Bypass Valve Motor: Repair & Access (VW Golf)

Hello,

To my dismay, the recirculation flap motor in my Golf IV has failed and is making unpleasant rattling noises.
I tried to reach it, but the part is located very deep under the dashboard.
Does anyone have any ideas on how I can proceed?
Is this a known issue or an isolated incident?

Best regards,

Okay, so it's located on the far right. Remove the glove compartment (open the flap, there are 3 screws on the top side and 4 screws from the bottom) and then take a look inside the opening. You should now be able to see the adjustment motor on the far right. It's secured with a single screw.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out there!

Unfortunately, you will probably also need to remove the center console (around the gear lever and ashtray) because one of the screws for the glove compartment is unfortunately hidden by it.

It doesn't apply to me, and according to the repair manual, it doesn't apply either!

It's funny, but it definitely happened that way for me.
Perhaps this was changed in later years of production?

It was the same for me. To access the glove compartment, I had to disassemble everything from the left side. While I was at it, I also installed my hands-free device.

Okay, interesting. Well, in my case, it's the screws at the top and bottom. I know this because I recently spent some time repairing my glove compartment light, as that thing fell apart during a bulb change. Also, my glove compartment doesn't stay closed properly anymore because my niece was in a hurry when opening it once. If you're experiencing the same problem, there was a small plastic strip broken off inside the guide, which the guide slides along. Even though it wasn't a professional solution, I used hot glue to fill the gap, and it now slowly closes again.