Audi A3 Sun Visor Repair

 It has been rather quiet around the Grant Street Garage for several months. My last blog post was in April, 2022. In May, I had very successful open heart surgery, leading to a summer of rehab, and then in August, I happened upon a home in a retirement community that we loved so much that we moved! We managed (with help from Beyond the Fork in the Road, a marvelous moving company) to pack, downsize, sell our old house and move in just 3 months. But that didn't leave much time for shop fun! Here's a photo of the new place, with Beck TD in the driveway. We kept the Grant Street Garage, so Beck still has a place to live.

Now that we're settled in, I had time today to address a problem in our 2018 Audi A3 Convertible that happened while on a trip to Myrtle Beach in October. While driving down, I moved the driver's side sun visor to the side window, and the visor snapped off in my hand! Here it is, with the mount also pictured. 

You may have noted that there is a wire extending from the mount. That's for the lighted mirror. My guess is that having those wires in there are what compromised the shaft and let it snap in two. I quickly determined that I could do without that light.

I checked eBay for several weeks looking for a used visor, with no real success. I found one for only $25, but it was in England, and shipping was also $25! I found many for sedans in the $60 to $75 price range, and even found one sedan visor for $35 that I bought, just to try. No luck. Too big, and a different mounting system. The cheapest new price was $125 on the web. The local dealer wanted $250, installed.

I decided to try to repair it using an adapter that held the remains of the broken shaft. After a couple hours of whittling on a piece of 1/2" aluminum with the lathe and mill, here's what I came up with. The shaft diameters and lengths are carefully made to be a tight fit in the original plastic bracket. I am actually amazed that I got the bracket apart and back together without destroying it, because it was clearly designed to snap together exactly once, very permanently.

And here it is snapped together! I had to assemble and disassemble it to mark the spot to cut that groove for the locking tabs. Once again, careful work and good luck kept the plastic from detonating. You can see one of two threaded holes in the face for set screws to lock the shaft to the new adapter.

And here it is on the visor. After taking the picture, I tightened the set screws, and they disappeared into the housing.

Then, it was out to the car to give it a try. I held my breath, because I knew this design had added about half an inch to the length of the pivot - the shaft had broken off inside the bracket, but I had to extend it to be able to have room for the set screws. Thankfully, it all still works.

And here it is rotated to the side window - the operation that broke it in the first place. I think we're good here.

So, a good result! I'm the sort that will always notice that the visor no longer sits exactly level, but every time I notice it, I'll just say, "I Saved One Hundred Twenty Five Dollars!" and smile...