Hi Guys,

On 10/16 I posted a thread to discuss the issue of one side of the glove box not latching properly. I was surprised at how many of us have the issue so I wanted to follow up as promised with the fix.

You will have to take the door off, let me explain this it is a much quicker job than you would expect. The door is connected to the inner glove compartment shell, both of which are connected to the dashboard. This concept of the inner shell will be important as you re-fasten the door when you are done.

Empty the glove box. Get a Torqx head screw driver (same one as all the other dashboard screws). At the very bottom of the glove door there are two hinges, each has 2 Torqx screws. Take them out. Gently open the glove compartment door with the handle, it will have no support now so be ready.

All that is holding it on right now is the "cable" on the outside. If you look at how the cable connects to the glove box, it will seem that you should somehow unfasten the cable from the latch on the glovebox - not exactly. You must remove the latch from the glove box, the cable never is disconnected from the latch.

This cable has plenty of free play by design. If you were to follow the other end of the cable back into the dash, you would see it lead up to the top of the glovebox shell on its top. Furthermore it is connected to a spring like piston on top of the glove box - pull on this cable and you will get another inch or so to play with without damaging anything. Using a flashlight you will see that the latch is at the top of a "groove" in the door. Down at the bottom of this groove, there is a much larger opening - you guessed it by now, that's how you get the latch off. Just slide it down to the bottom and remove it through this larger groove. The door will now come off.

Why does the fastening post seem sticky?
The binding in the fastening mechanism comes from old dried out gooey lubricant. This is found on the underside of the door handle (see photo)



Look on the left side of the inner workings. Find the silver mechanism (that moves the plungers when you work the handle)



In this photo the swab is right above the area that must be cleaned.

I used an electronics cleaner sprayed onto the cotton swab. What a nice surprise, with just one wipe the plunger that secures the door no longer sticks!

Of course I did my best to clean it and used a bit of grease to re-lube it. This small cleaning effort completely solved the problem.

One would have to open the door's clamshell structure to "clean it like new", I'm going to post another thread about that, this thread will help you get your door to latch properly with just a few minutes effort.

Reassmbly: Remember earlier how I mentioned the difference between the inner shell and the door? Here's where it comes into play. The bottom of this inner shell is secured using the bolts from the door's hinges. Once you understand its structure it will go together much easier.

There are two holes in each hinge. As it turns out, bolt in one hole fastens the hinge to the inner shell, the other bolt / hole fastens the hinge to the dashboard superstructure.

Before you fasten either hinge, take one screw and (pick a side) thread it through into the hole that fastens to the superstructure (temporary to line things up). This keeps the inner shell from flapping around. Now work on the other hinge, first do the screw that fastens to the superstructure, then the screw that fastens to the inner shell.

Unscrew the temp screw, place the hinge in position and fasten both screws.

 

Seems to be an easy fix. Another one bites the dust!