How to Properly Remove Wheel Caps on an Audi TT Mk1

Ever notice the small gouges on you rims around the wheel caps? This typically happens when you get one of those inconvenient flat tires in the middle of the night on a lonely road.

This is caused by not reading your owners manual in which it explains the proper removal technique of your wheel caps (fig. 1).  The first instinct is to grab the flathead screw screwdriver located the trunk/boot of the car(fig. 2). I advise not to use any type of screwdriver of prying device, because located right next to the screwdriver is the proper tool for this operation (fig.3). Two things can happen if you pry from the edge of the cap. First, and most obvious, is scratching off the paint on your rims. Secondary is the probability of breaking some internal plastic tabs off during the process.

The proper removal procedure is as follows:

• Look in the trunk for the wheel caps puller, it looks like the number #6 or #9 with a little bent piece at the end
• Insert into any one of the holes that look like hex nuts around the cap (fig.4)
• Pull straight out, cap will pop right off with no damage or scratches (fig. 5)

To reinstall:

• Inspect the removed one and check for broken tabs, replace if needed (fig. 6)
• Align the fake nut pattern with each center spoke, there are notches on the back site that match with the center part of the rim
• Make sure that the tabs will go into the center on the inner hub
• press evenly at the center of the cap and it should pop on
• Avoid start with one side then the other, this can cause damage

 

 

 

 

Figure 6. New Replacement cap next to the broken one