Manual parking brake button popped off

[5GTIs]

Same thing happened to me. Dealer quoted me about the same price; somewhere near 1k to fix which is absurd. The tiny little plastic tab that holds the button in broke on mine and it looks like that plunger thing is all part of the whole assembly. I finally got fed up of doing the "two handed set the parking brake" procedure, so I finally looked into it and I was able to make mine functional again. What I did was get some plastic weld (it may have been JB plastic weld) or some strong epoxy, and I used a q-tip to apply it to the hole in the silver button that popped off. Put a decent amount in there, but didn't just overload it with the stuff. Then I put the spring back on the plunger and then mashed the button on there. Got myself some duct tape and taped the button down (in the depressed form) by putting a couple strips of duct tape over the handle and the button in varying orientations to make sure the button was being pressed against the plunger and being held there. Left it that way overnight to give the solution enough time to cure. The next morning, I removed the tape and lo and behold the button stayed on! It still moves freely like it always did, the spring keeps the pressure on the button to keep it in the "out" position so it works again like it always did. The only difference I can tell is the button sticks out just so slightly more than it did originally. To me, it was worth it to have a one-handed functioning e-brake again. I can post pictures of what it looks like now if you guys want. I searched and searched for a solution as well and could never find anything, so hopefully my fix will help someone else. Good luck all!

I sincerely thank Iopezzi for figuring out a solution to this problem and describing the solution clearly here. The button for the parking brake on my 2016 GTI (6SM) popped off seven months ago. My dealer has a great service department but they likewise said the fix would cost $1k. They had done the job before on a car that was still under warranty. Anyway, after many months of frustration, I found Iopezzi's post and did what he said. It worked perfectly. Very grateful for the assist--especially since we have two other MkVIi Golfs (a 2017 Golf TSi and a 2017 Alltrack SEL).

 

[Green0603]

Same thing happened to me. Dealer quoted me about the same price; somewhere near 1k to fix which is absurd. The tiny little plastic tab that holds the button in broke on mine and it looks like that plunger thing is all part of the whole assembly. I finally got fed up of doing the "two handed set the parking brake" procedure, so I finally looked into it and I was able to make mine functional again. What I did was get some plastic weld (it may have been JB plastic weld) or some strong epoxy, and I used a q-tip to apply it to the hole in the silver button that popped off. Put a decent amount in there, but didn't just overload it with the stuff. Then I put the spring back on the plunger and then mashed the button on there. Got myself some duct tape and taped the button down (in the depressed form) by putting a couple strips of duct tape over the handle and the button in varying orientations to make sure the button was being pressed against the plunger and being held there. Left it that way overnight to give the solution enough time to cure. The next morning, I removed the tape and lo and behold the button stayed on! It still moves freely like it always did, the spring keeps the pressure on the button to keep it in the "out" position so it works again like it always did. The only difference I can tell is the button sticks out just so slightly more than it did originally. To me, it was worth it to have a one-handed functioning e-brake again. I can post pictures of what it looks like now if you guys want. I searched and searched for a solution as well and could never find anything, so hopefully my fix will help someone else. Good luck all!

This solution worked great, super simple and effective. I used JB Weld ClearWeld and did this with the handle locked in the raised position because that seemed to give better accessibility for the button to adhere to the plunger. Cured overnight and looks and works exactly like it did before (no issue with the bumps on the button showing).

 

[aarveekay]

I have had this same issue happen to me in 2019 My dealer quoted me around $825 incl of parts. Have been using it pulling the lever axis with my left hand while pulling the brake with my right ... LOL

Might replace it this year on my own !!

 

[capcor]

I have had this same issue happen to me in 2019 My dealer quoted me around $825 incl of parts. Have been using it pulling the lever axis with my left hand while pulling the brake with my right ... LOL

Might replace it this year on my own !!

Read the previous posts about using a strong glue or epoxy I did it over a year ago and it has still held.

 

[aarveekay]

Read the previous posts about using a strong glue or epoxy I did it over a year ago and it has still held.

I ended up gluing it up with Gorilla Glue. Took me all of 3 mins, and $4.80 . Thanks for the suggestion !!!

 

[yanokwa]

You don't have to replace the whole thing or glue it. Here's what worked for me...

Inside the brake handle is a small black cylinder. And on the bottom of that cylinder is a little tab. The tab slots into the hole at the bottom of the silver button that popped off. The spring keeps everything tensioned so button moves in and out of the handle.

Here's a cross-section of the cylinder and tab that the spring and silver button fits on. The diagram isn't super accurate because the cylinder and the tab eventually connect, but you get the idea.

It seems like over time, the tab moves closer to the cylinder and thus doesn't do a good job of locking the button in place.

To fix the handle, you'll need to cut a shim and put it between the cylinder and the tab. That shim keeps the tab away from the cylinder so the button gets locked into place.

I cut my shim out of an old credit card. It needs to be as wide as the small black cylinder (~1/4 of an inch) and no longer than than the cylinder once it's inserted (start with 1 inch, but you'll have to trim to ~3/4 of an inch).

The hard part is getting yourself a little space to get the shim in there. What worked for me was lifting up the hand brake all the way, then slipping a little pocket knife blade in between the tab and the cylinder, then while the blade is in there, slipping the shim in there. Then pull out the blade, trim the shim, but on the spring and button.

The cylinder and tab will look like this when it's all said and done.

 

[ren_G18t]

You don't have to replace the whole thing or glue it. Here's what worked for me...

Inside the brake handle is a small black cylinder. And on the bottom of that cylinder is a little tab. The tab slots into the hole at the bottom of the silver button that popped off. The spring keeps everything tensioned so button moves in and out of the handle.

This totally fixed it for me and only took 10 minutes. Yanokwa !
I took some old (brown) electrical tape and rolled it up till it was about as thick as a quarter and when flattened as wide as the clip on a pen.
Then I slide it between the black cylinder and then plastic clip. Once I confirmed it worked I trimmed it down to ensure it wasn't longer than the width of the black cylinder.
Push the cover back on, good as new!

 

[avenali312]

This totally fixed it for me and only took 10 minutes. Yanokwa !
I took some old (brown) electrical tape and rolled it up till it was about as thick as a quarter and when flattened as wide as the clip on a pen.
Then I slide it between the black cylinder and then plastic clip. Once I confirmed it worked I trimmed it down to ensure it wasn't longer than the width of the black cylinder.
Push the cover back on, good as new!

Thanks for this! I'm waiting for mine to fail at some point since I use my brake a lot (probably unnecessarily). I have been dreading the day it happens, but now with this visual, it seems pretty straightforward and simple to deal with (sort of like the hood release issue a lot of people have had).

 

[capcor]

You don't have to replace the whole thing or glue it. Here's what worked for me...

Inside the brake handle is a small black cylinder. And on the bottom of that cylinder is a little tab. The tab slots into the hole at the bottom of the silver button that popped off. The spring keeps everything tensioned so button moves in and out of the handle.

Here's a cross-section of the cylinder and tab that the spring and silver button fits on. The diagram isn't super accurate because the cylinder and the tab eventually connect, but you get the idea.

View attachment 237470

It seems like over time, the tab moves closer to the cylinder and thus doesn't do a good job of locking the button in place.

To fix the handle, you'll need to cut a shim and put it between the cylinder and the tab. That shim keeps the tab away from the cylinder so the button gets locked into place.

I cut my shim out of an old credit card. It needs to be as wide as the small black cylinder (~1/4 of an inch) and no longer than than the cylinder once it's inserted (start with 1 inch, but you'll have to trim to ~3/4 of an inch).

The hard part is getting yourself a little space to get the shim in there. What worked for me was lifting up the hand brake all the way, then slipping a little pocket knife blade in between the tab and the cylinder, then while the blade is in there, slipping the shim in there. Then pull out the blade, trim the shim, but on the spring and button.

The cylinder and tab will look like this when it's all said and done.

View attachment 237471

I tried something like this when my button came off but I ended up having to glue it because I snapped the tab clean off oops

 

[xMak10x]

You don't have to replace the whole thing or glue it. Here's what worked for me...

Inside the brake handle is a small black cylinder. And on the bottom of that cylinder is a little tab. The tab slots into the hole at the bottom of the silver button that popped off. The spring keeps everything tensioned so button moves in and out of the handle.

Here's a cross-section of the cylinder and tab that the spring and silver button fits on. The diagram isn't super accurate because the cylinder and the tab eventually connect, but you get the idea.

View attachment 237470

It seems like over time, the tab moves closer to the cylinder and thus doesn't do a good job of locking the button in place.

To fix the handle, you'll need to cut a shim and put it between the cylinder and the tab. That shim keeps the tab away from the cylinder so the button gets locked into place.

I cut my shim out of an old credit card. It needs to be as wide as the small black cylinder (~1/4 of an inch) and no longer than than the cylinder once it's inserted (start with 1 inch, but you'll have to trim to ~3/4 of an inch).

The hard part is getting yourself a little space to get the shim in there. What worked for me was lifting up the hand brake all the way, then slipping a little pocket knife blade in between the tab and the cylinder, then while the blade is in there, slipping the shim in there. Then pull out the blade, trim the shim, but on the spring and button.

The cylinder and tab will look like this when it's all said and done.

View attachment 237471

Best description!

 

[xMak10x]

This totally fixed it for me and only took 10 minutes. Yanokwa !
I took some old (brown) electrical tape and rolled it up till it was about as thick as a quarter and when flattened as wide as the clip on a pen.
Then I slide it between the black cylinder and then plastic clip. Once I confirmed it worked I trimmed it down to ensure it wasn't longer than the width of the black cylinder.
Push the cover back on, good as new!

View attachment 262400
View attachment 262401
View attachment 262402
View attachment 262403
View attachment 262404
View attachment 262405

I wish i saw this yesterday lmao. snapped that little sucker off today just trying to bend it out a little...looks like I'm going to have to use the JB Weld process.

 

[CKIVSEPA]

Same thing happened to me. Dealer quoted me about the same price; somewhere near 1k to fix which is absurd. The tiny little plastic tab that holds the button in broke on mine and it looks like that plunger thing is all part of the whole assembly. I finally got fed up of doing the "two handed set the parking brake" procedure, so I finally looked into it and I was able to make mine functional again. What I did was get some plastic weld (it may have been JB plastic weld) or some strong epoxy, and I used a q-tip to apply it to the hole in the silver button that popped off. Put a decent amount in there, but didn't just overload it with the stuff. Then I put the spring back on the plunger and then mashed the button on there. Got myself some duct tape and taped the button down (in the depressed form) by putting a couple strips of duct tape over the handle and the button in varying orientations to make sure the button was being pressed against the plunger and being held there. Left it that way overnight to give the solution enough time to cure. The next morning, I removed the tape and lo and behold the button stayed on! It still moves freely like it always did, the spring keeps the pressure on the button to keep it in the "out" position so it works again like it always did. The only difference I can tell is the button sticks out just so slightly more than it did originally. To me, it was worth it to have a one-handed functioning e-brake again. I can post pictures of what it looks like now if you guys want. I searched and searched for a solution as well and could never find anything, so hopefully my fix will help someone else. Good luck all!

Does it matter if the brake lever is down or up? At the moment, mine doesn't stay up (hence me searching for a fix).

 

[CKIVSEPA]

Wound up taking it to a small shop that had good reviews. They did it in two hours and charged me $206, happy with that. They did muck up my brake handle a bit though, the soft touch pleather stuff is cuffed up. I was probably going to get the ECS handle eventually anyway, but I'm just glad it's working again.

Hey, not sure where in PA you are, but I am in the chester county area. If you got this work done at a shop near here, I'd love to know what shop it was! TIA.

 

[CKIVSEPA]

Same thing happened to me. Dealer quoted me about the same price; somewhere near 1k to fix which is absurd. The tiny little plastic tab that holds the button in broke on mine and it looks like that plunger thing is all part of the whole assembly. I finally got fed up of doing the "two handed set the parking brake" procedure, so I finally looked into it and I was able to make mine functional again. What I did was get some plastic weld (it may have been JB plastic weld) or some strong epoxy, and I used a q-tip to apply it to the hole in the silver button that popped off. Put a decent amount in there, but didn't just overload it with the stuff. Then I put the spring back on the plunger and then mashed the button on there. Got myself some duct tape and taped the button down (in the depressed form) by putting a couple strips of duct tape over the handle and the button in varying orientations to make sure the button was being pressed against the plunger and being held there. Left it that way overnight to give the solution enough time to cure. The next morning, I removed the tape and lo and behold the button stayed on! It still moves freely like it always did, the spring keeps the pressure on the button to keep it in the "out" position so it works again like it always did. The only difference I can tell is the button sticks out just so slightly more than it did originally. To me, it was worth it to have a one-handed functioning e-brake again. I can post pictures of what it looks like now if you guys want. I searched and searched for a solution as well and could never find anything, so hopefully my fix will help someone else. Good luck all!

Oh how desperately I wanted this to work. I filled the hole on the silver button with JB Weld, taped it in the depressed position, and walked away. I gave it 24+ hours just to make sure. When I removed the tape that was holding it in the depressed position, that little bugger shot off into the car just like when it first happened! I don't know what made my experience different, but it is now back to the drawing board.

I guess I will try glue next... Gorilla? Super Glue? If that doesn't work, I will try the solution someone proposed about putting a shim of electrical tape inside the handle to force the black tab into the hole on the silver button. I'm not sure that's going to solve it, and I don't know how to get it small enough to not constrict the spring while still being big enough to control while inserting it.

I really really really don't want to pay $900 to a dealer to make this better.

Chuck