2005 Lincoln LS V6 Ash Tray stays open, wont close

Pop out the ashtray. Remove the ashtray assembly (the housing). if you flip the ashtray over and look at the bottom you can see a small spot where a piece of plastic has broken off (this should be obvious). In the ashtray housing there is the latch mechanism with the broken "nipple" probably stuck inside of the mechanism. Get the plastic piece out and discard it. Reinstall the housing only.

Now, get a TINY ( I mean really small, like 4mm long and maybe 1/4-1/2mm diameter) screw handy. Drill a slightly smaller hole right through the ashtray where the piece of plastic was before it broke off. screw in the screw from the TOP of the ashtray so it only pokes out of the bottom 1.5 MMor so. Put the ashtray in. If it still doesn't "catch" screw the screw in a little further so it sticks out the bottom a little more. If it binds you've ******* the screw in too far so back it off. You get the drift.

This takes about 30 minutes. It's hard to explain but once you look at the bottom of the ashtray you'll understand the concept. Hope this helps somebody out there.