lol, i did MacGyver it to test out if the mystery part I misplaced might have belonged there, but don't think I trust the rigged switch for 'active duty' given the potentially serious consequences if it fails or jams. Hopefully no one else runs into this situation as I'd not recommend fixing it this way.

Perhaps it might be suitable as a spare if I can find where I put the mystery piece again.

 

Emergency braking, wow, that would be fun from 200 MPH!!!

 

I tried to get 200 in Germany last year. Its harder than you might think. I only got 165 then had to back off. The roads are just too busy and lane control over there is not good to say the least.

 

Hi Frank.

165 MPH. That's the most I've had out of mine so far, I won't say where though!!!

Les.

 

200 mph and epb would be a disaster! Heck, 30mph full lock braking would make most people soil their pants or cause a major rear body malfunction from the guy following behind you.

What's amazing is how quickly and easily they get to those speeds and how comfortably driveable these cares are up to the 160-170 mph range. Or so I hear, lol!

Until the next opportunity, we can live vicariously through this guy from last year...

http://www.automobilemag.com/news/ag...ntal-gt-speed/

 

Hi Sam.

Thanks for that, it's a good read.
Switching the air-con off is a good idea. When I drag raced, we used to take off the fan belt to stop the alternator sapping power. Those were the days!!!

Les.

 

Lol, great story Les, I kind of miss the days of extracting power at low/no cost when we used to autocross in the late 80s.

While not nearly as much power as a dragster, we used to remove the AC from the mix, along with power steering, ran on near empty, scraped out all the sound deadening and drilled holes into anything that wasn't structural. The hardcore guys took out the wire-looms and ran the minimum setup, which was good for a lot of weight reduction. This was pre-carbon fiber so cars sans windows, passenger seats, rear seats, side windows, unneeded body parts such as headlights, etc. were common.

Another favorite on the 944 turbos in the late 80s, early 90s was to fill the windshield washer reservoir with ice water and move the washer spray jets from the windshield and/or headlights to spray the radiator and inter-cooler.. On long straights, pulling the windshield washer lever gave a bit of extra oomph as this brought down the intake temps and pushed up boost levels pretty nicely. Also shaving and 'siping' tire treads with a razor blade did wonders for grip, before track tires were available to 'civilians.' Of course, I can't leave out the panty hose air filters, lol.

This was well before the SEMA/'fast and furious' guys came on the scene for imports and 'non muscle cars' and created the vast aftermarket scene we have today so we did what we could on our own to compete with the faster cars.

I'm sure the 60's hot rodders have pages of tricks, having pioneered the mod scene, at least for engines.

 

And without us guys in the old days, none of the modern stuff would be around.

In the UK during the 70's, a mainstream manufacturer, Hillman, actually sold fully customised cars and vans complete with trick metalflake paint.
A mate of mine bought a Hillman Imp van, multicoloured metalfake, alloys, custom interior and fancy exhaust. It even had a name on the panel in defraction tape, 'Impossible Dream'.
Never get that nowadays.

Les.

 

I sense we're drifting off topic. Maybe a new thread is in order?

 

Hello,
I recently had my yellow P light with slash come on. I put brake on, switch off and it was blinking. Eventually it cleared code. I think my switch is bad. Did you post any directions how you pulled the console up to replace. How big of a job was it? Thanks I'm a newbie...Chris

 

I didn't post instructions, but here's a great video on how to do it. (not mine)

Should be a 10-15 minute job to replace the switch.

 

Sam,

whats your thoughts? With my yellow p light going on along with tpms and now bonnet hood light on? You think they could be all separate issues? I read your post and I will check fuse 27/69 in front. I will also check 29/30 in trunk. This also started when I changed blown fuse on rear seat charger (cigarette lighter). Maybe I should pull that fuse out, maybe have something shorting. I highly doubt 3 separate issues happening at once being random but it could. Thanks so much, lots of interesting posts......

 

Hello,

I think I am gaining some insight on things. My P light went on with slash in it. Had some other issues but think they may be not related. So I was able to push brake swith up then down and after awhile light went off for some reason. Maybe when I did service reset. Anyway its back on and when I pulled up on swith it just kept blinking red on swith and on cluster stating brake. Car was not moving in driveway. I even pushed down on switch and nothing kept blinking. Put in reverse pulled up on switch and red blinking stopped and brakes released.

So I assume this means switch is bad? Can I still drive it or is there chance brake may kick in driving and becoming a soiled event for me and the person behind me? From what I read above it seems this switch goes out a lot. Sam I appreciate the video on how to get to switch. Still don't see where I push screwdriver to release shift handle.

What I did find was the center console has been removed before, just pulling up lightly the back came up. Also the slats are half missing laying inside so that's another fix. Sorry for rambling, switch needs replaced I assume?

Thanks so much......Chris

 

As far as the shift handle, I found it wasn't necessary to remove to remove the center console.

Seems you're looking for validation that the switch is bad, but there could multiple root causes of the condition you're describing and it's still a bit vague to me from your descriptions. (could be p-brake motor/sensor, p-brake control module, or p-brake switch). You can visually inspect the motors for water intrusion and there are threads out there in the vw community as to what to look for. You can also remove and hook them up to a 12v power source to see if the motor is working. The module and switch will have to be diagnosed by how the system is behaving/responding unless you can get diagnostic codes which may or may not help pinpoint the root cause.

Do you hear any motor noise when the switch is pushed or pulled? Is the car stuck with the park brake on or off? (open your windows and try with the engine/radio/any noise source off) Make sure your foot is on the brake and selector is in P.

If there is noise, one or more of your p-brake motors on the rear is working and it's likely not the switch. If there's NO response at all (audio or visual lights etc), then perhaps try swapping out the switch. Another common point of failure here is the right rear motor/sensor getting water ingress and causing a similar fault condition so you may want to read up on the threads for that. The p-brake module could also be bad.

If you can borrow a diagnostic cable to get error codes from the parking brake module would be a great help. Some local auto parts shops will also scan for free or a very nominal cost. The dealer will usually charge 1 hour or some flat fee for the diagnostic scan.

Finally if the above is too daunting, your best bet may just be to take it to the dealer if you're not comfortable or experienced troubleshooting electrical/electronic components for cars. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any 'workflow' for the home mechanic, in diagnosing the brake system to root cause.

If you're trying to save a few bucks and avoid the dealer by trying to replace parts and hoping to fix by guessing right, as I recall (my memory may be faulty!) the switch is ~250USD, the module ~150 and the motors 3-400 each side.

 

I have just read this regarding the parking brake issue. Very detailed and thank you for carrying on even though you didn't get a response for a while