As most of you know (or maybe you don't), there is a vent behind the rear driver's-side trim that has the function of relieving cockpit air pressure when the doors and rear hatch is closed by allowing air to escape through the vent into the rear quarter panel which is open to the outside air. And as most of us know, the hatch in the coupe is particularly difficult to close due to trapped air and often requires, annoyingly, more than one attempt to get it closed. This is actually one of the reasons the Window Valet product is popular, as, among other functions, it allows the windows to be lowered using the remote key fob so the hatch can be closed more easily.

Mrs. Patches (besides complaining she needs yet more power in her recently modded A4 ) has remarked at how difficult it is to close the hatch in her coupe. She has a Window Valet but it isn't always practical (raining or keys not in hand) to use it. So I decided to try and reduce the force necessary to close the hatch.

Knowing the vent is back there . . .


. . . I pulled the left cubby door and vertical trim panels off (being careful to unplug the light before pulling the vertical panel off all the way) to reveal the vent and try and figure out why it is so ineffective.


A closeup of the vent. When I blew on the flaps from a foot away, they flapped easily in the breeze so it doesn't appear the vent itself is the problem. It seems enough air is not getting to the vent to relieve the inside pressure enough. I suspected the trim panel might be impeding the passage of the air.


I tried closing the hatch with the trim panels removed and it was considerably easier to close with one hand, although, not quite as easy as with the windos open. Still, it was an improvement. I looked at the backside of the panel that resides in front of the vent and found a piece of foam glued to the trim panel that sits right in front of the vent and effectively blocks most of the air trying to push out.


I decided to trim away the offending foam to see if it would allow air to pass through more freely.


I replaced the trim pieces and asked Mrs. Patches to close the hatch with the windows up and she commented that it was indeed somewhat easier to close. I decided to leave it that way for a while and follow up with her for the next couple of weeks to see if it truly made a difference in her day-to-day activites. If not, I plan to pull the trim piece out completely and see if that improves the situation. Worst-case, I figure I can cut some slots in the trim to allow air to travel directly through the tirm to the vent rather than through the hatch retainer pin holes, latch and trim edges to try and reach the vent.

 

Niec. I actually blocked mine off to reduce noise in the cabin. but my hatch only takes a light touch after lowering to stick in place.

 

Nicely done Ed.... ...

 

my drivers side window performs the same function as the vent, when I shut my hatch lid, the window pops out sideways.... in retrospect, your method seems perferable.

 

When you compare the surface area of the trunk lid to the vent size, it may be that the vent is just too small to release enough air to allow the lid to easily close.
It may be that the only way you will be able to close the trunk without slamming it is to increase the area of the vent.

 

That's a cool write up. I dislike having to reclose the hatch once I lower it and go inside the car just to find out my interior lights are still on.

 

Great pics and story.

 

Nice write-up Patches. Will be looking for your follow-up on this to see just how well it works.

 

Have the same problem with mine so will be waiting to hear your results with open ears!!

 

Nice writeup Ed. (But then I've come to expect that from you). I don't have a Coupe but a Convertible with a partician that doesn't allow the air pressure to balloon the vert top anymore (that used to help). So this engineering mod interests us Vert/FRC owners as well as you Coupe folks. It's not that much of an effort to latch the deck lid, but what the hell it's winter in the Northeast and I'm lookin' for cheap mods. (I haven't looked for a factory vent yet, but I will).

 

I guess I am missing the part where it's hard to close the hatch.

-Alex

 

How about another tact, has anyone tried to fit the C6's "hatch pulldown" into a C5? The C6 has a powered hatch pulldown that takes over when you close the hatch.

 

Great pics and story but I have never had any problem closing my hatch.

 

Wouldn't the window valet be an acceptable second place to the actual vent in the back. Press the button and insta vents, press again and they close after you.

 

Hot damn, me too! That's why I bought the Window Valet! This problem really got on my nerves. I'd like to see a Coupe that doesn't have this problem. The only thing that would keep this from being a problem is if the air is escaping from somewhere else...like the window seals?

 

Great tip

 

To follow up:

Mrs. Patches thanked me Friday for fixing her hatch. She had no trouble closing it with the doors closed and windows up this week and said it was good to go as is. That's a good sign because she's a wee bit of a woman (see below) so this bodes well for anyone else wanting to do a quick test on their's as well. The hatch locks are very firm on this car as it's got less than 12K miles on it (we bought it, an '02, last April with only 6700 on it).