Key for Glovebox

[MrAl]

Make sure you keep good records of the piece of the key younshow. If you accidentally post the other piece, bots can stich them together in software, complete your key, and sell it to the highest bidder. Someone from Iowa will take 7!days off from work to drive into Jersey and boost your car.

This happens every day, the media just doesn't cover it.

Hi there Steve,

You mean you think someone would really want to steal a car that was made in 1998 ?

I probably shouldnt mention this but, they would have a seriously hard time making a key from that photo even if they get the real back side (other side not shown). That's because the two photos were seriously doctored before posting. The only thing valid in those two photos is the groove
I even considered changing the milling pattern so if anyone did try it they would be in for a surprise when they went to try it out (ha ha) but decided it was not necessary. Maybe it is better that i mention this so nobody even tries. But then again i could be lying just to throw them off right? he he. But then again, i doubt there is any key made for these cars that has no other milling other than the groove on any one side.

Thanks for pointing this out still at least i know now that i wasnt being overly paranoid about the photos THIS time

I will try both of those pseudo keys posted a little later today and see how it goes. It will be very interesting if one opens the box and one doesnt. I never heard of that before this car. I'll have to mark which one does and which one doesnt then i guess.

I will remind other readers here that those two keys shown are exactly as the real keys except for the variable milling marks but the milling marks are both exactly the same on both keys, just the groove is different where you can see one is quite square near the 'handle' and one comes to a point. That's the only difference and i looked carefully at the keys to make sure.

I do have to say though that if i had to guess, i would think they are both the same, even though the groove is different on one near the handle. What makes me think that is i think the two keys were made at different times, and thus the key maker might have just started with a very slightly different key stock. I think this mostly because the Volvo logo is worn more on one key than the other. Yes it doesnt prove that, but it does suggest something else different which of course could also be that the previous owner(s) just did not use the other key as much. I'll finally know for sure later today though.

Thanks again to those who replied and tried to help me solve this. At first i thought i would never be able to lock the glove box, but now at least i can do that, so i did get a bit farther with this car now.

What i should do is make a list of all the strange things i ran into with this car, and post it here somewhere. Im not really complaining about the car, just that some of the things dont make that much sense. We all know about the air pump but that turned out to just be the start of the unusual things that came up with this car.

Hope to get back here a little later today with the final word on this glove box mystery. After that i'll be looking to find anyone that wants to buy the rights to the book

[misha]

...i'll be looking to find anyone that wants to buy the rights to the book

[MrAl]

Hello again,

Well, it seems that it is as most people where saying here especially erikv. The secret is in the groove, and only in the groove. I looked very carefully at the two keys and did not notice that one key not only has a square groove end, but the whole cross section of the groove is rectangular while the other key groove cross section is triangular, very different in that one respect besides the very end of the groove near the handle. That means if the key hole is made for a rectangular cross section groove a triangular groove will NOT slide into it because the edges of triangular side walls will not fit over the rectangular ridge inside the key hole. It's like trying to fit a square peg into a triangular hole ... it just doesnt go in. Not even the very tip of the key will go in, it's that precise. That's what puzzled me when i tried it before this and made me think the key was too thick to slide in. The two keys are actually the same size.

So the mystery is finally solved, it's the cross section of the groove only that prevents the key from entering the glove box hole. That's why it didnt fit. What else is funny is before i posted here for the first time about this i actually tried it on two different occasions, and wouldnt you know it, both times i must have randomly picked the wrong key. Maybe it is better that this issue unfolded the way it did though because if i locked the glove box with the right key and didnt know i was using the right key and then later tried to open the glove box with the wrong key by accident, i would have freaked because the key would not fit and i would have to wonder what the heck happened that the key suddenly doesnt fit, and i might not think to try the other key right away.

Now that i understand this thing when i look at the two key pictures i can see the difference now. The lower key is the so called 'valet' key because that has the "V" shaped grove while the top key must be the 'master' key. All the other milling indents are the same on both keys (not shown in the pics).

Anyone else think this is nuts?

While i was out there today i took some oscilloscope pictures of the battery voltage while starting and turning on various things like headlights and heater motor. I'll see if i can post them in another thread after i get some rest. Long day today.