Hello, I'm new here and glad to have found this site! I have a 1993 VW Passat GLX 5 spd. 180k miles engine rebuilt 60k ago. Well heres the deal though. My brake light has come off and on since I got the car over a year ago. When 1st starting car my brake pedal will act funny with a bunch of clicking and movement. Then at the end of 2nd gear the car will feel like the brakes are being put on heavily when their not and then drive fine. The pedal issue is only when first starting car and the 2nd gear isssue is about 50% of the time of driving. Wellll, 2 days ago I noticed that the pedal didn't have a coniption fit (as I called it lol) and the car shifted without hesistation through 2nd into 3rd. Much to my dismay I realizied I had no brakes or the little I did was about an inch of pedal and then it was like my pedal was blocked (ABS?) Tried taking my ABS fuse, number 4 position I believe, out like I did on my Isuzu Rodeo (took my abs relay out) to just not have the ABS but it didn't work like that. Still super stiff pedal and barely any brakes so put fuse back in and unhooked battery for an hour to reset maybe. No luck. Now today there is a bunch of crackling sounds down by where fuses are but they are all pushed in.......please any thoughts would be appreciated. 31 yr old female here and need my car to get 3 kids to and from school!!

 

might be a dirty wheel sensor
you could try unpluging the abs pump in the engine compartment
check the big vacume line going to the brake booster might have come loose