Anyone ever repaired a glove box?
 

Hey guys,
My glovebox doesn't glide like it used to b/c I accidentally put too much pressure on the door as it was fully open. Anyhow, I think it's this spring mechanism that is the culprit. It attaches to the left side wall of the dashboard and there's a black plastic piece that attaches the dash to the glovebox door. I don't know if it just came lose or if it broke off. I called the dealer and they said that my only option is to buy a new glovebox assembly for $115 since they don't sell this part separately. Does anyone have any tips on how to fix it other than buying a new one? I've put the spring gear mechanism next to the key to get an idea of the size of the thing.

Thanks!

looks like its just that screw... just go to home depot!

yeah theres that thing, a large ring type thing, and theres this small small small piece of plastic thats abt...3/8" by 1" and that slips in from inside the console to the glove box, that prevents the glovebox from falling down

go to home depot. it will take a while to find the right parts, but it is better than paying 115 bucks.

btw, it looks pretty tricky to fix. maybe you can use the parts book at the dealer to find the exact part?

Thanks guys but I need help removing the glovebox assembly.
 

I've tried regreasing the spring and everything inside the cylinder but no luck. The thing doesn't glide smoothly when opening the glovebox door b/c the gear moves smoothly clockwise but is smooth going counterclockwise. I thought I'd take apart the glove box assembly since I'd have to do that anyways if I bought a new glovebox assembly.
Anyhow, I'm 95% there but can't seem to get one of the center console side panels removed to take out the glovebox assembly. I've attached some pictures and would appreciate any feedback. I know that this is a rare DIY but I was hoping someone with experience can help out. Thanks!

Pics Part II
 

Thanks for looking and trying to help out!

Glove Box Damping Mechanism Reassembly - SOLVED!
 

Please excuse the opening of a long dead thread, but since I wasn't able to find the solution to this problem anywhere else, I thought I'd post it here.

This afternoon while trying to remove the glove box light, I caused the same problem described here to happen to my glove box damping mechanism.

This dang thing is PUZZLING! It took me a while staring at it, but I finally managed to figure out how to put it back together.

There are a couple of "tricks" you have to understand (depending on how many pieces you ended up with) to get this thing put back together. But once you know the tricks, it's a pretty easy job and requires no further disassembly whatsoever.

Pic 1 shows the spring and gear. This is what mine looked like. First step is to reassemble these into a single unit as shown in Pic 2. Look closely at the spring and you'll see that it is bent to fit through a hole and lock securely in place in the back side of the gear.

The first trick is understanding that this gear/spring assembly SNAPS into the mount shown in Pic 3. The black disc/collar between the gear and the spring actually has a lip that snaps into a groove in the mounting hole. Getting it to snap back in is tricky - I had to snap it in on one side first, then finesse it using pressure all the way around using two flat-head screwdrivers until it *snapped* into place. You'll know when you have it in.

And note that this gear is *designed* to spin with less resistance one way than the other - that's why the glove box door opens slowly but closes quickly.

Once you have the gear snapped in, the rest is pretty easy. Snap the geared "spirograph-type" follower (Pic 4) over the gear and retainer so it looks like Pic 5 (pretend there's a gear snapped into place in Pic 5).

You're just about home free...

If you'd previously removed your glove box door completely, you now need to re-install it by engaging the two pivot tabs (the glove box "hinge") in their grooves. You do this by dropping the glove box to the floor and placing the tabs in their respective grooves, then raising the front of the glove box slightly and pushing toward the firewall to "snap" the hinge tabs into place.

Finally, you need to slowly raise the glove box door as if closing it, while manipulating the gear follower (that "spirograph" thing) so the knob on the follower rides up the ramp and locks into place in its hole in the left side of the glove box door. Take a look at the left side of the glove box door before you do this last step so you understand the path the knob on the follower has to take to get back into its "hole" in the glove box door.

That's it!

I hope this helps someone out there. It's a very puzzling but easy fix that deserves to be less puzzling and more easy!

-Pete

Pete, thank you for posting this, I just used it to fix my 2001 C240 glove box door. Went exactly as you said and now it works great. Thanks! Steve

You're welcome Steve - glad I was able to help!

-Pete

Hi Pete! Thanks a lot for your write up and pics, I found it very useful after spending a bit of time looking at it....

I'm getting stuck on snapping the gear assembly back into the mount, I can place it back in no problem but I can't get it to snap back in place....

Just wondering if you had any more tricks or tips to explain this

Thanks buddy

Raynes9

I'm not sure I can help much if you can't picture what's going on. That disc is what holds the assembly together. It's like the top of a can of nuts, except instead of the top snapping over the OUTSIDE of the can, the top is slightly SMALLER than the can and is rigid, and snaps into a groove just INSIDE the lip of the can. Like I said, to snap it in, I had to use a couple of flat screwdrivers and work it from one side to the other bothclockwise and counter-clockwise at the same time.

HTH

-Pete

Another thanks here, Pete, from another Pete in Sydney, Australia. Photos helped immensely.

Glad it helped, Pete! Nice to see an occasional reply here and know I helped a few people with this puzzle.

-Pete

Question: How did you drop down the glove box to get access to the gear pulley ? Thanks for the information everyone. Mine just went today and still trying figure out this puzzle.