My passenger in dash cup holder has been getting harder and harder to get out and last week stayed stuck in... as they are rather expensive I thought I'd have a look... Dead easy to get out and sort...

Remove the dash end panel...





Undo the 8mm bolt at the back of the cup holder...



The push it out of the dash from the back... It has a toothed wheel on the top of it that damps it when it comes out, it seems that this becomes stiff over the years and causes enough friction to stop the spring pushing it out, this is the wheel



And this is where it lives...



It is held in with the two clips you can see on it's side at 1 and 7 o'clock in the picture, these locate in the two slots arrowed in the next picture, use a small screwdriver and you can pop it out. The cupholder will now be supercharged and fly out... It will still latch closed and work fine in all other ways...

Replace is a reversal of removing, this is not a fix to original spec, it comes out of the dash faster than before but at least it comes out and can be used again...

I tried to lube the wheel but nothing made a difference to it's friction...

SWMBO is happy now :thumbsup:

Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Isn't the gear the only thing preventing the cup holder tray from popping out? And when it does, you can not get it back in without removing the whole thing. The spring needs to be pushed back in from the back of it comes out.
-
DJ

I think there is also a latch, as you have to push it to release it.

The gear it just a damper to stop it shooting out like a rocket, and make it feel higher quality.

The glove box has the same sort of thing on it, until i replaced mine last week it used to drop like a stone when ever you pushed the release.

It works fine if you let it out slowlyish after you push it in, it does stop when it's supposed to as Zirconblue said there are a couple of clips stopping it coming out on it's own... if you press it in and drop your finger off the bottom of it you may end up with it implanted in your head.....

As I said, this isn't a fix to original condition, but it does work and is a free fix if you don't want to spend £100 on a new one... I took the spring out of the center console one so you pull it out manually, mine worked but shot out on it's own when off roading, any small bump and out it came... at least it stays put now, you can pull it out by hand and it locks into position... Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

The little gear is just on a spindle smeared with damping grease (thick sticky grease), the reason they stick with time is the grease get contaminated with fluff and dust.

What happens if you flush it out with a bit of brake cleaner? Do is loosen the gear up a bit?

I gave it a good squirt with brake and clutch cleaner and then tried to take it apart but it doesn't seem to want to know... nothing made it any easier, it felt tight and ruff, think the plastic has just died... may go and have another play with it.... I'll keep you posted....  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Nice. This should be in the wiki.

Got the little wheel taken apart, used a very small screwdriver to prise it apart, it is indeed full of very sticky grease and has a little fan on it to cause drag, it even has a small seal to keep the goo inside... It appears mine is just worn out as I cleaned it all out and put it back together and it is still stiff and notchy, I guess the plastic has worn...



Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

I wonder if you reduce the viscosity of the grease by injecting some light machine oil, whether it start going again. As you say it is very sticky (i.e. high viscosity ?) then it makes sense that the lighter components have evaporated over time. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

I did clean it all out and tried it with nothing and it was still tight and knotchy, pretty sure mine is just worn out...  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

The glovebox damper looks the same, but has a different bracket attached. They're £12 ish from LR, might be possible to mod one to fit the cup holder?

£12.... do you think I'm made of money mate......

My fix was free and it works fine....  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

my spring broke. so I drilled a small hole in the dimple, and fitted a £3 black ball shaped cupboard knob to it, from B+Q
So, now my missus gets to pull out my knob every time I buy her a Costa coffee.

 Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Has anyone found a good permanent fix for the dash mounted cup holder (my car is 2003 L322).
I can see loads of fixes for the centre one? 2007 L322 TDV8 3.6 Vogue SE
2006 L322 S/C 4.2
2003 L322 TD6 Vogue with Facelift conversion
2000 Discovery 2 TD5 ES. Daily
1990 RRC 3.9 V8 LPG
Too many Jaguars!