The 2nd generation LS has a nifty sliding-adjustable arm rest that's also the center console lid. Really bad picture here. Anyway the sliding mechanism is decidedly beefy and smooth, sliding on what could probably pass for heavy duty drawer sliders. The latch to keep the lid closed, though? Flimsy piece of crap. It hinges on plastic pieces which aren't really up to the stress of regular use.
My latch broke a few months ago. I removed the arm-rest and looked inside. A small amount of coca-cola had gotten into the hinge barrel/pivot and effectively glued the hinge pin on one side. The flimsy plastic sheared under torsion. The other side likely failed not long after due to having to do all the work itself. My initial fix was to find the hinge pins and epoxy them back on. They actually BOTH fell into the center console, so I salvaged them both. The epoxy held for a few months. Until this week. So I decided to apply a more permanent fix. Better than stock.
Here, on the right side, you see the original flimsy hinge pin that was a single piece molded with the latch. On the left you see my solution to Ford's oversight, where the other plastic pin was before it sheared and escaped into the nowhere that is the afterlife for small car parts.
Both sides fixed:
I used a drill press with a very small drill bit to core a sleeve on each side for a new pin:
Then I cut a nail (harder than wire, so it won't bend under stress) on each side to fit the hinge barrels. I just used a pair of diagonal cutters to cut the nail. I thought about using a dremel to get a clean cut, but since the nails turn freely in both sides of their barrels, I decided the rough cuts weren't likely to do any damage. I left the tip sharp for the same reason.
Here's the bottom of the arm-rest/lid assembly. The lever shown is for the sliding adjust, with the empty spot for the faulty lid release latch next to it.
And here's the newly-improved latch sitting in place, unfastened.
Here it is fastened in place. You can see the fairly tough spring in the middle which presses down on the arm of the latch to return it to the closed position. That spring is probably what killed off the second half of the hinge after the first half sheared, by putting too much stress on it. The nails shouldn't have the same problem.
And fully assembled, with the cosmetic cover. You can see the interesting reinforcing piece where the latch "bites" in this picture and the two previous shots. So much of this arm-rest was so well thought out and toughly-built, it's weird that they left the release latch so flimsy. You can also see how, when the slide adjust is at the "normal" position, the two latches line up nicely. But I drive with it slid forward a bit, which frustratingly leaves the release latch back underneath inches of arm rest.
I don't think I'll have to worry about the latch failing again anytime soon.
