4th gen Gauge Lenses

[VQD83]

How do you guys and gals tackle the cleaning of the lenses covering the gauges? With time there is a lot of dust build up or as of right now in my neck of the woods, with my windows down, pollen build up. My previous t4r, (also 4th gen) I noticed cleaning the lenses is a very delicate process as I found out after I found numerous surface scratches all over all three lenses. With my new 4Runner, I haven't attempted this yet but need to, with the dust and pollen build up.

 

[greasefingers]

A wet/dry vac with a brush attachment is best. I try to never touch the soft plastic lenses. They do scratch very easily. A damp towel may work?

 

[4RunnerRon]

Get a quality microfiber towel, as they won't scratch it. You can use some water or some Meguiar's interior detail spray, which is safe for use on clear plastics, audio displays, dash, and most everything but the upholstery.

 

[leftyrb]

I have had the dealer replace my gauge cluster cover twice under warranty. They claim it is a 3 year/80,000 km warranty item. I have tried to clean with poor results - very soft plastic. Maybe see you dealer for a warranty replacement?

 

[orangeblast22]

how funny....I was logging on right now to hopefully search for an answer to the same issue I have. My runner is only 7 months old...and I have scratches all over the clear lens display...

Was hoping there was perhaps...a wax of some sort that can cover them up...

I would think a polish and and a sort of wax may work...however..unusure of how the results would be with the sun and glare.


hrm..that interior spray sound interesting.

 

[RaginCajun013]

A week after I got my 05, I was cleaning the cluster plastic, and sctrached the hell out of it. VERY BAD!! I keep the truck in perfect shape, and it bugged the crap out of me. I was determined to get the scratches out, and this is what I did.

1. Buy Novus 3 Plastic Scratch Remover
2. Remove the Dash and the plastic that is in front of the guages. Check this for details:
http://www.castulucci.com/projects/...me, it worked perfectly, and it was worth it.

 

[JP4RNR]

I found that even after using Novus while it removed the scratches it leaves an undesirable haze in most lighting conditions. Any one have a part number for an 06 cluster lens

 

[Casper]

spray detailer on a quality microfiber cloth if anything is needed above just water.

meguiars plasticX to fix small/fine scratches in plastic if they appear.

 

[24Mitchell21]

I have a 4th gen and I have the same problem. First time I cleaned the guages.....scratches everywhere. I am going to try the Scratch X noted above. Has anyone had success with it yet??

 

[24Mitchell21]

I meant PlasticX....

 

[J.A.]

california dash duster

 

[jeober]

micro fiber towels are manufactured using nylon / polyester. Cotton flannel is softer if you have it.

 

[Dbone]

I know this thread is quite old but this is how I have dealt with the problem for years-->

Buy a can of that compressed air used to clean out computer parts...just blow the dust off the cluster lense and redistribute it to another area where you can vacuum or wipe it up without fear of damage to the lense....

I have been doing this ever since I wrecked the lense on a cluster in one of my car years and years ago...never had another problem since in any of my vehicles...

Works like a charm...the stuff is relatively cheap and you don't need that much of it to get the job done...especially if you do it regularly each time you clean the vehicle...

I am far from picky about my vehicles in terms of cleaning but a dirty/scratched cluster for some reason drives me nuts...probably because I am looking at it all the time...LOL

Cheers

 

[Jeffrey_VB]

I use a Dirt Devil detailing vac and the Swiffer duster wipes on my interior, including the gauge cluster.

 

[josh220]

I use the swiffer refills to wipe up all of the dust that accumulates inside my truck, lenses included. It's like $4 for a pack of them.

 

[eako2107]

meguiars PlastX works great on the lenses if you need to touch up some scratches on them. Regular cleaning I also use the microfibers to avoid further scratches and lifts the dust nicely.

 

[martini]

Anyone know the part number? I'm thinking of doing this:

Clear plastic over gauge cluster scratches - Unofficial Honda FIT Forums

"The guys on the T4R board are ordering the replacement then putting a clear tint film on it before reinstalling."

Also what type of clear covering to protect it?

 

[Scoobs]

Anyone know the part number? I'm thinking of doing this:

Clear plastic over gauge cluster scratches - Unofficial Honda FIT Forums

"The guys on the T4R board are ordering the replacement then putting a clear tint film on it before reinstalling."

Also what type of clear covering to protect it?

I've always thought replacing the instrument lens was a bit extreme unless your lens is irretrievably scratched. I used Meguiars M205 compound on my highly scratched lens, it so bad it had a white haze that covered all three of the lenses and no amount of polishing would get rid of it, even used Plastix which is supposed to work on that kind of thing ( I bought the truck used and was pretty sure I could figure out a way to clear the lenses). One day I was buffing the 4R with the buffer and 105/205 and thought " what the he.." I put a bit of 205 on a small micofiber cloth, rubbed each of the three lenses for @ 2 minutes, cleaned it off and then repeated. Cleaned it off again and couldn't believe the difference. The lens are so clean and clear now that unless you look at the lenses from dramatically off center you can't even see the plastic lens covers over the instruments. I then put a coat of NXT2 wax on them and they have stayed clear and dust free since early September when I did it.

I can' take credit for the idea myself. I found it on Meguiars forums. Menzerna polisher apparently works quite well as well. I'd try that before I started swapping out the lenses.

 

[004Gunner]

The 3rd gen instrument lens scratches very easily too. I used Meguiar's Plast-X polish and was unimpressed. I use a microfiber cloth to dust it and found that 303 Aerospace protectant works really well for concealing existing scratches. I'll have to try the polishing technique above the next time I take apart the dash though

 

[Bluesky 07]

Yes, resurrecting an old thread but I ran into this problem after buying a used '07 Sport and found Plast-X to be the solution. Bear with me, others haven't had luck with that product but this is how I used it and it worked well.

First, use something really soft to apply the Plast-X, like the old t-shirt remnant at left in the pic. To remove the Plast-X and polish the plastic, it's critical to use a tight-weave microfiber cloth such as the eyeglass polishing cloth shown here. Walmart probably has them and any place like Pearle Vision or Lenscrafters does for sure. They'll usually give you one.

Also important is a note in the Plast-X directions I almost missed - you have to remove it before it dries. That's the opposite from most other polishes and waxes out there so it's easy to get wrong.

Here are my results. Sorry I didn't think to get a 'before' shot but I had the usual swirly scratches that come from car wash people and my own initial efforts to clean the gauge cluster before I realized it could be such a, well, cluster. ;-)

The plastic isn't perfect but it looks pretty good, especially compared to before. Hope this helps somebody clear up their gauges.