Hi Guys, does anyone know how to remove a glovebox from a MK4 Fabia? Mine has got scratches on it. I might try toothpaste as a mild compound to smooth it a little and if that fails, I might swap it out for a used one without scratches. I’m assuming there’s screws holding it in and I’d possibly need to remove the side trim too. I can’t find a video online. There are tonnes for a Polo and other marks of Fabia etc but not the Mark 4. Thanks.

On 26 April In this 2024 forum thread I described how to fully lower a Fabia Mk 4's glove-box.

I didn't explore removing the glovebox completely from the dashboard, but - if the same retention method is used as for the small storage box in front of the fuse-box - there may be no screws, just moulded plastic 'hooks'.

Thanks for the reply. I've checked through the replies to the post you've identified. There seems to be a way to lower the glovebox fully, but not detach it. It's only the door I need to replace, not necessarily remove the frame too. So hopefully, as you suggest, the door, once lowered fully, will pop out if held in by plastic hooks. I'll try the toothpaste approach first to smooth it out, maybe use a tiny bit of dark grey marker to cover it a bit. If it looks naff, then I'll go down the route of swapping it out. Cheers again.

Yesterday I lowered my 2024-built Fabia's glove-box fully down (as I described in the August 2023 thread). No fixing screws were evident, but - although I looked very closely and used a torch - I still couldn't decide exactly how the bottom rear edge of the glove-box 'hinges'.

The glove-box has a 'damper' controlling its descent and (based on generic VW/Skoda YouTube videos) the small trim panel on the left end of the dashboard will first need to be (carefully) prised off to allow the damper to be disconnected.

There are several current ebay adverts for Mk 4 glove-boxes that have been removed by car salvage companies, so it must be possible to remove the glove-box without damaging it. If you study the advert photos, you may be able to decide if detaching the glove-box from the dashboard is just a matter of using judicious brute force or something more subtle.

If you eventually decide to replace the glove-box, I suggest you ask a friendly Skoda workshop manager how to do it.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, there is an extending arm which controls the descent of the glovebox, which needs to be unhinged, so I suspect the end trim panel needs to be removed to unhinge it, like you’ve said.

I’ll try to fix the glove box that’s on it first. A heat gun is good for fixing plastic scratches, as is toothpaste as a compound to smooth out light scratches.

If that doesn’t work, I’ll buy another on eBay and try fit it myself. If that doesn’t work, I’ll ask a mechanic to fit it. There’s one across the road from me in my estate who is friendly, he might do it for free or for a small fee.

Just an update. I’ve tried to remove the scratches from the glovebox, which made it worse. So I’ve bought a used replacement. But I’m still none the wiser on how to remove the original door so I can replace it. I’ve dropped the glovebox as far as it can go. The dampening arm is on the right hand side of the Mk 4 so I don’t think removing the trim on left hand side will work to access the damper. As far as I can see, all that needs unhooking is the damper and then a firm push up from below to unhinge the hinges and it should pop out. But how you undo the damper, which is on the left, and not the right, I’ve no idea. Has anyone else tried it? Cheers.

You won’t believe this. I had a few items in the glovebox, and when I opened it up fully (I unclipped the top stoppers), it dropped and the damper arm just came out of its bracket. So, I presume that if you pull the door outwards and downwards with a tiny bit of force, the damper arm comes out itself. Then you can just twist the bracket which holds the damper, and it pops out. But, be careful, there’s a small plastic wheel with teeth on it, like a gear wheel, that work the damper, so when you pull it out, be careful not to damage the teeth. There’s probably a more elegant way to remove the damper arm from the bracket with the teeth in it, but I haven’t been able to figure it out. The only issue I have now is the 2 bottom hinges on the door. I thought a pull upwards would unseat them, but that didn’t work. I may have to remove the whole box, I’m still trying to locate all the screws if I need to do that.

@MURVAG82 Have you got a whole and complete replacement before going and removing, maybe breaking the one you have?

Yeah, I’ve got a complete one. So I may just be able to screw the old one out and the new one in. I was just hoping to remove the door which I thought would be easier. I’ll try to remove the whole thing first, might be easier. Famous last words.

51 minutes ago, MURVAG82 said:

You won’t believe this. I had a few items in the glovebox, and when I opened it up fully (I unclipped the top stoppers), it dropped and the damper arm just came out of its bracket. So, I presume that if you pull the door outwards and downwards with a tiny bit of force, the damper arm comes out itself. Then you can just twist the bracket which holds the damper, and it pops out. But, be careful, there’s a small plastic wheel with teeth on it, like a gear wheel, that work the damper, so when you pull it out, be careful not to damage the teeth. There’s probably a more elegant way to remove the damper arm from the bracket with the teeth in it, but I haven’t been able to figure it out....

MURVAG82

So that's what the 'bracket-unit + arm' thing is for!

Being an inveterate disbeliever, I removed the bracket-unit, moved the arm out of the way and closed the glove-box completely. When I opened the glove-box, sure enough it just dropped down fully with no damping or part-way retention.

The damper itself (the small-cog thing) can be removed very easily from the bracket-unit (and quite easily fall out if one is not careful!) I don't think there is a less kind way of removing the damper arm from the bracket other than a slight downwards jerk of the glove-box when it is part-way open.

The bracket-unit is symmetrical and can be inserted into its hole in the wall of the glove-box enclosure in one of two ways (and then twisted to secure it). The first time I inserted the bracket and attached the arm, the glove-box was not retained in its part-way open position. I removed the bracket, turned it through 180 degrees, reinserted it, connected the arm and, this time, the the glove-box was correctly retained in its part-way open position.

Did you remove the entire box? If so, I can only see 5 screws, 3 in the top and 2 underneath in the foot well. Are there more?

Right, I decided to bite the bullet, as I can’t stand being irritated/defeated by something. So, I’ve removed the glovebox mostly (enough so I know how it comes out and also be able to reassemble it).

You’ll need a T20 Torx screwdriver. So, there are 3 visible screws to undo at the top of the glove box first. Then, you need to drop the glovebox fully by unclipping the 2 top catches. Once the glovebox is fully dropped, there’s 1 screw behind at the top to unscrew. Then, there are 2 screws underneath in the footwell to unscrew. Finally, you need to pop the end panel off on the left hand side, where the passenger airbag on/off switch is. Once that’s off, there are 2 plastic clips holding it in. Pop them out and the glovebox should come out. I’ve only gone as far as taking the final 2 plastic clips half way out to see if they were easy to remove and also to see if they were the last things holding the glovebox in, which I think they are. So until I go to replace my glovebox fully in a couple of weeks, when it arrives, I won’t know if that’s it for sure. But as far as I can see, that’s it. It only took 5 mins to do as well.

So, finally, I replaced the glovebox today. It arrived way earlier than I expected.

So I was right, the final 2 plastic rivets are the last things holding the glovebox in. Once they’re removed, along with all of the other screws mentioned above, the glovebox comes away.

But, one thing I did also learn is that, be careful with the airbag on/off switch. Whilst removing the side panel, which houses the switch, it came apart into separate pieces. I reassembled it and reinstalled it, all is well, but just be careful. If you can plug out the connector first so that it’s not attached to the actual switch on the end panel first, that would have been better in hindsight but I wasn’t planning on removing the end panel fully, just enough to get the plastic rivets out. But unfortunately it didn’t work out that.

I’m happier I’ve replaced the glovebox now. Even though it’s a used item, it is in better condition than the one I replaced. All the best. Hopefully this thread will help someone else take out their glovebox one day 👍🏻

Good afternoon, I would like to thank you for the detailed instructions of how to completely remove the glovebox and housing, I have this morning done this to fit a replacement heater resistor part no 2Q0959263A as the heater was only working on no 4 setting, all in it took around 30 minutes from start to finish thanks to your guide 👍 I only have one issue now and that is the airbag light is now on on the dash, I’m assuming due to me unplugging it as it’s never lit up before, if anyone can advise how to turn the warning light off I’d be grateful please, many thanks Paul

Hi, I’m glad it was of use. Did you turn the passenger airbag switch on the side of the dash off during your removal? It’s a little key slot on the left side of the trim. Mine fell out when I changed my glovebox so I had to put it back together afterwards, springs and all. That was a dodgy moment.

Hi, I did try that but unfortunately it still stays lit up, I bet it was, thankfully mine stayed together as I’m not good with springs and switches. Cheers Paul