martinss

Both of my S4s have a rear glovebox - no rear a/c. According to their owner's manuals they were originally supplied with two keys specifically for the locks of these glove boxes. While I would never use them, for completeness in my restorations, I would like to get replacement keys.

Did these keys have a large number of possible combinations, as for the ignition keys, or were there only one or a few keys supplied for this trivial lock?

Any idea how to get a working replacement other than swapping out the lock for one with a working key? If all else fails apparently a new set is available, but not cheap: 928 522 015 02

Thanks.

JBGold07

Bump for a fellow Canadian

Best I can offer is for you to try my '86 key in your locks.
No pickup line intended...

JB

martinss

Thanks JB. I may take you up on that. I'm pursuing a few options first.

Kiwi928S4

I have recently been through this exercise - mine was locked by the PO and key lost - so had to break in to the box - quite easy with a thin wire poked through the side behind the lock and popped it open. I then unscrewed the lock and posted it to 'keysforclassics' in Australia - Stuart made replacement keys no problem. They are shorter than the ignition keys and not keyed the same.
Cheers
Ken

martinss

Rear glovebox lock update

An update - while there is a three digit key code number stamped on the back of the locks, a two letter code precedes it, which could be either TX or TC, or perhaps even something else.

I sent pictures of the rear lock tumblers/wafers from this car and my '88 to Stuart at Keys4Classics to help him develop a database. In the case of the '90, the three wafers are identical, requiring that the cuts of the keys be exactly the same in the three sections where they align with their respective wafers. However, the key code TX527 did not look like it would work. Without charging me. Stuart cut both TX527 and TC527 and sent them to test, and sure enough TX did not work, but TC did. In the past Stuart used the TX code for other owners, and indeed, in the case of my '88, TC322 and TX322 both worked; while the keys looked very different, the three sections of the keys that align with the wafers are exactly the same:



Yes, I know that you could use this information to have keys cut so that you could unlock my rear gloveboxes, but this is hardly a concern

So in summary, for those cars that have a rear glovebox (not present in later cars with rear/supplementary a/c, and not present in early cars at all), there is a simple lock which has is own key style not shared with other locks on the car. There was originally a small metal tag with the three digit code of the key supplied with a pair of rear glovebox keys, and the same code is stamped on the rear of each lock.

Stuart went above-and-beyond; I enthusiastically endorse him. If you need a new key, send this code to Stuart and he can cut you a new key.

johnu

Thanks for the info. Added to the long list of things to do!

John

yaskota

Mahalo for the info! Doing this now...

-tom

Vilhuer

Early cars had that box as standard AFAIK. On '80-82 cheap 4.5L models it was option so some do not have it.