Polo GTI Cup Holder Jamming Fix!!!

[flat6]

The cup holder in this car has been pissing me off for the last 3 years now, its an over engineered son of a bitch!

If yours jams, here is the solution

Pull the cup holder out by removing the head unit and pushing against the nub on the top right hand side of the cup holder, it requires a little pressure to get out so be careful with the arms, if you have a plastic bojo tool, you can wedge one into the top right hand side of it to help loosen it up.

Once removed it looks like this, the pin at the end is the culprit to the jamming, it has a specific place it needs to be


Too high and it jams, too low and it doesn't lock the holder in place to secure your drink, get it as low as possible and make sure it locks half way

Below are some images for your amusement, pull it apart at your own risk because ***** will fly everywhere if your not careful, the above pics should help you get it back together.



Here you can see the pin at the correct height for me, this works flawlessly


Here you can see where the pin goes if its up too high, markings on the plastic show where it jams


Spray some silicone spray in there to lube everything up and your all good

Wished someone posted this 3 years ago

Enjoy

[Eddy]

Hoyhoy.

Thank you, in case mine does play up.

[JDM]

mine just jammed yesterday! hope it's this easy to fix. great post thanks

[flat6]

Been a few weeks so far with regular use, hasn't jammed so far

[End User]

Thread revival!

My cup holder finally jammed after 7 years of careful use

It was stuck in the 3/4 closed position and I used too much force, and managed to push it in flush, but now it won't spring out.

Flat6, any chance you still have a copy of those images above?

[rbalc1]

As luck would have it, I still haven't put my cup holder back into the car from when I last fixed it.
Hopefully this helps

On the front of the cup holder there are 3 clips which keep it locked in place. There is also a plastic/ rubber locating nub on the back which can be used to push the cup holder out. This nub can only be accessed if you remove the radio(special tool required). I used this method first time around but found the most resistance to be from the clips at the front. I also found it difficult apply the force needed to push it out with the limited access.




My method - use at your own risk

1) If it is still jammed - try and push the little white button on the inside right of the cup holder ( might be able to do this with a credit card) this may release the mechanism.

2) If unsuccessful, gently pry on the cup holder face plate to remove it and give you better access to the clips. Once the face plate is removed the paddle arms that hold the drink can also be removed. Be careful not to lose these and the spring that holds these apart.

3) Gently use a trim removal tool / plastic credit card to wedge between the cup holder and dash to try release the clips. Use the trim removal tools to try and lever it out. The bottom clip is the easiest to release followed by the top left as they are level with the bezel. A small screw driver may also help depress the clips but can easily damage the surrounding trim if you are not careful.

Don't worry too much if the cup holder comes to pieces, just make sure you collect all the parts that fall. In my experience it has always clipped back together, it just takes more time to work out how everything goes.

4) Adjust the height of the spring to a level that works smoothly and re- assemble the cup holder

5) Inspect sliding arm as shown below for any excessive flex/movement as the clips holding the sliding arm in place may have broken over time - this can contribute to the jamming problem and can be fixed with some super glue



6) Optional - Before re-installing I used a dremel to ground down the clips slightly to make it easier to remove next time. I also marked their locations using a gold pen/whiteout for easy reference.
Bonus picture

[flat6]

Nice write-up!

They are a bugger of a cup holder, engineered to the point it doesnt work, have had mine out a dozen times.

I noticed the spring on the post was the main culprit, the metal post is just a rough nail that's wedged into the plastic and moves over time, if its too low the cup holder wont lock shut, too high and it jams shut, when the correct location is found, maybe a bit of silicone might be the solution?

[End User]

Thanks guys. I'll give it a try on the weekend.