Handbrake button not working

[VW Fletch]

Hi all,

This morning when I came to a set of lights on an incline I pressed the HB button as usual. This time however, the warning "ding" chimed, the button failed to illuminate and engage, and a warning light came up on the dash.

Is this a common fault and is it easy to fix? ie just a new button or could it prove quite costly?

Furthermore the car was only in one week ago for the cambelt and oil service...

Thanks for any help.

[patomlin76]

could be one of many things and there are many threads here that have covered it. Firstly you can try disconnecting the battery for 5 mins - that sometimes clears the fault and some people have had it never return. A low cost solution is also to try and replace the switch - how old is your model by the way? VW may want to do a software update if necessary - or if its just the switch it would be around £23.

Every now and then I used to get moments when the brake would fail to come on - the warning light would ding, the message would say 'PB failure', but then completely disappear (as if the computer was a bit confused). Since I fitted a new switch last weekend I've had no problems, plus the button feels far more tactile than my first gen (2005) switch did.

Hope that helps.

PS: I forgot to ask - do you still have the warning light on?

[Quatrelle]

Have a read of this

https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...ad.php?t=93453

[VW Fletch]

Thanks for the help guys, I had a read of the other thread too - very useful.

Mine is on a 55 plate with 74K on the clock now. I found when I drove home last night the switch worked once but then failed again. This morning was exactly the same and the dash warning symbol is still on.

I'll buy a new switch and see if that rectifies the problem.

Thanks again,

Fletch