Hi all, I had my car diagnosed at Skoda and I was told my hand break switch needs replaced. (Hand break won’t work) They want to charge me £245 and it seems a bit steep. I’m looking at doing the job myself but not sure how the actual switch gets removed? Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

2 hours ago, JacquesZa said:

I had my car diagnosed at Skoda and I was told my hand break switch needs replaced.

What, exactly, do you mean by this? There is such a thing as a handbrake switch, but it only controls the warning light on the dashboard and associated buzzer. It will not affect the operation of the handbrake.

Hi, sorry for not being clear. Basically I cannot turn my handbrake on or off. It started flashing and had a error message on the dashboard. So I took it in and I was told the handbrake switch needs to be replaced. Many thanks 

@JacquesZaWeocome.

 

Do you actually have a Hand Brake that requires you to put a hand on to apply the Parking Brake,

or an e-Brake that requires a finger to put on or that can apply when you take off your turn off the ignition, take off the seat belt, Open the door?

Might be worth spending a few quid (€7 + tax) to get the workshop manuals from Skoda?

 

 

Official source is https://erwin.skoda-auto.cz/erwin/showHome.do

 

8 hours ago, JacquesZa said:

Hi all, I had my car diagnosed at Skoda and I was told my hand break switch needs replaced. (Hand break won’t work) They want to charge me £245 and it seems a bit steep. I’m looking at doing the job myself but not sure how the actual switch gets removed? Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Presuming you have the electric parking brake…

 

You shouldn’t normally need to operate the switch (push down/pull up lever thingy behind the gear selector). When you stop the car with the foot brake, the auto-hold (assuming you have it on) keeps the foot brake pressure on. Then you select P (park) and then you stop the engine (or turn the ignition off if it’s already stopped). At that point, the electric parking brake is automatically applied. When you come back to the car, start the engine, engage D, press the throttle a bit - the parking brake comes off automatically.

 

If this isn’t happening then it seems likely to me that the fault lies elsewhere, not at the little switch that you don’t normally need to operate.

 

You need to use the switch for a few odd reasons, eg to take the parking brake off if you want to move off with the door open… (I do this sometimes when I want to move the car an inch to line up the tow bar, and being able to see the ground helps). Or to put the parking brake on as an alternative to holding on the foot brake system and concomitant illumination of the brake lights in D, or just to take it out of D and into neutral for a long wait.

 

So in summary, it seems unlikely that the actual little switch is the source of your problem.

Ok - I just did this job about 4 weeks ago.

 

In my case, the electronic brake would apply itself when the engine was switched off and released itself when the car moved off in gear, all as normal.

What did not work was the switch in the middle of the panel of 3 just aft of the gear selector (DSG).

I also had the dashboard warning message and another one about the cruise control not being available.

 

The handbrake switch cannot be replaced without the other 2 (Auto-hold and door locks?) - it is all one panel with the 3 switches.

I was quoted £135 for the panel by a dealer, but I managed to find a second hand one on Ebay for £42, which worked fine.

 

It's not at all difficult to swap, but getting the shiny black piece which surrounds the gear stick off is a bit tough.

I started by pulling out the bank of switched and blanks on each side of the gear selector.

These are removed by prizing them up from their forward edge (nearest the dash board) and are quite easy to remove.

It is probably not essential to pull these out, but it gives you a view into  the shiny black piece helps to see how it might come off.

 

If memory serves, the gear stick surround  is held on by 3 plastic prongs along each side and is just prized off with a bit of brute strength.

I have a set of plastic trim removal tools which are less damaging to the car and I used these to get under the front and back edges to force the black panel up enough to get fingers in to pull it free.

 

Once you've got that out the way the handbrake switch panel is easily accessed and has a single electrical plug to pull off.

(there's a little hook/trigger thing to one side which needs to be pressed in to release the plug)

 

Reassembly is very simple as the pieces all just snap back into place in seconds.

 

Edited to add - the replacement switch solved all the problems and removed the error messages

Edited 1 July, 20232 yr by cardo

My Lock switch, which is one of the 3 switches in that group gets "sticky" during the cold winter months.

Skoda wanted $450 AUD to replace it!!!

 

I can source it for much cheaper, but I haven't figure out how to get to it.

I can remove the switch panels on each side of the gear shifter, and the gear shifter leather cover, but then I'm stuck.

 

Going to have to put my head down and focus.....

6 hours ago, JR RS said:

My Lock switch, which is one of the 3 switches in that group gets "sticky" during the cold winter months.

Skoda wanted $450 AUD to replace it!!!

 

I can source it for much cheaper, but I haven't figure out how to get to it.

I can remove the switch panels on each side of the gear shifter, and the gear shifter leather cover, but then I'm stuck.

 

Going to have to put my head down and focus.....

The gloss black trim is a very tight fit but just un clips straight upwards. Gotta be gentle with it though.

 

can be done in less than 5 minutes

3 hours ago, ApertureS said:

The gloss black trim is a very tight fit but just un clips straight upwards. Gotta be gentle with it though.

 

can be done in less than 5 minutes

 

Thanks, will give it a go soon, once I've got the replacement switch panel.

I had the same problem a few weeks ago.  Bought a 2nd hand one from a breakers for €65 I think it was an fitted it myself.  This gives a bit of a guide to how to remove the centre console:  

 

 

Once you get the console trim lifted you can unplug the cables and remove it completely to make it easier to remove the switch.  The switch is held in with a few plastic clips.  Easy enough to get the switch out.  Just take you time so you don't break anything.  

On 01/07/2023 at 18:14, JacquesZa said:

Hi, sorry for not being clear. Basically I cannot turn my handbrake on or off. It started flashing and had a error message on the dashboard. So I took it in and I was told the handbrake switch needs to be replaced. Many thanks 

Thanks to the helpful tips above - today I managed to remove the 3 piece switch panel.

Using trim tool No. 4 shown in the pic below, it was easy to remove the whole black trim piece.

 

Lifted No.3 up and over the gear shifter.

From underneath, pushed up switch panels No.1.

Then using trim tool No.4, pulled up trim piece No.5.

Didn't need to use much force.

 

Removed the button and cleaned it with alcohol wipes, and a gave it a nice clean with an air gun.

 

Will c how the switch behaves now.

Saved myself $470 AUD that the dealer refused to fix whilst under warranty and then wanted to charge me after warranty finished.

 

Interestingly, after plugging it back, there was fault with the Parking Brake Switch.  Had to start the car, disengage the park brake, then engage the park brake before it stopped complaining.

Cleared all the codes after using OBDEleven, just to b sure.

It's all good now.