Modern Vespa

Today my glove box started binding. When I push the key to open the glove box, it no longer smoothly pops open. Instead, it gets a little stuck and requires some "jiggling" to free up. Has this happened to anyone else before?

I don't see any part of the hinge that is actually getting stuck. And the hinges seem like simple plastic bits that fit into the leg shield, so I don't think there is anything fancy going on there.

I added a little teflon lube to the hinge pins, but that didn't really make the problem go away.

Hmmm... I looked at it a little more carefully, and I have a bad feeling I brought this on myself. I had the plastics off over the weekend to replace the rear brake cable, and I think I messed something up on the reinstall.

When I push the key in to open the box, the latch releases and the door opens an inch or two. Then it gets stuck and I need to jiggle the door to have it open up from there.

Once it's open, I feel like the glove box door is very loose, which I don't recall before. It seems to me that the lower hinges are probably supposed to click into something inside the glove box / behind the kick plate. And I probably knocked it out without noticing until now

Referring to the parts diagram (copied below), the blue "hinges" are the parts I think are loose. I can actually remove that glove box cover with the kick plate installed, so there is nothing holding the hinges in place (which I think is the problem).

It seems to me those hinges either need to snap into something behind the kick plate, or this mysterious part called "square" (circled red) is supposed to hold things in place and has come loose.

Can anyone shed any light?

The unfortunate thing is that I find it such a pain to take off all the plastics that I'll probably live with this problem until the next time I am compelled to open the bike up for other reasons. At least I'll wait until the clock battery dies!

Have you had the glovebox off recently? I was working on mine and when replacing it, accidently used a screw from the side on the centre portion. It caused it to not open for me.

""When I push the key in to open the box, the latch releases and the door opens an inch or two. Then it gets stuck and I need to jiggle the door to have it open up from there."

During the whole time I had my Sprint, I thought this is the way it works - not very practical, but, well.....mine was brand new, but it sounds like it could have worked better. Often mine did not open even an inch, requiring a bit of imagination to open it further....often it was easiest to push it back closed and see what will happen with the next opening. Never, ever did it occur to me there might have been some fine tuning to be done

It looks like an LX?

Mines an LX and I Fitted all new plastics including this so know it well.

The hinges drop into slots and are held there by plates so unless you took that apart too that’s not the issue.

When you refit that whole panel you first have to make sure you get the latch arm sat behind the key barrel.
If you think you did you need to take the horn cover off, then loosen all 5 screws again and force/jiggle the panel into different positions till one works.....also ensure you can still turn your key easily as that’s easy to bind too.

Once you find the sweet spot don’t let go and start tightening up the screws.

I find the LX50 glove box pretty useless. It's small and has all these problems. I closed mine for eternity. No more binding or jiggling. Of course I recommend that only as a last resort. My previous owner broke my upper latch to the point that I need a completely new glove box ($$$$$)

I agree it has limited use. But in my case, I use it to hold my garage door opener and it's perfect for this. So I definitely do not want to lose usage of the glove box!

No, I definitely don't think this is the intended setup! In the two years I've had this bike, I've opened and closed the glove box twice a day (to get my garage door opener) - no fuss or hassle.

Yes, it's a 2006 LX 150. This comment very interesting because it sounds exactly like what is wrong with mine. There is definitely nothing holding the hinges in place. The hinges flop around, and I can even wiggle the door completely free from the kick plate (i.e. remove it, without having to undo or unclick anything inside the unit).

I definitely did not undo any clip behind the glove box intentionally. Is this clip you describe the sort of thing that could come undone accidentally when fussing around with the glove box?

Is it one clip, or two? Does the hinges click into it, or it screws over top? If there's a screw, maybe it came out. In that case, I'd try and source a new one before removing the plastics again (just to cover for the possibility that I do not find the screw inside the body). Yes, the latch was positioned behind the key barrel. The key barrel moves cleanly in-and-out, and has no problem releasing the glove box door. It's just that the door itself only partially opens (an inch or two), and then gets stuck there.

From memory each hinge has a small metal plate that screws in place to keep the T shape hinge ends in place.

My point with the key barrel is that it’s possible to have the plastic all back on and yes it rests on the barrel but a few mm up or down and it might work better

Thanks for confirming. Something is wrong with mine then, because those hinge ends are definitely not held in place at all right now. This makes perfect sense. I really wish it was just a matter or loosening the kick plate screws and re-positioning a few mm! But given what you've said, and the fact that my door is completely loose and wiggly (i.e. not held in place at the hinges), I think there is more likely something wrong on that end.

Robot has a video about tightening the screws on the hinges to make the glove box work smoothly. I can't find it now but have you tried that?

Didn't know there was one - thanks for the idea! I couldn't find the Robot edition, but I did find this post on MV that seemed to show it for the GT200: Vespa GT 200L Glove Box Repair (sticking door)

I assume the clips are similar for the LX? If so, that's definitely the problem with my bike is definitely related. Either the clips feel off, or the hinges some how slipped out from behind them.

screenshot only - see link for full video!

Lol he sounds a little like Trump.

Let’s make glove boxes great again.

I just fixed mine, its posted on the project page http://modernvespa.com/forum/topic160224

Thanks for that! I'll stop in at my dealer to get spare clips before I take things apart.

So the good news is the MV wisdom was spot on, and those hinge brackets had come off and caused the binding!

The not so good news is that the brackets did not simply loosen off. Instead, the plastic screw posts had snapped

For me, this isn't worth replacing the whole kick plate ($$$), so I guess I'll have to try a repair. Looks like it's made of ABS, so I am thinking I can use plumbing primer + adhesive. Then maybe build up around the outside with construction adhesive, or something like that.

p.s. a shout-out to my dealer Lou @ Vespa Toronto West! When I called to inquire on spare hinge clips, we talked about the job. I had the mistaken impression that I would have to first remove to headset to make clearance to remove the kick plate. He let me know there was enough room without taking off the headset, saving me lots of time and hassle. Thanks, Lou!

Ouch thats a break. At least you have everything you need. I have repaired posts with Super Glue and hot glue build up but plumbing primer and adhesive sounds better.

Well I attempted a repair using this method. I hope it holds up!
http://modernvespa.com/forum/post2252213