Sticky centre console

[TWH]

I'm not 100% sure if this should be in the electrical forum but...

My Symphony unit, Aircon, and indeed the ashtray are all very sticky. Basically, the previous owner must have spilt coke from the cup holder or something like that. I didn't notice it when I bought in the summer as it's only in the cold that the buttons stick solid and can't be used until the car warms up. Now the ashtray has also stuck and cannot be opened. Obviously audi were no use and quoted to replace the parts - the ashtray was £222 and the aircon unit was over £600.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to unstick them, or if not, does anyone have any spare aircon, ashtray and symphony head units or know of a cheap place to get them other than ebay which has nothing right now?!

Cheers

[SunDiver]

It's your lucky day. EXACT same issue with my B5 S4 - never noticed on purchasing, worst in the cold etc. I spent a hour or so Googling last week and came up with the following:-

http://zener.com/audi/HVAC_cleaning/

All the best,

Alex

[TWH]

Cheers mate, did you find it relatively simple to do or was it a mission?!

[Dippy]

That's a good article.

Fortunately I don't have this problem myself, but I've had these units out when I did my SatNav+ install.

You need keys to remove the radio (2 for single DIN, 4 for double DIN).

The author is correct. The Aircon unit is not as easy to remove as stated in the repair manual (which just states "pull"!). However I think he has exaggerated a bit. Yes there are 4 lugs which need to be nudged to release and the 2 at the bottom are concealed. The answer is to use small screwdrivers and slowly edge the unit forward until all are free.

P.S. Yes, replacement aircon units ARE ridiculously expensive!