Afternoon All and Happy New Year!


Has anyone found a good fix for a self opening glove box? This has been a issue on the 90 245 for sometime now and is a Royal PITA!

Thanks for the suggestions!

The lower part of the box that has the hinge section begins to sag, and that drops the door just far enough so the lock catch pawl no longer reaches up far enough to hold properly into the hole in the top of the box.

You have two choices to repair the box you have. Raise the hinge piece, or add a MacGyver piece to allow the pawl to catch better. I have found the latter route to be easiest.

With the box out of the car (easy, only seven screws and you cn leave the everything in the box) look at the hold in the top of the box where to pawl catches.

Fabricate a pit of metal, like an ell, that you can bold onto the box and that reaches down through the hole for the pawl to catch. It can be tricky: the downward part must be long enough but no so long that the box won't open. And, it must be not too far back to where the pawl cannot reach it.

Trial and error, and think of the bucks you are saving. It's a one-time PITA.

Good LUck,

Bob

:>)

My '89 came to me with an interesting and effective glove box latch fix.

The fitting holding the light switch has an [added] small piece of brass about 1/2" x 3/4" (approx 13x20 mm) with a hole drilled in it. The hole fits over the light switch button. Brass piece extends downward and engages the movable latch on the glove box door.

This particular fabrication isn't perfect - it only engages properly if you turn the knob and hold before closing the door. But it does hold the door closed even with a heavy full coffee mug hanging from the door in a cup holder.
--
Sven: '89 245, IPD sways, electric rad. fan conversion, 28+ mpg - auto tranny. 850 mi/week commute. '89 245 #2 (wifemobile). '90 244 (spare, runs).

added key words for reference
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Sven: '89 245, IPD sways, electric rad. fan conversion, 28+ mpg - auto tranny. 850 mi/week commute. '89 245 #2 (wifemobile). '90 244 (spare, runs).

Getting more creative, and using parts that are designed to fix just such a problem, go to Home Depot and get a latch striker plate, Stanley brand, made of brass with the perfect size "D" shaped hole, made for a small cabinet latch. You may need to buy the whole latch, but for $3, who cares?
A couple of screws through the top of the box and a supporting piece of plastic as a backing plate, and your in business. Use some flathead screws with self-tapping 4-40 thread into a piece of plastic cut from some old Volvo part. I used a 1 1/2 in x 1/2 inch piece from an old belly pan. Just don't use screws too long. Use flat washers under the striker plate to drop down as far as necessary, usually only one is needed.

This should take all of 15 min to fix.
--
'89 245 sportwagon, destroyed by hit & run driver, RIP. '04 V70 2.5 T Sportwagon, 12k mi and '91 245 5-speed, 209k mi, replaced the '89

I love to fabricate fixes for my car, but I couldn't find any way to fix my glovebox. And in confirmation of what "scorch" had to say, at the boneyard I go to, with 240s a-plenty, I was only able to find one good glovebox.

-EdM.
--
'90 240DL Wagon 'Lola' -- '72 1800ES 'Galadriel'

Put a small metal spring clip, like those used to hold the blower motor together, where the door latches to the box.

Likewise, a buildup of tape works too. Essentially what you're doing is lowering the catch.

-- Kane
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While I would never deliberately mislead anyone, take into consideration that any info and advice was provided at no cost to you.

Most likely you will be facing replacement. The Volvo glove boxes were not as characteristically sturdy as the rest of the car. The plastic gets brittle with age and cracks, and the hinges start to loosen causing sagging. That's the bad news. The worse news is that good glove boxes are hard to come by at the junkyards. However occasionally you can find one. I look for glove boxes to keep as spares whenever I go so I'll have one when the time comes.

You don't need to find one of the same color, as the face plate pops off very easily and glues on with some good construction adhesive like Liquid Nails.