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This is how I do it with minimal damage.Push down on the top of the door and look in the middle.You should be able to see where the metal latch comes out of the dash.You need to get in there with a screwdriver and start breaking small peices out of the glove box insert in the dash.Start from the metal latch and work out.You will expose the 2 screws that hold the latch in.When you have enough plastic broke you can use a philips screwdriver to remove the screws.Then the door will open.Then you will have to take the door apart to finish opening the latch.The only damage left when you are done is a little plastic broke behind the glovebox door.You don't even have to replace the insert for the glove box.You will just have to buy the door latch kit.
I have also inserted some pics to help.The part outlined in the blue are what needs to be removed.
Hope this helps.
There is a way to prevent this from being neccessary:
Ty a thin black wire (just a really thin one) around the metal pin inside the lock (in the middle of the glovebox, this pin falls into the latch as mentioned above) and let this stick out of the top of the glove compartment.
Close the compartment and cut the wire at a point that you can just reach the end with a small piece of equipment.
Open the compartment again and tape the end of the wire on the top of the glovebox, make sure it is just in reach when the glovebox is closed. It needs to be still pulled loose!
Whenever you're glovebox locks-up you can pull out the thin black wire and the glovebox opens up without any damage!
10% of all 850/x70 classics encounter this problem once in 10 year... so it is no unneeded thing to do!
(I'm Dutch and try to write in best possible English btw)
I recently had the glove box locking issue on my 93 850. The approach I took in getting it open was to do the following:
On the top center area of the glove door and dash (as shown by tech above), place a piece of duct tape on the dash and edge of the glove box to protect the plastic while working to get it open.
- Next wedge two screws drivers, one one each side of the latch, between glove door and dash. You should have a clear view of the latch after doing this. Rather than breaking small pieces of the dash away, cut the latch off using a hacksaw blade with blade holder. Use a fine toothed blade.
- Cut through both sides of the latch, open the door, and vacuum up the debris.
- At this point you can replace the latch and fix the locking mechanism in the gloove door.
The option I took for repair was a cheap one. First I slipped a plastic cap plug over the cut latch to avoid getting cut while reaching into the glove box. I then installed a magentic door catch like you would find on wood cabnetry. Install magnet on ceiling of the glove box and the flat metal plate on the glove door. This keeps the glove box closed and allows to open easy. Of course you can not lock it anymore, but then again who actually ever locks their glove box.
dayum wish i would have seen this a couple of months ago! I was stopped by the local constabulary and could not open the glove box. He was adamant that i produce the papers that were inconveniently located inside the gove box with the now broken door, I was somewhat irked at the prospect of yet ANOTHER ticket so i ended up manglingthe door and latchto open it. Its now held shut with some velcro strips.
I am guessing that everyone is having the same failure with the latch. That is the pin that rotates the clasp breaks off. Well that was the case with mine...
There is a simple cheap fix! The piece you need to repaircomes out of the latch assembly after some minor dissasembly. After removing the latch assembly you should be able to see themissing pin.Take the piece that broke and drill a small hole where the old pin broke off. Then find a small screw and put this in the hole. With some minor filing/grinding to fit this fixes the latch and gets you rolling again without the $45 latch replacement cost! Hope this helps someone else who has a tight budget like myself!
thanks mine was broken and the light was on for months and killed the battery. I however couldn't get into the latch with anything like a wire, so i had to cut the metal pin with a hacksaw blade. I can get a replacement at the dealership later, but i taped the light switch down.
followed tech info and opened my glovebox and a small pin had broken off all i did was to drill a hole where the pin was and put a screw in and cut the head off works a treatand it wont brake again total cost nill not a Ā£$ .lucky i remembered seeing the how to open a broken glovebox was about to get heavy handed
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LANCIAK66 WAS LANCIAK69 BUT IT WONT LET ME SIGHN ON WI IT
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How to open A broken Glove Box!!
