Report - 04 - Broken Glove Box Springs - Extended Warrantee

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Tempus, Nov 7, 2007.

  1. Tempus

    Tempus Senior Member

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    Well, as usual, I finally got another of the 'teething pain' failures all early adopters are heir to.

    Both springs in the upper glove box broke loose. I took out the glove box to prevent any damage to the dash, then pulled out the Extended Warrantee.

    Now, this is only applicable to the Platinum Version. The regular covers less.

    There, under "Other" was "Glove Box Assembly".

    So far so good.

    Off to the dealership, first stop the parts department to check it out. A parts lookup showed a $115 part named "Glove Box Door".

    Hmm, well, a Door is clearly not an Assembly. But, the part is the whole shebang with door, glove box, hinges, springs, gears, latches etc. Sure looks like an "Assembly" to me.

    Off to the Service Writer. I tell him my Glove Box Assembly is busted.

    Check Warrantee - Glove Box Assembly - ok, looks like you're covered.

    I tell him - "When you call the adjuster, be sure you tell him it's an Assembly. The database just calls it a "Door" but look at all these moving parts, someone sure assembled it. He chuckles.

    Call to the Adjuster -

    Mutter Mutter -

    Service Writer says, Yes, I know the part database calls it a Door but look at the diagram, it's an Assembly.

    Mutter Mutter -

    Ok, you're covered. 0 deductible.

    Oh, and apparently for Platinum Warrantee Repairs, Toyota doesn't want the broken part back. Anyone need a broken "Glove Box Assembly"?

    I do suspect they've gotten enough of them back already that the have a pretty good idea what went wrong :)

    So, the lesson is, it's all in the language. The Service Writer agreed that if we hadn't been prepared to argue that a "Door" would not have been covered.
     
    #1 Tempus, Nov 7, 2007
  2. Skwyre7

    Skwyre7 What's the catch?

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    Good to hear that it's covered when you call it what it is.
     
    #2 Skwyre7, Nov 9, 2007
  3. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Tempus, how did you remove it? Mine died the same way about a week after the warranty expired. I see a release clip on the left end but I don't see how to free the right end.
     
    #3 richard schumacher, Nov 9, 2007
  4. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    very easy, richard- 2 screws in the back iirc. DH did ours shortly before our basic warranty ended.
     
    #4 galaxee, Nov 9, 2007
  5. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Are they behind the two round plugs in the back? If so how are the plugs removed?
     
    #5 richard schumacher, Nov 9, 2007
  6. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    yep- that's it. DH has a small pick he uses to pull little plugs like that. just get something behind there carefully and pry.
     
    #6 galaxee, Nov 9, 2007
  7. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Thanks. I gouged mine pretty well removing them, but then I did manage to fix the broken spring so I'll call it a bargain.
     
    #7 richard schumacher, Nov 11, 2007
  8. DaveG

    DaveG Member

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    Had the exact same problem on my '04. Faulty design on the spring retaining mechanism behind the upper glovebox caused the springs to break out of the plastic retaining grooves and push the dash covering up (in addition to no longer opening the glovebox properly). Rather than just paying Toyota for a replacement, I decided to fix it myself.

    Removing the upper glovebox lid assembly wasn't too bad. Just empty it out and remove the trays. You'll see two small plastic covers. To remove them, slide a thin knife blade in on the left or right side. They'll pop out quite easily (there are small notches on the left/right sides of the plugs that catch in indents as shown in the picture).

    [​IMG]

    Once you remove both plugs, remove the phillips-head screws and pull the glovebox straight towards you. There are two nylon clips that hold it from behind.

    Take care not to pull too far as there's a yellow electrical wiring harness behind it that's attached to the glovebox assembly for some unknown reason. Squeezing the white clip together at the bottom allows easy removal.

    Once the box is removed, it's easy to see the source of the problem:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    In both pictures, you can see where the heavy metal spring end has snapped-off the edge of the plastic, allowing the spring to escape from the groove so the opening mechanism no longer functions properly (and it pushes the dash up as well and warps it).

    After a little thinking (and a bit of experimenting), I found a simple solution. I mixed up some 2-part epoxy glue, and snapped-off about 3/8" of the thin end of a wooden clothespeg to create a wooden shim. After liberally applying the mixed epoxy, I pushed the shim into the slot with a flat head screwdriver so it was nice and snug. I did the same thing to the spring on both ends of the glovebox.

    [​IMG]

    After letting it dry overnight, I reassembled the dash. Everything works properly now and the dash is in good shape.

    Dave
     
    #8 DaveG, Mar 16, 2008
  9. paulccullen

    paulccullen New Member

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    And I busted the tip on one of my wife's good kitchen knives doing the same thing. :( But I did get the glove-box out. :)
     
    #9 paulccullen, Mar 17, 2008
  10. SureValla

    SureValla Member

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    #10 SureValla, Dec 11, 2010
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