Is there an "upgraded" Glovebox?

[G Men 08]

My glovebox fell to submission of broken pin mounts like many others have. I pulled the entire glovebox and peeled the front skin off, found both pins, and one of the broken pieces of the pin mounts, but not the other.

I am sure I could use some sort of glue or epoxy to hold one side together but who knows how long that would last. The magnetic kit from FixmyVW is certainly an option but I would rather not ride around with an empty hole where my latch used to be.

There are many parts cars out there where I am sure I could find another unit but I figured I would ask around to see if maybe VW came up with a better design for the latch mounting pins etc.


Thanks!

 

[tjsean0308]

I think this site will have what you need.

http://www.fixmyvw.com/glove-boxes-repair-kits/

 

[G Men 08]

Yes, that is the unit I was referring to above with the magnets.

 

[Second Turbo]

Ours just failed last night.

> I think this site will have what you need.

Based on the customer comments there, that repair kit apparently replaces the existing upper corner rubber stops with magnets, and I assume matching metal strike plates. If so, the kit will get the door to stay closed, but if it's not locking now, I'd guess it still won't lock after repair.

Replacing the entire door with new, or the whole box assy, raises the question of whether the new lock would work with the existing key. Unless you order through a dealer using VIN matching, I have no guesses on that, but decided not to go that route either.

In our case, part of the top of one pivot post had broken off. Enough of the post was left that I drilled the center through for 6-32 clearance, and retained the actuator arms with 6-32 flat head machine screws, countersunk into the inside face of the door, and capped with #6 fender washers and jam nuts (nylon insert nuts would have worked too). Might now be good for another 325,000 miles .

Having a service manual eased the job quite a bit, as several other bits of trim, and the 01M shift handle, theoretically need to be removed to get the box assy out, and it helps to know where the hidden clips are. In our case, I actually wouldn't have needed to remove the center console, because the glovebox tab exposed by that removal had already broken off a long time ago. That might be common.

Also discovered that the door's left hinge arm was not shutting off the interior light with door closed, and modified that to work as well. The lamp had probably been burned out since late 2002, and we'd just assumed the box had no light. Might replace the lamp with LED.

Most of the glovebox plastics are ABS, so in addition to epoxy, any PVC/ABS plumbing or conduit cement will work, if you work fast. I used PVC cement to secure the hinge arms, but 5-min epoxy to re-skin the door.

 

[ig109]

I fixed our glovebox over the weekend.. I pulled the entire assembly off of the dash.. Pulled the two plastic pins holding the door itself on.. found a loose area and put on some cut resistant gloves and hulked the door apart.. It is two pieces that were bonded together with some pretty decent glue.. I then inspected and repaired the mechanism that latches the door.. reassembled the door into the assembly put it back in car to check for operation and it works fine.. two screws were placed in the cam mechanisms to hold them on.. I have some 3M two part epoxy that comes with a special nozzle that mixes it as it flows to glue it back together with..

BTW.. To fix the latch in my case I had everything laying around so it was a cost of only some glue..

Thinking perhaps I should start a business on the side doing these things.. once the screw is in there it will never break again.. Do a ship me yours and I will ship you a fixed one type of thing..

I only wish I had taken the time to remove the soft touch crap...