Decklid spoiler remove & replace

[CBeau]

IAnyone familiar with what's under there to seal off bolt holes? I had to have decklid painted a ways back and I know spoiler had to come off and now with heavy rain - water.... like lots of water is getting into the innards of the decklid and then when open it comes pouring out the holes in corners of fabric cover. And I'm sure that's why my latch has stopped working. Really p-sses me off.... esp. Bc I let "friends" shop do the paint work which turned out fine.... but never do bus. With friends. I looked under fabric cover I can see bolts/nuts holding spoiler on, but seems the plastic panel near lic. Plate area might need come off to fully remove the fabric panel and get full access to latch mechanism etc.?? I was so p-sses I just stopped messing with it but I need fix. I've removed plenty similar pieces in past it's usually some combo of mechanical fastener and foam core double sided tape maybe some sealing rings or something.... just tought I'd ask. I'm lazy. Thanks.

[Bigglezworth]

I have no diagrams and not removing mine to look, but logic suggests that there is a "seal" or "grommet" that runs the full length of the spoiler to stave off water infiltration that would then leak down in to the cavity of the trunk like what you're experiencing.

[Other_Erik]

IAnyone familiar with what's under there to seal off bolt holes? I had to have decklid painted a ways back and I know spoiler had to come off and now with heavy rain - water.... like lots of water is getting into the innards of the decklid and then when open it comes pouring out the holes in corners of fabric cover. I looked under fabric cover I can see bolts/nuts holding spoiler on, but seems the plastic panel near lic. Plate area might need come off to fully remove the fabric panel and get full access to latch mechanism etc.??

Quoted for brevity

There are a couple of screws hidden under fabric pop-outs that hold the fabric cover in place. Once you get those out, you'll have full access to the latch mechanism and actuator. Water infiltration has probably fried the actuator motor, so I'd start there if anywhere.

As for what seals the bolt holes - there should be a gasket all along the underside of the spoiler, your friend's shop probably didn't have that particular part and likely just sealed the bolt holes with a layer of silicone caulk. I tried that with a previous car and ended up with all 3 bolt holes allowing some water in, it's quite tricky to get the right amount of caulk to lay just right to actually seal off the hole.

Call up your closest stealership and tell them you need the seal for the decklid spoiler and they should be able to order up for you. If it's not too much hassle, could you post up the Audi Part Number in this thread when you order?

Undo the bolts that hold the spoiler in place, remove, clean both mating surfaces really really well, like no trace of any contaminants at all. Then apply the gasket to the spoiler itself. When you put the bolts back in place, consider using a silicone hose washer on each side of the decklid sheet metal. Tighten the bolts just enough to hold the spoiler in its proper position. Take a step back and confirm proper alignment. Once all is confirmed, peel off the backing material for the side of the gasket that touches the decklid. After that, tighten down those bolts that hold the spoiler to the decklid, and put something heavy on each end of the spoiler for at least an hour to allow it to seal properly to the decklid (I used a couple of college textbooks in a stack on mine, not sure how well they'd balance on the RS6 spoiler). Once you're done with that, give your car a proper wash to confirm that it's a good watertight seal (no infiltration inside the trunk) before you re-attach the fabric inner cover.

Hope that helps!

O_E