I have a 98 XJR and the cup holder springs open all the time. On my 95 XJ6 I just glued it shut, but the glue doesn't seem to hold this one. I was thinking of using a wire cutter to just cut the 2 visible spring wires because the small screws I saw on the lid take some funky mini star drive. The car is beautiful as I just had it painted, and the interior is excellent, but I want the cup holder disabled. I never use it anyway. Anyone got better ideas? Thanks in advance to who ever replies. Mike

 

They're not the best design - whilst refurbishing mine i glued a small piece of plastic to the catch hook to lengthen it enough to grip more tightly - it just about holds shut now but its on a "hair trigger".
I tried Dons' suggestion first but it didn't work for me.
Alternatively swap the lid for a non-cup holder type from Ebay...

AndyP

 

Hi Mike,

There are two small screws, one at each corner of the cupholder, that can be loosened, allowing the cupholder mechanism to be pressed a little closer to the main body of the arm rest. Carefully retighten the screws and that may solve the problem. I can't recall whether you have to remove the bottom cover of the arm rest to access the screws - if so, the screws are either Phillips or Torx, depending on the version of arm rest you have.

There is also one screw centered on the forward edge of the arm rest that secures the cupholder spring latch. If you loosen that screw, you can push the spring latch toward the cupholder a little to help it hold better. You can't push it too far or the dented edge of the leather will be obvious (there are also punctures or indentations in the leather from "gripper" prongs on the underside of the spring latch). Move the latch forward just a little - 1/16 inch or less.

It takes trial and error, but these adjustments have worked for me.

Cheers,

Don

 

...And the worst part of it is that when it's working fine, well..it's not.

I lost count of how many times my cup has gone flying to the end of the foot well because the thing is just too shallow, unless you order the "little" cup... especially with a full cup at the beginning of your trip and all dressed up... curse, curse, curse...

Cheers,

 

Mine's just missing one plastic tab on the part that stabilizes the piece that springs out to catch & hold. Any tips on how to remove that piece without me having to stretch out the spring to fashion together another tab there.

Thanks

 

Here's a super ghetto (but working so far) fix for this issue when it is related to the spring not being strong enough to keep it shut. At Michaels (U.S. Arts and Craft store) they sell 11x17" sheets of ~3mm thick foam. The foam is soft and bendable, but firm and springy.

You have to take the console lid out to do this IIRC, but once you take it apart enough you can get into the bottom of the button in the mechanism (though the button itself seems permanently installed...). Then you can cut out one or two super tiny squares of the foam, and place it inside the button where the spring is one both sides. The foam acts as a guide and a stiffer spring.

The only downside is because the foam is firm, you do have to press harder than usual and really hold it back there while giving the coasters a quick jiggle, but then it pops right up. Getting it back in required pushing it down, and then guiding the button in a bit. It sounds a like a pain, but it's not bad, and it does NOT pop out , even when I caught air on an airport speed bump, and nearly spun the thing around and into a tree.

I also use a piece of the same foam behind the space where the coaster sits on that "rail", and this helps keep it a bit more horizontal and less saggy. So far so good on that fix as well, although it won't stop modern starbucks-sized cups of course, and you have to "guide" the cupholders back in a bit when you want to close it.

It may be hard to visualize this, but maybe I can take a youtube video and put if up if people are interested in this super cheap, hacky solution.

 

If you weren't in the 'states I'd pop my 'spare' non-cupholder armrest in a bag and send it to you. The cupholder was designed for cans - but many drinks (coffee, KFC etc) come in cups which promptly fall over!

 

Any tips on removing the 2 circular tray off the spring to repair the catch tabs, would be greatly appreciated.

 

I can't quite understand what you are talking about from the text - can you take a pic?

 

Here

 

King: I was going through my post history, and realized that I didn't respond to your post as things got busy for me then.

Unfortunately, I have not had to remove that part of the cupholder so I cannot advise you. Someone had done some work on that part of my cupholders before I got the car, so I have not had to fix the tabs you mention (only the tab at the top that goes into the "catch"

 

I just cut a small piece of cardboard(back of picture frame type) and pushed it under the catch mounted on the console. Wedged it under until you couldn't see it. It stays closed until I open it and you can't see it. Did this last Feb sometime. Still works great. Agreed it's too small for large cups. So I order the smaller cups. Self imposed dieting. Thanks Jaguar.