Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

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Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by ROOKIE »

Hi All,

I thought some of you might find this useful.

I have a 2009 4.0 V6 Hilux, who’s instrument gauge / cluster is scratched quite badly by car wash attendants who use a dirty rag and the previous drivers rings.

Here is a pic of the scratches at the base of the speedometer, by the reset stalk

Image
SCRATCHES (1) (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

And one of near the fuel and temp gauges.

Image
SCRATCHES (3) (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

I wanted to try and minimize / polish out the scratches but in order to do a descent job thereof, I decided to remove the instrument cluster. The process is as follows.

Firstly, you need to remove the instrument outer binnacle. This is quite easy once you figure out that the thing you think is a screw is not a screw but a grommet of sorts that looks like this.

Image
DASH SCREW (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

This grommet is at the 12 o’clock position on the underside of the binnacle as seen below when I thought I could unscrew it. I eventually used a small screwdriver to lever the grommet out. It popped out quite easily.

Image
DONT BE FOOLED (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

Once the grommet has been removed, gently pull the outer binnacle toward you. It is just clipped in place. To make it easier, I used small plastic tyre levers from my mountain bike to carefully leaver the outer away, without leaving marks.

Outer binnacle removed.

Image
OUTER (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

Once that has been accomplished, the instrument cluster is held in place by 3 screws.

Image
INSTRUMENTS (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

Undo there screws and then gently rotate downwards the instrument cluster. This will allow you to access the multiplugs, of which there is a large one and a small one and a small ball and socket type connector holding the harness.

Image
MULTIPLUGS (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

With the miltiplugs and connector removed, the instrument cluster can be removed from the vehicle.

Now I suppose I could have stopped disassembling at this point, but since there was a bit of dust on the face of the instrument cluster, I decided to strip it down further. The various bits of the cluster are only held together with clips that I gently separated using my fingers.

Top clips

Image
INSTRUMENT CLIPS (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

Bottom Clips

Image
INSTRUMENT CLIPS (1) (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

Once everything was undone, it looked like this

Image
ALL APART (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

A close up shows the extent of the scratches

Image
SCRATCHES BEFORE (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

Image
SCRATCHES BEFORE 2 (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

I used plastix by Meguiar’s to try and minimize and polish out the scratches, It is a plastic polish.

Image
PLASTIX (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

After testing that the polish won’t do something untoward to the plastic by applying a small amount on a corner, I followed the instructions and polished the surface of the cluster.

The product worked pretty well, and removed 90 % of the scratches.

Image
SCRATCHES AFTER (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

Compared to the first pic, there is a huge improvement. The pic below still has some polish residue on it.

Afterwards, I washed the cover with warm soapy water to remove any further residue. Once I had dried it, reassembly was the reverse of the above.

Result, far fewer visible scratches.

Image
AFTER IN DASH (Small) by PD987789, on Flickr

I hope you find this of benefit.
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by Mud Dog »

Thanks Paul, useful to know! I'll remember that product (Plastix)! :thumbup:
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by OOOOMS »

Tx very helpfull :thumbup:

Mine also needs some attention :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by Thunder02 »

Thanks,great tip :thumbup: :thumbup:
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by TheoF »

Mooiman ....buurman het nou die dag meer as R500-00 betaal vir 'n nuwe plastiek lens by die agente.
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Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by waynza »

Will the polish take out white marks of the plastic, I have harks and scratches and it bugs the hell out of me.
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by Donkey »

Thank you for sharing :thumbup:
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by ROOKIE »

waynza wrote:Will the polish take out white marks of the plastic, I have harks and scratches and it bugs the hell out of me.
Hi Wayne.

I am no expert, but reading the instructions it seems the product is mostly designed to remove that cloudiness that some plastic develops. The scratch removal is a side benefit, so I think it should help remove those white marks.
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by george »

Good work Paul :thumbup:
I once had to remove scratches from some boat rev counters and used 2000 grit water sand paper and it also works well
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by 2.8 d/cab SFA »

useful thanks
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Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by waynza »

I'm not too good with sandpaper, but I definitely going to give this a go. I will follow instructions
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by Mr_B »

Thanks Rookie! This will defo come in handy!
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by The Legend »

Brasso metal polish also remove scratches from plastic.
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by Tsa »

Excellent! Thanks a lot for this step by step. I have the same issue because of car wash guys and irritates the hell out of me.
Going to give this a go. :)
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by Ali3n »

Just thought I might mention that toothpaste and a soft cloth also works like a charm. Polishet my Surfs rear lights with it and they look brand new. :thumbup: :thumbup:
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by ThysdJ »

great write-up!! :thumbup: :thumbup:
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by Neels Stals »

Or Peanut Butter....
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by Polarbear2008 »

Hi Paul

Good write-up! Where did you buy this product and what did it cost?
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Re: Hilux: How to: remove scratches from instrument cluster:

Post by ROOKIE »

Polar.

Apologies for the late reply. Been away setting budgets Ugh! :sick:

I bought it at my local MIDAS, and it cost me less than R100. Dont remember exactly, but it was about R89.00.

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