The most difficult part of this job was finding out how to remove the frame. Partly because of the odd names that Volvo chooses for the parts in question. The top part of the assembly with the fake leather is the "Armrest cover", but the bottom, which probably should be "armrest frame" is called "cover".
I always jump online looking for the answer when it is not readily apparent, esp when working on the old Volvo plastics. I don't want to break anything unnecessarily. Finding info on how to remove the armrest cover (Volvo part number 9197486, 9196874, 9196181 or 9196135, 9165439) is easy- there are 4 torx screws easily accessed on the underside of the frame. But the actual frame attachment method is not easily discovered, and not found on the net. Well, grab a putty knife and pop the trim from inside the console at the bottom of the frame when it is wide open. Its a basically square piece of plastic, maybe 3/8" thick. Pry from the bottom. The top is clamped onto a pin that is part of the hinge. Pry there and you will break the cover. Once the cover is off, you will see two more torx screws, Remove them and the frame is now detached. Keep in mind these are longer screws than the ones holding the cover to the frame. Dont mix them up!
Now for the repair:
In the photos you will see I cut the towers of the catch off flush with the lid. I then drilled a couple of holes in that spot. I placed a coat hanger wire in position, put the cover in place and fished for the catch. For some reason I could not make it catch. Looking inside, I could see the latch on the console was farther back toward the rear of the car. I then envisioned the missing part of the catch- the part that spans between the two towers- probably had a lip that extended toward the rear.
Now I drilled two more holes further back and tested it. It seemed to catch more easily. I then bent the inside wires flush. I had planned to glue them to the lid, but though a mechanical fix might be better. Scrounging around my garage full of plunder, I found a small piece of sheet metal and a screw with a lock nut and tightened it up. so far, it seems to be working like new. And it is basically hidden, so nobody knows but me. In addition, the wire can be bent to make fine adjustments, and is easily replaced if need be. If you bend it too much, it might want to snap, so keep an extra piece to work with after you have done all the experimenting with the first peice of wire.
- Top of armrest frame, not seen when fake leather cover is attached.
- photo 1.JPG (77.77 KiB) Viewed 1058 times
- Bottom of Armrest frame
- photo 3.JPG (100.8 KiB) Viewed 1058 times
- Armrest frame and cover now snugly latched down.
- photo 4.JPG (50.35 KiB) Viewed 1058 times