VR Calais - boot release button in glove box

[pecksterism99]

Ever get the feeling your car is about to disintegrate???

A few weeks after I'd finally got around to fixing the boot release - the link bar between the solenoid and the catch had broken - the %$&% boot release button in the glove box flew apart when the gf "just pressed it".

For some reason the thread on the button surround just won't catch on the switch body anymore, so it can't be put back together.

Looks like the glove box lid and the black glove box plastic backing needs to be removed to put a replacement switch in --- or is there more involved, like loosening/removing the centre console???

Just wondering if anyone else has had this pure Calais joy before???

[Andrew426]

Its easy enough to remove, you just need some long nose pliers and a bit of patience.

[pecksterism99]

Thanks for the tip Andrew, but the switch body is way too big to extract through the gap --- maybe there was some variation between models --- or you have a very cunning technique.

As a famous fish 'n chips shop owner once said, Phulease Explain?

[Andrew426]

Yeah there could be a bit of a difference. - Does (or did) the button look like the one in this pic?

[pecksterism99]

Thanks Andrew.

Your pic gave me the clue. Not being able to bend down under the glove box I had't twigged that the "nut" on the switch barrel was a nut - I thought it was a flange! OK, call me a klutz.

Anyways, I managed to loosen that off a bit and that enabled me to successfully refit the button/spring/contact.

Thanks heaps mate.

BTW - My release switch is clearly the same as yours but my release solenoid is a one-piece black plastic doodad with some kind of rubber boot covering the actuator..

[Andrew426]

BTW - My release switch is clearly the same as yours but my release solenoid is a one-piece black plastic doodad with some kind of rubber boot covering the actuator..

Yeah the one in the pic is actually off a dewoo/pontiac len mans. It had a chunky as solenoid that made a solid clunking noise when you open the boot. I have a couple of VR ones about too, but I prefer the sound the big ugly dewoo one makes.