Check out the pic below. The bottom one is from my 94, the top one was sent to me as a replacement. I had no idea that there were several styles of latches. Anyone know what year the top one is from? Needless to say, it's for sale if anyone wants it.

-sKotX

 

It's too bad they changed the mechanism. The one I have from the 93 is much heavier duty, and apparently lots of the 94s break.

 

Hey... mine broke too!!! I have a '94 and it's been stuck closed for a couple months now. How much did the part cost? And is it difficult to replace? I'm not sure if I can get it open... again. Maybe with an ice pick or something to get at the release wire.

 

I wonder if it has anything to do with the addition of the passenger's airbag...

 

I wish that were true, I have a '93 and it has been shut closed for over a year now !! BTW, that top pic. is the from a '93. That is the one that I have. I had to literally yank the box as far down as I could to get my Registration and insurance papers out hehe!! It is still jammed and I have heard the only way to get it out now is to saw the metal latch, change the lock, then super glue the metal latch back in place. Have any of you had to do this??

 

I can't say which latch is better, but I know the one on my 93 is cheap. I relpaced it once. I had to but the whole glove box used and swapped it out. The glove boxes are very different from the 93's and later models and are not interchangeable.

The post 93 boxes seemed sturdier to me. Maybe the latch is the exception.

My latch doesn't quite catch well enough so the glovebox light is on a lot.

 

Put a little stopper-like thing on the opening part of the glovebox that will push the plastic to make the light go off. That's what I did. I wish I had a pic to show you.

 

Hey for you guys that have problems with the light in the glove box staying on, that is normal on 93's. There was a TSB which stated that the system was defective and a new piece was designed to eliminate that problem(inconvenience). I don't have the PN now, but I'll see if I can find it.

 

Just found it. The new PN for the modified piece is FD01 64 170A. This is supposed to cure the problem, but I've never gone ahead and replaced it so I don't know.

 

[MILD7]
Called the dealer today. Looks like the latch for a 94 is only $13. Not too bad. It's not hard at all to replace. Take a flashlight and look near where the handle used to be. You'll see what you need to push down to get it open (you can actually see it in my earlier pic). Any small screwdriver will work. Heck, you can even use your key.

Once you get the glove box open, you simply remove three screws to take off the lock assembly. I haven't gotten one from the dealer, so I don't know exactly what you get, but it's pretty simple to take apart the key cylinder and replace it with your own. Viola! Custom re-keying! If anyone needs help with this part, let me know.

[technonovice]
You could always remove the bulb.

[badass7]
Geez, surely there's a better way than this. I don't have a 93, so I'm not sure how they commonly break, but I'd be willing to troubleshoot it if you want.

-sKotX (master of quoting efficiency)

 

The latch on my 93 wouldn't stay shut so I drove with it open for several months. The mechanic said that in order to fix it on a 93 you had to tear up the box, so I bought a used one from a wreck and replaced the box.......I also got the old key so I can lock it. Kind of a bummer with 2 keys, but better than driving around with it open all the time.....passengers don't like it banging their knees.