# TT Mk1 Roadster Wind Deflector Belt Replacement Guide



## IPG3.6 (Sep 5, 2015)

So i went to use the deflector and lo and behold - it raises one sided! [smiley=bigcry.gif]

Only thing that this would be is the belt not functioning properly or the spline mechanism is broken. So ... i bought a belt which is equivalent of part number 8N7862997 . This ebay link was the best price i could find for it. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Audi-TT...812083?hash=item3d9c271533:g:9PoAAOSwiylXAtZZ seller is "shyruk2000"
I used this page to help me get through it but thought i'd share my tips to add onto this resource https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?7040460-DIY-Wind-Deflector-Belt-Replacement

Here's the belt on the bonnet. It looks of good quality and is ribbed on one side and smooth on the other









To access the belt you need to remove the glass cover panel. With the ragtop raised - you can push the sides of this panel in and down to unclip it from it's fitting. It's only held in by tension and no screws or push clips to deal with.









Once the glass cover panel was removed (by lowering the roof bit by bit until i was able to remove the panel) I could instantly see why the deflector was raising wonky.
















You can see that this belt has definitely had it's days!









There's a small clip on each side that needs removal. It's quite hidden but can be easily removed by using a flathead as so.
















There's a small lock that needs to be shifted to the centre of the vehicle.









The cover panel is held in with pop rivets so they need to be drilled out. Easy enough! I just used some allen keys that can fit in the hole after the head was off to push the rest of the rivet out








Once the rivets are off you can simply lift the belt cover panel out









Exciting part! Time to install the new belt. It's quite taught so i had to employ a few strategies to get it on.








As the belt couldn't move over the lock washer i decided to push it off to give a few extra mm to get the belt on the spindle's cog.








I also needed to use a screwdriver to slightly stretch the replacement belt so the teeth could slide onto the cog. I levered on the head of the cog to get the *non motorised* side on.








Once that was on and pushed home on both sides I replaced the lock washer









Now we go back the way we came! I didn't have any rivets on hand to replace the belt cover but I had some bolts and nuts that fit perfectly through the rivet holes. I only fixed one bolt each side. It's quite sturdy this way.









Finally, I sprayed some lithium grease onto the threads to ensure a smooth action. Throughout the whole process I kept touching the thread of the spindle and it felt very sticky and there was also some caked up material (could've been grease?) which seemed to make the movement quite resistant. Not good. I made sure to try and remove all the old stuff and also added plenty of lithium grease where I could get it and then used WD40 with the long reach flexible neck to get lube into the lowest threads.









After this it's all a matter of cleaning up the metal shavings, *make sure the spindle threads are clean of shavings too*, then go back the way you came.
- Shift the locking slides back to their outer positions.
- Replace the two small locking tangs. The "curved" bit I placed toward the centre of the car. You'll feel the recessed where these go.
- Raise the roof a tad to get the rear glass cover roughly into place (panel with 3 stripes).
- Then lower rag top all the way to have room to manoeuvre the panel back to where it belongs. You might need to be a bit forceful here.

Now you can test the function








... sorry i was slow to make the window raise. I mustn't have pressed the button enough to make it raise! :lol:

So happy this is working again!!! 8)


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## silkman (Jul 29, 2004)

Great write-up (although I dont have a roadster).


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## droopsnoot (Sep 5, 2002)

Thanks for that. This is a job I need to do on my car when I get chance. Cheers also for the link to the seller.


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## IPG3.6 (Sep 5, 2015)

No worries guys! Hope it helps.

One of those things that local sellers MIGHT have an equivalent for cheaper (I mean many things would run off a poly belt) but I couldn't be bothered hunting around after seeing that eBay seller's item which was much lower than any other place.

@droopsnoot - get into it my friend! It wasn't that hard to be honest. Just some tricky parts but hopefully the write up helps make it go faster for you


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## gjdelport (Oct 18, 2021)

Very helpful and accurate description. I successfully replaced the toothed belt by following the steps. The only warning I would add is to not test the mechanics without locking the top bar and clips in place, I broke some plastic parts by doing so, fixable luckely.


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## droopsnoot (Sep 5, 2002)

I forgot to add that I did mine last summer, a relatively easy job thanks to the guide. My only regret is that I didn't charge up my drill before starting the job, so drilling out the last rivet took longer than it should have done. It was a little slow after I'd done the job - perhaps because it hadn't been used for a couple of years - so I got some suitable grease and put it on the plastic threads and ran it up and down a few times, and it's fine now.


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## BenOfTheNorth (Sep 14, 2020)

Patience is key with this one if you're quick to get angry too 😆 I did this and it started raining half way through - not fun. Was very satisfying when done though, especially as I had my window stuck in a left hand side up, right hand side down position - which looked utterly ridiculous.

Are the belts any more affordable yet? (Excluding that American company that doesn't want to ship to the UK)


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## droopsnoot (Sep 5, 2002)

I bought mine from the US company, they didn't complain at shipping to the UK in April 2020. I contacted them when their web site said they were shut down for the first Covid lockdown, and they confirmed that they were popping in every few days and shipped them quite promptly. I then didn't do anything about replacing it for a year or so.

I guess at the end of the day it's just a toothed belt of a particular size, so it's just down to finding a belt supplier and getting the correct one.


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## rodhotter (Dec 30, 2011)

as usual the best how to with pics. got mine done from a VWVortex post but not as concise + not seeing the U clips i broke some plastic corner trim. i got my belt from polybelts.com @ a fraction of OE ripoff pricing


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