Loose exterior A-Pillar trim

[ryanjl]

Driving on a highway this weekend in 25-35 mph wind and rain. Heard a muffled "pop" near the windshield and then a low-toned wind whistle. Once I got to my destination I determined that the passenger side exterior A-pilar trim was a little loose, but no amount of force would pop it back in. Did a quick fix with some electrical tape ran along the seam between the trim piece and the windshield, which silenced the noise and confirmed that the trim piece was the culprit.

Saw this thread and it seems like a common problem:

http://www.landroverworld.org/threads/issues-with-my-lr4-2010-hse.25089/#post-143020

Called my dealer and was advised that my CPO warranty probably wouldn't cover it as it was considered a trim piece. No big deal, as I doubt this is that difficult a job and new fasteners aren't that expensive.

But how do you remove this particular trim piece?

I am guessing it's similar to this video, only without the initial plastic fastener that he removes at the outset?

 

[mbw]

Manual just shows 5 clips. You pull aggressively. It says to re-install new clips must be used.

 

[ryanjl]

I swung by my dealer on my lunch break and bought a set of new clips for around $20. Hopefully I can pull it off without damaging the trim panel itself.

 

[BrandonM7]

The wife's RRS had it happen once. She just swung by a body shop that has done work for us and the guy replaced the clips and stuck it back on free of charge in about one minute. It's common enough that Atlantic British sells a "repair kit" with all of the clips, so I ordered two of those to put in the tire tool storage area of both vehicles in case it happens again far from home.

 

[ryanjl]

The removal is just as the video indicates (minus the exterior fastener). You have to pull a bit harder than you think you should.

The trim piece uses five replaceable fasteners (which come in the kit from Land Rover) which hold it to the A-Pillar and two "guides" (one near the top of the trim piece and one near the bottom). The guides do not hold the trim piece to the car but rather just keep it from moving laterally once it is installed.

If you ever need to remove this trim piece, buy the whole kit of removable fasteners: every single one of them broke when I removed the trim piece. Further, all but one of them broke so that the fasteners were still stuck inside the A-pillar as I removed the trim piece (I'm assuming the one fastener that came out with the trim pice was the one that broke inside the A-Pillar and led to my problem in the first place). I had to work on the four remaining fasteners with some tools to finally get them all out.

Such a strange job.

 

[TCM75]

Mine popped off a bit on the highway. Luckily it will never come off completely as the hood has to be open to remove the bottom portion. I traced it back to a sloppy job at installing the sealant when a new windshield was installed. Extra sealant did not allow the clips to fully engage near the top end.

Just need to get your fingers around the edges and give it a quick tug away from the vehicle, perpendicular to the surface of the a-pillar fairing.