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The definitive Pedal Box Thread


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Guys,

In my opinion, dont get it welded. I am now £200 lighter, it cracked with in two days of getting it welded. Got it welded again and cracked within 3 days. Cant get my under goodwill because it is too old. Im gonna change the pedal box myself. Just trying to work out the best technique to get the shear bolts out! wish me luck!

It's the hardest part of the job. Drilling them is really the only way.

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It's the hardest part of the job. Drilling them is really the only way.

So do you drill directly where the centre of the bolt head would of been? Do you have any more info on this, ie, technique, drills type and sizes? Thanks.

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So do you drill directly where the centre of the bolt head would of been? Do you have any more info on this, ie, technique, drills type and sizes? Thanks.

Can't remember sizes. Yes, drill the centre head of the bolt and then work your way out, eventually they sort of crumble and fall out. You need to be careful not to use a drill bit too big though. Just be patient and work from the inside out if you get me. They took a fairly long time to get off, so don't be put off if it takes you more than an hour, even two.

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  • 7 months later...

hi :wave:

i run a company called clutch and gearbox in wolverhampton and we keep the pedal box kits in stock

we can supply and fit a new modified pedal box,new shear bolts and brake cylinder locking clip for 120 pounds all in

we offer a while you wait service if neccesary and the job takes around 2 hrs to complete

for anymore info/advice please call 07854 07854 9 or http://www.clutchandgearbox.webs.com

thanks for looking

Edited by clutchandgearbox
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  • 2 weeks later...

hi :wave:

i run a company called clutch and gearbox in wolverhampton and we keep the pedal box kits in stock

we can supply and fit a new modified pedal box,new shear bolts and brake cylinder locking clip for 120 pounds all in

we offer a while you wait service if neccesary and the job takes around 2 hrs to complete

for anymore info/advice please call 07854 07854 9 or http://www.clutchandgearbox.webs.com

thanks for looking

Is this OEM? If so that is bloody cheap £120!!!

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I've been known to install repaired pedalboxes for £60.

I don't replace the brake pedal clip, I don't install shearbolts and I have a personal record of around 40 minutes.

Drilling shearbolts takes too long, I couldn't be arsed going that route.

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I've been known to install repaired pedalboxes for £60.

I don't replace the brake pedal clip, I don't install shearbolts and I have a personal record of around 40 minutes.

Drilling shearbolts takes too long, I couldn't be arsed going that route.

I wish I hadn't put new shearbolts in hindsight. Total waste of ****ing time.

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I wish I hadn't put new shearbolts in hindsight. Total waste of ****ing time.

Yup.

I did a repair on one about three weeks ago where some idiot hadn't repositioned the bracket and had just welded it bent, idiot had still installed some shear bolts.

That was five minutes I won't get back.

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  • 2 months later...

I had my pedal box done roughly 3 to 4 years ago along with a new clutch and gearbox rebuild to boot. The beginning of december my clutch cable snapped and ever since replacing it, the change hasn't been right. It was ok for all of a few days and now after a little while of driving it just gets harder to get into gear. Could this be the cable needs adjusting? there is obviously the thread and 2 nuts to adjust. Or could it be a pedal box again? Pretty sure the new pedal box would have been a revised one. Just after some advice before throwing more money at a 16 year old 115000 mile lupo which to be fair isn't worth that much any more. Was going to get the clutch done as was told the springs were weak and worn but the clutch 3 to 4 years ago has covered less than 40k.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 9 months later...

Hardly ever posted on here but just want to say a big Thank You to Alex @alex1916v and Martin @Phatbwoy  (+ Sir smudge) on here for giving me the confidence to get on with it - have some health/memory issues so to see someone took the trouble to describe the work that's needed is invaluable to me :)

Edited by pond
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1 hour ago, pond said:

Hardly ever posted on here but just want to say a big Thank You to Alex @alex1916v and Martin @Phatbwoy  (+ Sir smudge) on here for giving me the confidence to get on with it - have some health/memory issues so to see someone took the trouble to describe the work that's needed is invaluable to me :)

pond, any tips for others on here. I should have taken more photos than I did, and it's now too long ago that I can remember much of anything :D

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 Alex and Martin said most of it Skezza in page 6 and 8 of this thread I think? Just about to start drilling as big drift and sledgehammer wouldn't shift shear bolts. Used to do them on Fiat/Lancia all the time but those were easy/i was much younger :rolleyes:

Edited by pond
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Ahh, sheer bolts as I said, you need drill them. Start with a smallish piece and work out. It took me ages, but Rich probably has a better solution than me

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all finished now, thanks again to all the helpful posters :) I left the fuse box and the main one-piece dash panel in place but this did make it hard to locate new pedalbox without damaging anything. I found this the most difficult part after removing the shear bolts of course. The brake light switch is a separate case of it's own of course as many already know. I cant believe the stupidity shown here in converting something that was once the simplest item to fit on a car to something so complicated. I hope there is a thread on this Forum to explain this in full but meanwhile - if you can't remove the switch without force then get advice on here. Basically, you need to depress the plunger while swivelling to remove but there are at least two designs now and not sure how this might differ.

Edited by pond
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  • 9 months later...

Hi. I've posted the below reply I got from the DVSA regarding pedal box issues (in my case a 2000 Polo MK3) for interest. I bought the car at 49K (2 prev owners), and at around 55500 miles the pedal box went. Apparently the DVSA have investigated this fault before and found that it doesn't count as a safety defect because it doesn't fail completely in one go on the cars with a lower spec than the GTI that got the recall. Frankly I find the penultimate sentence in the letter to be just plain wrong 'It was therefore determined that the driver would receive sufficient warning of  the issue before it affected the operation of the clutch and gear selection.' Simply not true, the first time it breaks, there's absolutely no warning at all, none! So how is that safe?! If the driver is used to one biting point and the clutch pedal suddenly drops as mine did then you aren't going to push it down far enough & therefore won't be able to change gear until you realise what on earth's happened. Draw your own conclusions, but I'm of the opinion it's clearly a design fault and VW should have done a much better job designing it to last (which would also mean I wouldn't be down £400). From what I can tell looking on the VAG part finder it's the same part that failed on the GTI, but it's been deemed safe by the DVSA on all versions but the GTI. When I was dealing with them I just got excuses similar to those on the first page of this thread, and no admission that there was any issue with the design. Not impressed with VW.

ReplyfromDVSA.jpg

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I thought all polos were eligible for the recall.... I know quite a few people and have read online a lot of times how they had it done for free. I'd like to have my 2nd SDI sorted too, but it's not creaking yet. Anyone know a cheap place to buy a new pedal box? Vw quoted me £112 plus vat just for the box!

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  • 4 years later...

Where the rubber grommet around the clutch cable is on the bulkhead I used a "circular washer" to feed the cable through using this as the stop for the white bit on the cable rather than the bracket therefore removing any stress on the pedal box .

So far its been faultless. 

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  • 1 year later...

Just wanted to chime in on this, already old thread.

100% more helpful than the  clubpolo site.

Its 2023 and this is still an issue for some cars.

 

My 6N2 developed the clutch pedal creak a few months back. At the time I just put up with it not knowing any better.  All my 6N2 and Lupo owning friend have never had pedal box issues (yet).   So with much excitement (not) I went to my local VW Garage to buy a new pedal box. 
 

So to start with they are still the same part numbers as listed in this thread.

The price has somewhat gone up.  They are no longer £40 ish for the box and £5 is for the brake pedal clip thing.  
The pedal box is now £92 and the brake pedal clip is no longer available.

The price hike is apparently due to some Russian guy bombing the factory In Ukraine that VAG have many parts made.

The dealers who are always honest with me showed the cost information on the part. Essentially they made £8 on it.  I bought it because I was thinking that the last one made 108k so a new one should out last the car.  I was able to get the brake clip thing via a VAG parts seller on eBay for £16.

So pulling the car apart on Saturday to get the job done for Monday.  
My shear bolts just didn't want to play ball so I ended up unbolting the mount via its fixings behind the wiper motor. Then spent a fair bit of time convincing the assembly to get our of the car.  
 

Once out the shear bolts didn't last long when I introduced them to my grinder.

Putting it  back together is certainly easier when you know how it comes apart.

All back in and set the bite point on the clutch, to be fair its bang on where it was prior to the box killing itself.   So not really that hard. After the first push it felt silky smooth and I was eager to get out and drive. Clean hands and phone in pocket (just in case) start it up push the clutch and bang it went.   So precisely two presses of the pedal. This box the clutch “ear”  just snapped off all the welds.

To all those reading this, VAG have not redesigned this part unless you count painting it a slightly different colour. My 1999 one was exactly the same as the 2022 on I bought.   So they are substandard still.  
 
I now have the exciting task of speaking  to the dealership and VAG UK about this.

To find out exactly what they intend to do about it.  
Im sure they'll Just tell me to go away, and spout some shite about no parts warranty unless a qualified fitter put them on the car. 

I will post here so others know what to expect.

Currently my options are :-

1. Get another one and fit it and hope it was just a dud.

2. Get VAG to some how decide to fit one for me as a sorry for selling shite parts.

3. Fit the mod described above and get on with it

4. Scrap the car and never buy another VW, and sell all the others we own.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by bIg F
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1 hour ago, mk2 said:

Lots of pics please. This is still an ongoing issue with ALL cable clutch cars, for over twenty years now. Not good.

I have purchased a new pedal box from Volkswagen £90 waiting for it to arrive they said its a revised one as the man i spoke at VW Stockport  had a VW Lupo in the past and was aware of the fault in 2007 , and said there are many revisions on this Polo pedal box, what was the part number that you ordered?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Peterstanding, it would be good to see your revised box so I can compare it to mine.  I suspect mine is old stock.

Currently The dealership want the car into investigate.  For this privilege they are going to charge £90 odd which is apparently refundable if they find a fault.

This would be fine if I didn't have to pay £150 to get the car trailered there, which they will not cover.   Apparently if they find it faulty they’ll fit a new one FOC.  Well thats nice of them essentially I pay £92 for the original one and £16 for the brake clip. £90 for the investigation and £150 to get it there so a minimum of £258 for the fix. Provided the dealer doesn't decide the flux capacitor is broken and want to change it as part of the “deal”

I asked that I remove the broken part and bring it and the original so they could compare them, but they are not really interested.

VW Uk have been asked about their take on this, and through badly written replies it seems they don't actually care.

The VW website says that recalls are forever. The recall is listed on the recall list and my chassis number is in the range listed. 
 

currently waiting for another reply from VW UK. 
 

This weekend I am going to see about fitting the modification listed here and other forums. At least that way I can drive the thing to the dealers, then worst case its a loss of 90 quid if they decide its all my fault, I kind of expect this will be their angle.  Despite being a qualified mechanical engineer the impression I get from VW is that they consider all who are not trained by then as totally incapable of fixing thing more complex than light bulbs.

 

The total irony is this should all be encompassed in the Sales of Goods Act, as a UK retailer VW are bound by this.

If my TV breaks Currys just want the TV back not the house its fitted in.

 

I have had plenty of time to take a look at the pedal box  workout where and how it breaks and think I can modify it to prevent it failing again.
However I will leave off modifications until VW have no requirement to see the original box, either way.

 

I will post the next install of this saga as soon as it happens

 

Edited by bIg F
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