M-Tech TT

Recently while detailing the inside of the car my son-in-law broke the glove compartment latch. The latch is held in place by two pegs that the latch pivots on. The upper peg was still intact but the bottom one broke off. I've read on other forums where people have replaced the pegs with a rivot and JB weld. I believe my way is a little easier and just as strong. To perform the repair do the following:

1)Remove the interior panel of the glove compartment door by removing 6 out of the 8 torx headed screws. The reason I only removed 6 of them is because the final two where located where I could not get the torx socket on them. Even with the final two screws still in place you can pry the interior lining of the door open enough to get at the screws that are holding the latch bracket in place. I believe there were 4 (could have been 6 - I forgot) screws holding it in place.

2) Once the bracket is out drill a (slightly smaller than the screw to be used) hole just opposite of the peg that is still in place. If both are broken off then make sure you drill the holes right where the pegs used to be.

3)I used a #8 screw x about 3/8" long. You want it long enough to go through the hole you drilled in the plastic an protrude far enough to hold the latch in place. At first I was going to use a nut to hold the screw in place but by drilling a slightly undersized hole the screw threaded itself into the plastic and didn't need the nut.

It only took me about 30 minutes to do the job and saved me allot of $$$. I would recommend anyone trying it before you go and buy a whole new glove box door.

Photo's attached.

Flawxy

thank you sir, you are a saint. when i broke mine yesterday i freaked cuz i knew how much money the whole box is so ill try this tomorrow. both of my latches broke

M-Tech TT

Good Luck!! Be curious if it works for you. Mine is still holding.

DenimPearlTT

I just bought my first audi 6 months ago... 2000 TT and when i bought it they told me the lock was in perfect shape. When the car arrived the lock came off in my hand I called them and made them pay the price of a glove box which they gladly did suprisingly. So instead of buying another glove box I fixed it with the steps below:

I opened the glove box removed the Gray caps on the screws first. Next i removed all the screws while holding the outside cover. Then i closed the glove box so i could remove the front cover of the glove box. Once the cover was off the first area that was broken was the center gear wheel that allows the glove box to open/close. So if you look close you can see where the wheels center plastic peice broke off... I drilled a pilot hole into the glove box then got a OEM audi screw for the glove box and screwed it from the inside of the glove box and then slide the gear into place then aligned the rods back into place. ( once front panel goes back on there is a notch that will hold the wheel on the screw it doesnt fall off )

Next the Notorious nubby arm that hold the lock was broken. I pulled the plastic peice off the front cover by removing the screws that were on the metal rod on the back of the front cover. Once off you can see that if its broken there is lighter color U shape from where the teeth broke off.... I again drilled a pilot hole but this time i got a rivot with a head on it. Instead of push it to have it expand i filed the holed till it slipped into place very tight then pulled it back out slid the lock into place then put the rivot back in so i could measue how long it would need to be. I filed the extra length of the top of the rivot head so it would sit flush on the bottom of the plastic panel then used JB weld to glue it in place ( NOTE : must put lock in first then slide the rivot in place ). Once this was complete and since my top tab wasnt broken i didnt do anything but would hve repeated the rivot steps for the top tab if it was broken. I reassembled the glove box and throughly test the lock assembly by pulling on it like I was trying to steal it and it didnt budge. 6 months later and numerous open / closes and even with it full and pushing on it hasnt failed at all and is 1000 times more durable then the plastic junk setup they did to cut down on cost... Cost me a whole 7 dollars for the 2 rivots and OEM audi bolt with gray cover so it doesnt show as i added the screw. Took about 2 - 3 hrs to complete the repair as im overly causous when it comes to fixing something right the first time.

Hope this helps you or anyone else out. Pictures are similar to post below sorry dont have them on this computer and same Idea for fixing...

512dude

I'm trying to fix the same and have a question about the handle mechanism:

1) Is there a small compression spring between these two points A & B? I don't seem to have one or lost it if there is supposed to be one there.

2) Is there a plastic extension piece that joins the metal handle to the plastic slide lever or does the tab on the handle "C" just engage with the hollow protrusion on the slide lever "D" ?

Thanks


I WILL UPDATE THESE QUESTIONS MYSELF SINCE I FIGURED THIS OUT.

1 - YES A SPRING WORKS VERY WELL HERE
2 - NO, THERE IS NO OTHER EXTENSION PIECE

512dude

I fixed my box which was badly fractured and in case anyone attempts to do this I thought I would add this write up:

1 - Remove the right side panel on the passenger side of the dash board. Open the passenger door to access; this panel is pried off easily by hand or with a flat head.

2 - There is a second plastic insert/frame that needs to be removed, take out the four screws securing this insert/frame.

3 - If the glove box is jammed shut (mine was) try to release the locking pins by engaging a small tool in the hole shown to push in the locking pin.

4 - Once the glove box is open remove the 3 screws under the upper lip and the 2 screws in the lower section under the glove box to release the entire glove box assembly from the dash board.

5 - Remove the 6 fasteners inside the glove box to separate the flocked inner panel from the outer box. You might discover (as I did) that the return spring mounts, the central gear mount and the box itself may have fractured. I ended up fiber glassing my box together which worked well.

6 - Remove the left and right locking pin arms and drill a small hole (5/32 bit) in the center of where the gear shaft was mounted. Then thread a #8 cap head screw and fastened it into the hole allowing it to cut its own thread. I wrapped some teflon tape around the screw where the gear will ride on it.

7 - One of my return spring mounts was broken as well (poor design) so I rigged up an extension to the corner of the inner box part. I used some thin string and mounted it in a hole and then used this to attach to the return spring.

8 - Since the pins that held my handle on were fractured as well, I drilled a 5/32" hole on either side and used #8 set screws as new locating pins that the handle would pivot about.

Assembly was the reverse of disassembly.

hpnotiq9

Great write up! How does one release the airbag switch from the glove box? Should the battery be disconnected?

TTfan61

Great post! Thank you for submitting. I too have the same issue. I know it has been awhile, but do you recall how you got the lid cover off the box after you removed the 8 screws?