I have never heard of this but today the wood piece on the passenger side dashboard has a crack running all the way across the front!!! From the passenger air bag light running to the right edge of the piece. Small crack that is visible but your finger nail barely hangs on it. I am out of warranty so will be looking for a used piece if anybody has one?

Car is a 2005 S Type R with the gray stained bird’s eye maple.
.
.
.

 

refinish is your best bet, look in the exterior section for a few recent wood questions and some sources to get her' fixed up. I would ask a dealer to remove that wood piece for you...just cuz that bag is right there.

 

Is the wood veneer cracked, or is it just the varnish on top ? If the varnish, it can be redone quite easily. Of course, a secondhand replacement may be cheaper, but may not be the exact shade to match.

 

I agree with repair rather than replace. You'll need to remove that particular piece of trim, carefully separate the trim into two pieces along the crack, epoxy it back together using multiple clamps to hold the two pieces tightly in place while the epoxy cures, then sand and refinish. You may want to consult an area woodworking shop to gain advice on getting as close a match as possible (in both color and sheen) when you refinish. An experienced woodworker could do this repair for less than $15 in materials costs....

 

I don't know if you have this in US, but here in UK you can get a substance called cobbler's heelball, it's a hard waxy stick and comes in dark brown or black; when you put new heels on your shoes, it's rubbed very firmly into the gap between the shoe's heel and the new heel-piece from the cobblers. After a minute or two it fills the gap so when you polish it, you can't see the join! Like Ernie Wise's wig. The dark brown stuff could be perfect for your crack, could fill it a treat.
Another remedy if it's just the lacquer that's cracked, is a repair fluid called "pullover". This is a mixture of cellulose thinner and white spirit, I THINK, because the old boys that use it won't tell you what it is. Some of it is put on a cotton cloth and the cracked surface is rubbed and rubbed until some of the lacquer is 'pulled over' into the crack, filling it with surrounding dissolved lacquer.
OR, you could remove the part and give it to a furniture restorer...
Leedsman.

 

Used wont match since the panel are cut from single sheets and done together. You can send to modena in california, they do warranty and after repairs to like new condition. Its not varnish but a urethane clear, steering wheels you can refinish since theyre not veneers, ( i just refinshed mine and looks great) but you cannot do the panels. Either live with it or have it taken off to refinish. That panel over the air bag is tethered so it doesnt board slap you when the air bag goes off and the bag has to come out to unbolt. There is a pin you can knock out that holds the tethers to the panel but its almost impossible to do still attached

 

Thanks Brutal!! That's what I was looking for. I have pictures that show the straps but the JTIS had no mention of this. So I have not attempted removal yet but will now. The JTIS indicates 4 snap connectors at the four corners of the wood trim piece. Now I know to remove the entire passenger side airbag module and then tap the pin out to free the wood panel.

My local dealer here in Houston is Momentum, my service advisor Jay said they use an outside vendor and have had great results with refinishing. It looks like just the clear finish has cracked and not the wood on mine. So that's my current plan. Need some warmer weather before jumping into it so I don't break any plastic stuff!!
.
.
.

 

come by and Ill knock out the pin for you

 

Thanks BRUTAL!! I just might take you up on it just so I can say hi and thanks for the on-line help!!
.
.
.

 

tbird if you DIY it, how about taking a few step by step pics to post up here. I recall just a couple other members having this problem as well.

 

I will keep that in mind when I attempt it.
.
.
.

 

Hi, were you able to get your wood veneer piece off? I am trying to do the same for the same reasons on my XKR. Did you have to remove the whole airbag assembly, then the veneer, or did the veneer come off without removing airbag?

 

My passenger side airbag cover and shifter bezel were cracked when I bought my '05 X-Type. This morning I replaced the instrument panel trim, passenger side airbag cover, ashtray assembly, and shifter bezel. (I found all as a matching set on Ebay for $75.)

For those who are wondering what's involved to replace the airbag cover, I thought I would post the steps I took this morning.

1- Disconnect negative battery cable. Wait ~10 minutes.
2- Remove the wood trim surrounding the instrument panel. This will allow you access to the left corners of the passenger side airbag cover. Grasp the inner edges of the wood trim at the corners of the instrument panel. Gently pull. The wood trim surrounding the instrument panel is held in place with 6 small clips.
3- The passenger side airbag cover is held in place by four clips at the corners. I used a flat blade screwdriver and a little WD-40 to gently work the four corners loose. A little blue painters tape will prevent you from marring any finished pieces. Be gentle. The clips that secure passenger side airbag cover are set into plastic brackets on the dash. Let the passenger side airbag cover dangle by the purple nylon lanyard.
4- Use a T-20 driver to remove the two Torx fasteners at the top front of the glove box.
5- Use a T-30 driver to remove the two Torx fatteners at the rear of the glove box.
6- Rotate the glove box towards the floor. I did not remove the glove box entirely.
7- The passenger side airbag and airbag bracket are held in place with four anodized T-40 Torx fasteners. You will need to reach your hand through the glove box door opening to remove the four T-40 fasteners. (The bolt heads are on the bottom of the bracket.)
8- Once all four T-40 fasteners are removed, rest the airbag out of the way and position the airbag bracket so you will have access to the three T-30 Torx fasteners holding the passenger side airbag cover lanyard to the back of the airbag bracket. Remove the three T-30 Torx fasteners and the passenger side airbag cover is now free to be replaced or repaired.

To put your dash back together:

9-Attach the passenger side airbag cover lanyard to the airbag bracket with the three T-30 Torx fasteners.
10- Working through the glove box opening, re-install the airbag and airbag bracket using the four T-40 Torx fasteners.
11- Rotate the glove box back into its opening.
12- Re-install the two T-30 Torx fasteners in the rear of the glove box.
13- Re-install the two T-20 Torx fasteners in the top front of the glove box.
14- Set the passenger side airbag cover into place and gently push the mounting tabs into the clips at the four corners.
15- Set the wood trim surrounding the instrument panel into place and gently push the mounting clips into place.
16- Admire your handiwork.

Feel free to drop me an email with any questions you may have.

Best Regards,

edit:
Oops. I just realized this is in the S-Type section. I missed that when I found this thread this morning. If this would be more appropriate in the X-Type section, please move it.

 

waldo, nice write up and we will get this FAQ'd in the appropriate section. hopefully

 

what a bummer... I passed this thread onto the powers that be and after much deliberation, they feel that a DIY'r should not be attempting to mess around with any part of the airbag system. They will leave this as a searchable thread though.

Still nice write up waldo