DIY: MK4 Broken Glove Box Door Repair And Modification! Pics Inside!

[vasillalov]

Hi folks,

About a week ago one of my co-workers broke my glove box door while she was attempting to get her wallet/purse out of my glovebox. Of course, she knew nothing about using finesse when opening and closing the glove box door, and naturally it snapped!

I thought: GREAT! What a wonderful Christmas present!

Today I had a chance to look around the glove box and actually I fixed everything very easily. I did some modifications on the glove box to avoid future damage.

DISCLAIMER:

I am not responsible for any damage inflicted to you, your vehicle, your pet or your signifficant other by using this DIY. It comes with no warranty or guarantee for sucess. It is provided to you free of charge and you are welcome to modify it as much as you like for your own purposes. Use it as a pictorial guide only!

PARTS AND TOOLS NEEDED:

1. Various screwdriver bits: torx, flat head and phillips.
2. Superglue (I used the Walmart brand)
3. A small drill or utility knife
4. Couple of drops of clean engine oil or other liquid lubricant

STEP 1: DISASSEMBLY:

Notes: First off, let me shed some light on the glove box assembly. The globe box door is held with two hinged to the glove box cage. Also, there are two arms that restrict how much you can open the glove box door. Finally, there is a pneumatic shock on the right side of the glove box which connects the glove box door with the actual glove box compartment. The purpose of this pneumatic shock is to slow down the movement of the door instead of just letting it slam open.

The problem however is that this pneumatic shock is too stiff, especially when it is cold. It is because the shock is too stiff COMBINED WITH USER IMPATIENCE, that the the door hindes break so often.

Here, I am offering a cheap, easy repair of the broken hinge AND a modification of the shock so that the chance of it breaking again is minimal.

1. Start by carefully opening the glove box and emptying the contents.
2. With the door open, carefully pry off the side dash panel:

3. Here is how my glove box broke:

4. From the side of the dash, look inside and close to where the glovebox door attaches to the dash. You should see something like this:

5. Remove this round plastic pint. This pin is part of the hinge machanism.

6. Here is how the shock looks like:

7. Here is where the shock mounts to the glove box:

8. Your goal is to remove the shock along with the broken hinge part out of the glove box. You can see that the shock twists in the shock mount as you open and close the glove box door.

9. Using a torx bit, disassemble the shock mount from the broken hinge piece:

10. Next, remove the hinge connector from the top of the shock:

STEP 2: SHOCK MODIFICATIONS:

1. Pry off the white plastic cap from the shock. Be carefull as it is spring loaded and things will fly off.

2. Here is how the shock looks like from the inside:

Basically, you have a piston in a closed cylinder and a return spring.

3. Cut some of the spring coils out:

4. Drill a small hole at the back of the shock body:

5. Finally, put about 2-3 drops of clean engine oil or other heat resisting lubricant of your choice inside the shock body. I did not want to use regular grease because the grease also stiffens when cold. Engine oil seemed the right choice.

6. Assemble the shock back. You will notice how much easier it is for the piston to move back and forth. Yet, it still provides some cusioning for the glove box door.

Notes:
*Cutting some of the spring coils will allow for shorter path of piston under tension

*Drilling a hole at the back of the shock will allow air to exit faster and thus you will be able to close the glove box faster without putting too much tension on the hinges

*The oil allows for faster piston movement.

STEP 3: FIXING THE BROKEN PIECES:

1. Using superglue, glue the broken piece of the hinge back to the glove box door:

2. Make sure you line things up correctly so that there is no tension on the hinge.

3. Allow it to dry for couple of hours or overnight.

STEP 4: INSTALLING THE SHOCK MECHANISM:

1. Once you have the hinge glued back together, put the hinge pin in to hold the door in place and travel its normal path.

2. Next, attache the shock back to the shock mount:

3. Close the glove box. This is crucial! You will see how the shock-to-hinge pin mount will line up with the front of the shock. This is the easiest way to do it

4. Finally, slide the pin that connects the shock with the hinge mount.

5. Carefully test the operation of the glove box. You will be pleased with the improvement!

SUMMARY:

It was easy: I did not have to disassemble the glove box or the dash.
It was dirt cheap: paid only $1.06 for the superglue!
It was fast: 2 hours of working 12 hours of waiting for the glue to harden completely

IT WORKS!

Good luck!



Modified by vasillalov at 5:30 PM 12-25-2005

[reflexboosted]

dang, you delivered on the promise of a DIY, you my friend are a man of your word.

nice work

[jetta1.8tbee]

gj

[dubchester]

omg. thank you, same thing happend to me and it so annoying I have to slam it shut to get it to lock and not sag. your a life saver

[Martinus]

Yeah, people break the glove box door ALL the time, ( the little shocks are too stiff, and the door opens too slow. so ) people just reef down on them, and break the catch/stopper.
Happens ALL the time, so much so, that VW actually makes weaker little shocks. ( so the door opens faster. )

If you don't belive me "look into it".

BTW - finally proff, that "cutting springs, makes them stiffer".

[redwagen]

Good write up. I didn't have the patience nor the time to fix mine so I threw it in the garbage

[vasillalov]

bump for those who missed it yesterday

[Andy35]

Great DIY . You definitely deserve a .

[pa2play]

perfect, just what i needed, mine broke last week!

[Adam253]

Nice job on the DIY. I'm sure it will be helpful to numerous people

[Wells]

AWESOME MINE JUST BROKE!!! so glad i found this Thanks alot man

[miniMOJOman]

awesome! Cant wait to do this along with installing my new aluminumum trim in a few weeks.

[Ricky Bobby]

i have some extra jb weld laying around, you think i could use it on the broken hinge and yield the same results? or should i go get some super glue?

great DIY, i plan on using it soon

[spkn^GRMN]

nice work!!!

[vasillalov]

Quote, originally posted by kurtanglevr6 »

i have some extra jb weld laying around, you think i could use it on the broken hinge and yield the same results? or should i go get some super glue?

Well I strongly recommend using superglue in the beginning to attach the broken hinge piece back to the door. The reason is because you have to hold the door in place while the superglue makes the innitial "connection". If you start moving back and forth, you WILL move things out of alignment.

After the initial session of superglue, you could "cement" things with jbweld or whatever you want.

[Ricky Bobby]

Quote, originally posted by vasillalov »

Well I strongly recommend using superglue in the beginning to attach the broken hinge piece back to the door. The reason is because you have to hold the door in place while the superglue makes the innitial "connection". If you start moving back and forth, you WILL move things out of alignment. After the initial session of superglue, you could "cement" things with jbweld or whatever you want.

awesome, thanks for putting this DIY together, saved my 45 bucks on a new glove box

[Ru_VR6]

thanx

[miniMOJOman]

awesome, just did this last night, worked like a charm... although i dont know if I did a great glue job, we'll see how long it lasts.. Thanks a bunch man!

[murkywave]

Thanks for such an easy-to-follow and detailed write up. I just did it, and am waiting for it to set. I used a plastic weld instead of superglue. It looks a bit messy, but I figured the hold would be a bit more permanent.

Thanks again--this was the first Vortex DIY I felt confident enough to actually perform!

[Ricky Bobby]

little super glue last night, little jb kwik weld today, i dont think that the glovebox will ever break again

Thanks for a great DIY

[rider1deep]

excellent diy!!! will do this weekend!

[petch]

mine just broke the other day. looks like i have another diy to add to the list. looks like a great write up though

[bootymac]

I was doing this earlier today but it started to rain. Damn my tiny garage and my GTI's huge doors

How did you removee this pin? I wasn't using any tools and the rain started pouring, so I never got a chance to really try things out

And can you do this if your hinge isn't broken?

[vasillalov]

Quote, originally posted by bootymac »

I was doing this earlier today but it started to rain. Damn my tiny garage and my GTI's huge doors How did you removee this pin? I wasn't using any tools and the rain started pouring, so I never got a chance to really try things out And can you do this if your hinge isn't broken?

Yes, you can remove it when the hinge is NOT broken.
Use a stubby screwdriver to pull the pin out.

[Martinus]

OK, What the hell is a globe box ? there is no way you're getting a regular size globe in there.

Seriously, just buy the new shock ( 50$ ) and glove box door. ( 100$ ) You know, you will just be repeating ALL the steps in a week... because we all know glueing/jb welding stuff back together lasts forever.

[vasillalov]

Quote, originally posted by Martinus »

OK, What the hell is a globe box ? there is no way you're getting a regular size globe in there. Seriously, just buy the new shock ( 50$ ) and glove box door. ( 100$ ) You know, you will just be repeating ALL the steps in a week... because we all know glueing/jb welding stuff back together lasts forever.

HAHA!

Apparently you are missing the point of the MODIFICATION step above. Even if you replace the glove box and the door with new ones, you are still not solving the problem of the shock resistance.

There are people here who are on their 3rd and 4th glove boxes... Would you spend each time $50-100 for new parts?


Modified by vasillalov at 5:47 PM 1-9-2006

[Martinus]

Quote, originally posted by vasillalov »

HAHA! Apparently you are missing the point of the MODIFICATION step above. Even if you replace the glove box and the door with new ones, you are still not solving the problem of the shock resistance. There are people here who are on their 3rd and 4th glove boxes... Would you spend each time $50-100 for new parts?

My 1ST post, about the new/re-designed/updated "shocks" in this thread...

Quote, originally posted by martinus »

Yeah, people break the glove box door ALL the time, ( the little shocks are too stiff, and the door opens too slow. so ) people just reef down on them, and break the catch/stopper. Happens ALL the time, so much so, that VW actually makes weaker little shocks. ( so the door opens faster. ) If you don't belive me "look into it". BTW - finally proff, that "cutting springs, makes them stiffer".

[miniMOJOman]

have had mine fixed for a few weeks, no problems with it, im saving myself 150$ for about 20-30 minutes of total work... I think id rather do that than replace the entire glove box assmbly...

[Martinus]

Quote, originally posted by miniMOJOman »

have had mine fixed for a few weeks, no problems with it, im saving myself 150$ for about 20-30 minutes of total work... I think id rather do that than replace the entire glove box assmbly...

Thats prolly beacuse you know, that its been glued, wait till someone who doesnt know reefs it open...

The 150$ would only get you the door & shock. LOL.
...and while we're taking about glove boxes. All you small glove box guys ( '02 & early-er ) could prolly step up to a large one. ( '03 & '04. )

[slicecom]

I just did the shock mod (my glove box wasn’t broken but the shock was WAY too stiff). I found an "alternate" method though. I took the piston out of the shock and sprayed it with WD40, then wiped it off completely. No need to cut the spring or drill a hole! (I actually drilled a hole but when I put it back together the door came down way too fast so I duct taped it over! It now comes down very fast but in a controlled manner (no need to hold the door, just pull the handle). It can be slammed back up with no ill effects as well.

to vasillalov for making this DIY and inspiring me to fix VW's design flaw that has plagued many for years. EVERYONE SHOULD DO THIS MOD! it takes 5 minutes!

[the7thcircle]

Wish I had read this before I replaced mine last week. Wouldn't have helped me much (my handle is what broke, not the hinge) but it would have been good to modify the shock like that while I was in there.....

[slicecom]

Quote, originally posted by the7thcircle »

Wish I had read this before I replaced mine last week. Wouldn't have helped me much (my handle is what broke, not the hinge) but it would have been good to modify the shock like that while I was in there.....

just do it now! you have to remove 1 little pin to take the shock out, spray the piston with WD40 and put it back in. it literally takes less than 5 minutes!

[VgRt6]

FYI, you can buy a whole new door (in some colors) for only $28.

Gary

[Ricky Bobby]

Quote, originally posted by Martinus »

OK, What the hell is a globe box ? there is no way you're getting a regular size globe in there. Seriously, just buy the new shock ( 50$ ) and glove box door. ( 100$ ) You know, you will just be repeating ALL the steps in a week... because we all know glueing/jb welding stuff back together lasts forever.

For people like me who dont have 150 bucks to blow on something that gets used so little, i think this mod worked great and solved my problem. The superglue alone did the trick, and now that its really cemented together with a little jb weld on top, its not breaking again. FWIW, if jb weld is good enough to keep a coilpack in great shape (something that sees constant abuse and heat from your engine no less) then i think its worthy to keep my glovebox door hinge from breaking apart again. just my opinion

[Come Original]

Quote, originally posted by VgRt6 »

FYI, you can buy a whole new door (in some colors) for only $28. Gary

wow thats a damn good deal!