the warrantee they'll cash in on them ! LOL...
METAL BABY, USE METAL>
METAL BABY, USE METAL>
03-13-2006, 11:29 AM
#15
New Member
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 193
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: hood-release/grill-tab - Winner
I moved from Alamo, CA to Prescott AZ but haven't changed my user name.
We exchanged e-mails regarding 4.2 tire noise, I think, but I couldn't find your e-mail.
Click on my e-mail address available in my postings (jimmys@cableone.net)
Good photos. Allen bolts make this exchange really great; easy to move RS6 badge to new grill.
I sanded the outside edge of "both" hood release alignment tabs and the grill where they join (note the right angle formed by the tab and grill, shown in your 3rd photo). I then used epoxy QuickSteel to make a triangle wedge filling in the right angle. Assuming the epoxy doesn't come loose over time, this should be a permanent fix.
(Note, I suspect the failure mode is the spring loaded release lever is constantly banging, through normal vibration, on the right tab and eventually fatigues the plastic and breaks the tab off. Notice, that when the hood is closed, no part of the release lever rotrudes thru the grill. The end of the release lever just bangs on the alignment tab.) Time will tell if this cures the problem.
This is my 3rd grill. Both tab failures have occurred at the most inconvenient time - at track days when I just finished a session and needed to open the hood for cool down. (I don't mean to imply tracking the car causes the fatigue failures. Vibration causes the problem.) I used flat bladed screwdriver(s) to re-align the hood release tab so it would protrude thru the normal slot (PITA). My emergency fix was to make a loop with zipties thru a hole in the release arm out thru the grill. This helps keep the release lever somewhat aligned with the slot and the loop allows one to pull on the release arm directly and open the hood.
Hope this helps.
Jim
We exchanged e-mails regarding 4.2 tire noise, I think, but I couldn't find your e-mail.
Click on my e-mail address available in my postings (jimmys@cableone.net)
Good photos. Allen bolts make this exchange really great; easy to move RS6 badge to new grill.
I sanded the outside edge of "both" hood release alignment tabs and the grill where they join (note the right angle formed by the tab and grill, shown in your 3rd photo). I then used epoxy QuickSteel to make a triangle wedge filling in the right angle. Assuming the epoxy doesn't come loose over time, this should be a permanent fix.
(Note, I suspect the failure mode is the spring loaded release lever is constantly banging, through normal vibration, on the right tab and eventually fatigues the plastic and breaks the tab off. Notice, that when the hood is closed, no part of the release lever rotrudes thru the grill. The end of the release lever just bangs on the alignment tab.) Time will tell if this cures the problem.
This is my 3rd grill. Both tab failures have occurred at the most inconvenient time - at track days when I just finished a session and needed to open the hood for cool down. (I don't mean to imply tracking the car causes the fatigue failures. Vibration causes the problem.) I used flat bladed screwdriver(s) to re-align the hood release tab so it would protrude thru the normal slot (PITA). My emergency fix was to make a loop with zipties thru a hole in the release arm out thru the grill. This helps keep the release lever somewhat aligned with the slot and the loop allows one to pull on the release arm directly and open the hood.
Hope this helps.
Jim
03-13-2006, 04:49 PM
#17
New Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 25
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: It really is crappy engineering for a piece that must endure frequent blunt trauma. Weird...
Just amazing; and I agree w/ no.radar. Dumbass stupid "engineering," lack of attention to detail and execution. This is why Mercedes in McLaren/Mercedes of Kimi Raikonen keeps losing: probably THE greatest F1 driver right now. ****ty, unreliable German engineering keeps his car failing, pieces falling off, suspension/airfoil disintegrating. Sad. Yet he keeps scrambling to win in spite of it all.
03-13-2006, 10:44 PM
#18
AudiWorld Super User
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 4,541
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Customer states hood will not open and service light is on.
inspection reveals 'GMC' embossed on the front of the hood. This appears to be a customer modification from factory spec and warranty shall be voided.
