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How I fixed a Rs, 9,000 glovebox lock on my Octavia for just Rs. 5

2nd February 2024, 14:09 by Ananth Iyer

The overall length of the brake element has increased by about 7 mm. I feel there is a initial moment when the glove box is free falling after which the brake element catches it and slows it down. But hey, I did not have to spend Rs. 9,000 so I am happy.

BHPian vaibhavyagnik recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

While trying to troubleshoot why there was a no communication fault on the rain and light sensor, I needed to access the BCM. The BCM resides behind the glove box on the left side of the cabin air filter element. I removed the glove box but in the process broke the hook of the "Brake Element" which opens the glove box softly.

The part itself is made entirely of plastic. I tried to join the hook portion back to the neck using Fevicol ALLFix all purpose adhesive and left the part for drying for 24 hours. However after 24 hours, the strength that needs to be there in the hook was not present.

I searched online for the part which was difficult but eventually I found the part number which 5E2 880 324. Skoda-parts.com had the part in stock, which was retailing at 16 Euros. 1450 Rs for a plastic part is pretty steep, but what stopped me from buying it and going DIY was the shipping price. It was 75 Euros! I wasn't ready to pay close to 9000 Rs for a piece of plastic!

Time to wear my thinking hat. Ideas ranged from heating the two pieces and plastic welding them together to cutting a nut in half and then attaching it to the neck of the brake element. Both the ideas were dropped because since they posed their own problems. How was I supposed to melt two small portions of the plastic or how was I supposed to attached a half cut nut to the plastic neck.

I then turned to my box of knick knacks and found some self tapping hooks which are meant to be used with wood. Could this hook be threaded in to the brake element?

I decided to give it a go. The first order of buisness was to make a pilot hole so the self tapping hook has something to latch on to. I took a very thin wood nail from the same box of knick knacks and proceeded to heat the nail on the stove till it was red hot. I then carefully melted a hole on to the centre of the neck of the brake element.

I then started threading in the hook. First thread hooked on without any problems.

As I was finding it difficult to grip the hook and turning it simulaneously, I helf the hook with a pair of pliers and rotated the brake element carefully to thread the hook fully. My main fear was that I might split the plastic in half but thankfully, that did not happen. At last, the hook was threaded in fully.

It was time to fit the glove box brake element and test if it worked. Here is a short video of before and after.

Unfortunately I do not have any video or photos of how I fixed the glove box and the brake element because it is a two hand job.

DIY is far from perfect. The overall length of the brake element has increased by about 7 mm. I feel there is a initial moment when the glove box is free falling after which the brake element catches it and slows it down. But hey, I did not have to spend 9000 Rs so I am happy.