Guide: How to remedy the sticky interior trim, quick and cheap.

[ripp]

Hey guys, bit of a help here,
I took apart the AC control box to clean it and in the circuit board compartment I found this orange plastic thing. Any idea where it should sit?

 

[SSTEVENS17]

Goes behind the lcd. The bit sticking out on the right there needs to go on the open end of the casing

 

[ripp]

Figured it out eventuality, but thx anyway!
Btw, I used hot water with laundry powder detergent. 5 minutes into the water and a little scrub with a nylon brush and I think it worked better than any other product.?

 

[Simon998]

Great! I’ll have to strip my centre console and do it at some stage. My CD player is the worst.

 

[Darren S]

I'll be tackling those in a few days when I see how these hold up. I really want to do the radio and climate control but it would ruin them.

The passenger side needs done again as there's a few bits I've missed. You only really notice it when they're dry.

Makes you think why Renault even put that crappy rubberised coating over them in the first place. I'll definitely be doing this to mine soon.
Good write-up!

 

[ripp]

got to the poin where I want to remove the radio cover to get it clean. removed the radio but can't get it's front panel of. any ideas?

 

[SSTEVENS17]

got to the poin where I want to remove the radio cover to get it clean. removed the radio but can't get it's front panel of. any ideas?

I think there’s a couple of acres holding on some brackets on both sides. Unscrew those and think it just pops off ?

 

[ripp]

I tried to unscrew the metal clips from the sides and spent half hour figuring out if I'm missing something but no success..

 

[Phase 1]

Someone did the upper dash cover?

 

[Pistachio]

Someone did the upper dash cover?

Who?

 

[Darren S]

I really don't know what Renault were thinking by coating these bits in that crap to begin with? 😕

 

[ripp]

Update on this!
I found another way of cleaning these items.
For the door handles that come off pretty easy you could use the methods above. But for the upper dash trims or the steering wheel airbag or other difficult to get out items I found out that isopropyl alcohol works very good combined with an abrasive nylon sponge or even a very soft wire brush and then wipe off with a microfiber cloth.
I did the airbag recently and I used a very fine wire brush with low pressure while keeping the surface wet with alcohol. The brush slowly scraped the gunk and after that I used a microfiber cloth to finish the job. Took me 10 minutes to clean it and it came out spot on!
Will do the upper dash surroundings and I'll finally get rid of the nasty stuff!

 

[Ksamyui]

Update on this!
I found another way of cleaning these items.
For the door handles that come off pretty easy you could use the methods above. But for the upper dash trims or the steering wheel airbag or other difficult to get out items I found out that isopropyl alcohol works very good combined with an abrasive nylon sponge or even a very soft wire brush and then wipe off with a microfiber cloth.
I did the airbag recently and I used a very fine wire brush with low pressure while keeping the surface wet with alcohol. The brush slowly scraped the gunk and after that I used a microfiber cloth to finish the job. Took me 10 minutes to clean it and it came out spot on!
Will do the upper dash surroundings and I'll finally get rid of the nasty stuff!

I was going to go at it with Isopropyl Alcohol too. Did you do the climate control panel in place with Isopropyl? I'm worried it'll wipe off the transfers if I'm not careful

 

[ripp]

I was going to go at it with Isopropyl Alcohol too. Did you do the climate control panel in place with Isopropyl? I'm worried it'll wipe off the transfers if I'm not careful

For the climate control panel I just replaced it with another one. Some cars came out with panels without the sticky stuff and with the writings cast into the buttons instead of painted onto them so now they will not fade off or scrap! Found the panel cheap at a breakers yard and bought it instantly! 😁 On one with paint on it that scrapes off I wouldn't use alcohol on it, better of replacing it altogether

 

[VenomUK]

For the climate control panel I just replaced it with another one. Some cars came out with panels without the sticky stuff and with the writings cast into the buttons instead of painted onto them so now they will not fade off or scrap! Found the panel cheap at a breakers yard and bought it instantly! 😁 On one with paint on it that scrapes off I wouldn't use alcohol on it, better of replacing it altogether

That was a lucky find. I plan on taking mine out and stripping the face-off and giving it the treatment. I also found that any of you car cleaning enthusiasts out there that tardies also does a good job of breaking down the sticky stuff too.

 

[Ksamyui]

That was a lucky find. I plan on taking mine out and stripping the face-off and giving it the treatment. I also found that any of you car cleaning enthusiasts out there that tardies also does a good job of breaking down the sticky stuff too.

What's involved in getting it out? I've seen some people saying it's gearstick out. Is that just the gearstick plastic surround? Surely putting the car in 2nd or 4th would give enough clearance to wiggle the unit out?

 

[VenomUK]

I think it's head unit out and then 2 screws holding it in and no need to remove the gearstick? I've not done it myself yet.

 

[Clio_fool]

To remove the climate panel? Yep radio out, ashtray and panels below the climate panel out and then remove the screws and it'll come out. You can remove the front of it to clean the sticky off it.

 

[Ksamyui]

Brilliant, cheers guys; I’ve done most of the other panels, just that and the dash top bit to do.