I bought a 2014 XJL in October 2018 that had only 22,000 miles on it, but the car was owned by a man in Florida (HOT and HUMID environment) and had the car delivered to me here in Memphis (also HOT and HUMID environment) and all the dash buttons and steering wheel buttons and paddles were coated with some sticky, slimy gunk that collects dust and hair like a magnet. I had read that there was a technical notice on this issue that would be resolved as warranty repair at your friendly local Jag dealer. The problem is that the service manager our our local Jag dealer did not know of this technical notice, nor did he care about my problem. I did some research on the matter and found that the simple solution to the problem requires time, some elbow grease and a commonly available household cleaner called "Goo Gone". Be extra careful on the parts that have decals or printed letters/numbers on them, as too much rubbing will remove them. I spent a couple of hours with a soft toothbrush, a few clean shop cloths (microfiber works best) and Goo Gone and was able to resolve the problem. The problem will come back over time, but you can head it off early with little effort by cleaning it as it starts.

 

Thanks for the note - I'm well beyond even bothering anymore and have gone the route of simply replacing rather. My previous BMW Ms had peeling soft plastic bits on window controls and pull handles, steering wheel controls, you name it - basically anywhere where touched by hands and exposed to our temps. Began shortly after about a year here in Texas, but were nicely replaced under warranty until expired. It's not been new to me having to replace exposed pieces after that. Even my Land Rover had certain buttons like the radio knobs (similar to ours in the Jag) which had gone sticky and I replaced, but that was about it as now compared to the Jag - I would assume it to be across the board whichever vehicle given the right environments or conditions.

I've used www.ftmyersjaguar.com/parts/ pretty much exclusively without issue and orders arrived reasonably within a week's time even during the slow down.

 

Great! Thank you.

 

Suntan lotion is usually the culprit in my experience, especially the clear stuff in a spray bottle

 

I never use suntan lotion, but perhaps I should here in Tampa. And my wife doesn't drive the V8S or my 1996 Impala SS. Probably a good thing lol.
But I had a BMW 135M Dinan S2 and X5 50i before the Jag, and never any sign of sticky on any of my cars. My wife loves the Hyundai Palisade btw, as do I.
So who knows, it seemed to me that the other cars don't have the same soft rubber? that early F types used.
Thank you for the information. Now if you ever get into BMWs, I can recommend Reeves of Tampa for Dinan mods I had S2 modifications to both the 135 and the X5-50i. Rockets both. In fact I tracked the 135 all over Florida and Georgia, and it never missed a beat.Planning to track the F type at PBIR, Homestead, Sebring and Roebling Rd, once it cools down a bit.
Pre Covid I ran the Jag in the 1/2 mile drag races put on by Wannagofast. 145mph at the 1/2 mile, 117 mph at the quarter. Hellcat territory. But while they were pushing their cars an# using fans and coolers. The Jag ran 14 races, never overheated or missed a beat. It may have (had) sticky switches, but that engine/transmission seems bullet proof. There, now I've jinxed it 😁

 

I had this same problem with grip and another small part on a camera body - q-tip w/ isopropyl alcohol took it right off. Was left with smooth glossy plastic finish.

Alternatively, if you want it "repaired", try "stickynomore.com". In Maryland and he cleans and redcoats with a higher quality finish for much less $$$ than buying all new parts.

 

It is NOT something coming out of the plastic. What is happening is the "soft touch" surface which is sprayed on the plastic has deteriorated. After cleaning the buttons are perfect BUT are now a hard plastic which is fine with me.
The good thing is the white lettering is molded into the plastic and is NOT affected by removing the sticky coating.

I used the Neutrogena wipe method and you need to spend some time before anything starts to move. Finger nails or some kind of plastic scraper will prevent damage but it is tedious for sure!
I tried Alcohol, Goo Gone and other things with little to no results. I have an XJ and as posted above we have a number of threads about it on the XJ forum until the Neutrogena wipes were discovered.
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I don't think its a lotion or skin oil factor. I do believe its related to heat,uv and the rubberized coating that is added during or after the molding process.
From what I can gather after from 2015 model years on this problem was eliminated. I am quite sure due to complaints and replacement cost.

I say this because there are trim pieces that would be touched very little and from my experience on my 2014 almost all the gray trim pieces and buttons
were sticky when I bought the car.

I found when cleaning the sticky parts on my car that different parts reacted differently to the cleaning process and products.
Perfect example was the ingus orange paddle shifters were terrible but 70% isopropyl alcohol cleaned them up prefect.

shifter console area buttons cleaned up with fret board cleaner without removing any of the silkscreen. Once the film started to lift
off the surfaces they cleaned up great.

Steering wheel bezels and side vents are very sensitive to cleaning, the gray will come off if not careful. Previous owner or dealer tried to clean these
but stopped after gray was starting to come off. I was able salvage the side vents but not the steering wheel parts.

 

Others have reported that alcohol or other strong cleaners can remove the white lettering. I used unscented hand lotion, stiff plastic, and elbow grease (and paper towel, which wasn’t ideal.) I believe the stickiness is related to skin oil, as the stickiest pieces are ones that I touch. The hand lotion seems to make it less sticky while you scrape it off.

 

I am looking to replace some of my 2012 XJ CD/Heater control panel buttons. Anyone know how easy is it just to replace individual buttons? Do you just prise individual ones off? If so anyone have any ideas of how best to do this? Can you buy the covers individually &, if so, anyone have the part numbers or parts diagram?

 

Try asking on the XJ subforum.

 

Have not heard of the fret board cleaner before?
Can you post the brand you used?
I have most of my buttons cleaned but that rotary knob for the volume control has me baffled on how to clean it up?
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dunlop 65 was the product I used. It worked great for me. I think any lemon oil would do though. I found the coating that becomes sticky will start to lift off after you get the lemon oil under it. Then it peals off like skin.
It helps to use something plastic to help gently scrap the it off. slow and careful

 

I'm tempted to try some Sprayway 985 Citrus Crazy Clean. Orange based but a good industrial degreaser, maybe i'll give it a shot when I replace the start button and see if i can clean up the old one before I move on to the rest of the surfaces.

 

I agree with everything you said. That is exactly what I had to do on the few remaining sticky touch points that were not replaced under warranty.
It is just poor engineering by Jaguar.

 

I tried some Simple Green orange cleaner on our START button, it was worthless. Just took lots of rubbing with 91% alcohol and elbow grease.

 

Just my 2cents... DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. I ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY OF ANY DAMAGES.
That said: I have cleaned the sticky buttons on my Jag XJL using the Neurogena wipes with 100% success. The secret for a good final result is patience. The following worked for me using the Neurogena “as seen on YouTube”. [ I tried with an off brand and it was not as successful. ]
I found the following material helpful in this procedure:

• A pack of Neutrogema wipes
• Two microfiber cloths.
• A few pieces of painters tape
• A sheet of paper or paper toweL.
• A NEW extra soft toothbrush.
• A shop vac or portable hand held vacuum. (Very helpful but not required)

1. Drape the paper towel under the area you will be working on and tape in place. This is to collect any debris and making final cleanup a breeze.
2. Select one bank of dash buttons to work on. (if you are working on the steering wheel/column switches, pick one group at a time).
2. Wet and scrub the bank of buttons with a Neurogena wipe. Keep the surface damp throughout the procedure.
3. Over the course of a few minutes, run your fingernail back and forth along the ridge of each button until you find the glue start to release. Gently continue scraping your fingernail across the surface of the buttons and note the buildup of the surface coating start to collect as you scrape. Brush the collection of debris off the buttons and out of the crevices onto the paper towel. Continue scraping and re-damping the buttons as needed.
4. Once you are satisfied with the result, wipe the buttons with a damp microfiber cloth and dry with the other.
5. Use the toothbrush to pull debris from the gaps surrounding the buttons. You don’t want that coating falling behind your buttons. Vacuum as needed. If the results are acceptable, you’re done. If not repeat until you are..
6. Once 100% satisfied, spray a tiny amount of quick detail wax on a microfiber cloth and buff the buttons to a smooth finish.
NOTES:
a). There is no substitute for the effort needed to make it work. b). No stronger chemical will safely remove the sticky surface. c). Do NOT use alcohol, mineral sprits, thinners or a goo gone type product. d). A small piece of plastic can be used in place of fingernails.

I hope this is of help to some.
BTW: The sticky button issue is NOT a Jaguar only issue. Many high end Euro cars have the same issue. The answer to fixing the problem can be expensive and time consuming or just time consuming.

 

Yes, that is exactly what I did . It's safe, slow, but it works.

 

I did the exact same thing and the added tips are very worthwhile!
I did not put the towel under where I was working and had crumbs of adhesive junk that I had to clean up again!
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I haven't tried this yet, but was planning on trying to pick up the dust and crumbs with it