So my 2003 A4 3.0L quattro is starting to show its age a little. Mechanically it appears to still be in good shape (touch wood) but there's a few little things happening, and I wonder if anyone had experienced these. These are all fairly minor, and just mild inconveniences, so sorry if they seem trivial, because I know a lot of people come on here with far more serious issues.

1) Heated seat, driver's side: 1 seems very very hot, whereas it used to be mildly warm. Anything between 2 and 6 is too extreme. This feels like some kind of sensor or something (and I don't want to burn it out completely and ruin the seat leather), but has anyone experienced anything similar, and can tell me whether this is a cheap, quick fix, or something more serious?

2) Center console: that little clippy thing in the handle that keeps the two parts clamped shut has broken. Now, is this something that can be replaced individually, or am I going to get hit with the "Sorry, guv, you're gonna need an entire new center console/armrest" and pay hundreds of bucks for it?

3) Stereo: I have the Audi Symphony with zillions of speakers, and sometimes the sound kind of fades in and out of various speakers, so I suppose this could be a wiring issue or something? Once again, not a major issue, and one I can demonstrate to any decent stereo store, but I'd be interested in case anyone else has had anything similar with their B6 Audi A4, and I don't want to get ripped off if it's something trivial!

Thanks for listening!

Marty.

 

For the seat heater it sounds like the dial switch that adjusts the temperature is messed up. A safe bet is to buy some electrical contact cleaner at an auto supplier. Just spray it into the dial and work it in by turning the dial. If that doesn't work the switch may need to be replaced or the seat heater itself may be on its last legs.

I looked up the armrest in the estimating system we have at my shop and it looks like the only way to fix the clip is to buy the armrest lid. For black leather w/ cupholder (guessing you have black leather) it lists for $149.72, w/o cupholder $159.57. Other colors are similarly priced. You could try to find one at a junkyard but I doubt many places would save something like that. Check with the dealer tho because sometimes smaller parts aren't listed in my system.

I had the same issue with my speakers as well. To fix the problem I unplugged the main wiring harness from each of the doors and used contact cleaner on the plug harness. If that didn't work i removed the interior door panel and cleaned the contacts on the speaker itself. Hope this helps

 

Shokan.com for used parts.

 

Thanks. Some useful info here. I'll contact Shokan (as I've done in the past) about whether the little clippy plastic bit is something I can buy separately.

I'll try the electrical contact cleaner on the seat switch to see if that makes a difference -- thanks for that hint. The speaker job sounds a little more complicated, not sure how I feel about pulling the door stuff out, but I'll look into it