# Can this be safely removed from the dash?



## rockhopper (Apr 9, 2007)

As above, picked up a new car (for me) today and it has this stuck to the dashboard, not sure of its purpose, do you think if I gently heated it that it might loosen it so I can remove it without damaging the dashboard?









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## mickmills (Mar 27, 2017)

Its a sat nav or mobile phone mount for the sucker base


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

Wonder if it was to do with a satnav ? 

Hopefully will ease off with some gentle heating, does it move at all at the moment ? Think you'll be left with a sticky residue, so you'll probably need something to remove that...

Looks like it's also fixed to a "hard / smooth" section of the dash ? So hopefully easier to remove.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Its an after market plastic dish intended to allow you to use suction cup sat-nav mounts on the type of curved /or textured dashboards that the suction cup wouldn't normally grip - it will be stuck on with one of those extremely strong double sided adhesive pads like the ones used for car badges.

Cant advise how to remove it, as i guess it would require a solvent like tar remover - but that might damage the dash finish ???

Maybe a fishing line garrotte to saw away carefully at the sticky pad ????


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## Caledoniandream (Oct 9, 2009)

Try to twist it gently, a bit rocking backwards and forwards in a rotational manner.
Don't try to cut it as you can't see if you are cutting into the dash.
A little gentle heat could help.
Don't use solvents, in the worst case try something like wd40.


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## rockhopper (Apr 9, 2007)

Cheers chaps, it's solid so not sure how I can safely get it off, might just have to live with it, might be left with a mess underneath even if I get it off!


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## J306TD (May 19, 2008)

Could you price up a new dash piece and go from there maybe?

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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

It's thin plastic, meaning that if heated from above with a hair dryer, I reckon you could use some fishing line to get it off (or you could wait for a really hot day?!) Then you'd need a bit of glue remover to remove that adhesive residue - you probably want a limonene based one like Gyeon Tar rather than a spirit based one which might well attack the dashboard.


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

I fear that even if removed successfully it will leave a nasty mark which that could prove difficult to remove without leaving a stain or mark. It will be a risk, I would rather leave it there than take the risk.


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## tosh (Dec 30, 2005)

I've seen these before; there is a foam double sided 3M pad on the back. As above, fishing line or floss should work. 


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

If you're intent on using heat, place your left hand over the sat nav mount on the dash, and if the air gets too hot for your hand, it's too hot for the plastic. Gentle heat will soften the glue, and as steelgoat said above, gently try twisting it from side to side. If there's a mess underneath, stick it back on lol. 

Hope you get sorted. 

Cooks 

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## rockhopper (Apr 9, 2007)

Haha Cheers, might have a crack with the fishing line and a hair dryer, of it looks bad underneath I'm sure I can replace it with something more appealing 

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## rockhopper (Apr 9, 2007)

OK got some fishing line on the job and off it came no problem, thus it's what I'm now left with, it's a foam, now how to safely remove without knackering the dash, presume acetone isn't a good idea?


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

rockhopper said:


> Haha Cheers, might have a crack with the fishing line and a hair dryer, of it looks bad underneath I'm sure I can replace it with something more appealing
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Elvis bobble head!! 

 Thank you very much 

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## tosh (Dec 30, 2005)

I would start with some household APC, anything too strong may bleach the dash

You want to soften the glue, then roll as much of it off. If you want to finish with a solvent, that's fine but as a last resort and for the least contact time required to do the job. 

A pencil eraser may help get the foam off. 


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## packard (Jun 8, 2009)

I'd start chemical free, get a good quality kitchen paper soaked with water and lay on. Then adgetated very gently perhaps with your fingers or micro fibre.


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## keithjmason (Oct 22, 2012)

I always find that IPA softens and removes this kind of stuff. 

Should not do any damage to the dash either ? Maybe try a little on the edge to start with.


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## GSD (Feb 6, 2011)

You could try getting some Blu Tak warm in your hands and rolling that over the foam see if it brings any off.


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## rockhopper (Apr 9, 2007)

Update, many thanks for all the advice as its definitely done the trick. A combination of fishing line to remove the disc first and then wd40 and some elbow grease with a microfiber has removed the stubborn pad and with no damage to the dash, cheers 










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## Venkman (Apr 22, 2013)

Fantastic job, glad you got it sorted! Thanks for sharing the method/results.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Glad it got resolved successfully.

I can't understand why the previous owner glued it there in the first place, as it looks like the sort of smooth dashboard that a sat nav sucker mount would have stuck to on its own quite happy. 




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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

You suspect they got the instructions that said "use this self adhesive disk", so they did 

Thanks to the OP for coming back to the thread and letting everyone know what worked, that's what really helps anyone reading this thread in the future :thumb:


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

BTW, if nothing else had worked, i was going to suggest Methylated Spirit, as it often works well at dissolving sticker residue, when ipa doesnt have any impact.

I guess Methylated Spirit works in a similar way to Tar Remover though.


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## rockhopper (Apr 9, 2007)

Does make you wonder why someone would stick it down like that on a smooth surface!
I think methylated spirit would probably have worked but was concerned it my damage the dash in some way, the good thing with wd40 is with its oily nature it sat on the pad without evaporating and started to soften the foam. A finger in a microfiber working quite vigorously at the edges started to break it down with repeated doses of wd40, within 10 mins I'd got it all off, bit of a gooey mess though so taped some cloths around the outside of the pad to stop the mess going everywhere.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Good old WD-40 is still remarkable stuff, even after all these decades. It can be used for so many purposes !!


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

Well done fella, have to admit I was a bit pessimistic about your chances of success and this has proved me wrong.


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## Hereisphilly (Nov 17, 2014)

Cookies said:


> If you're intent on using heat, place your left hand over the sat nav mount on the dash, and if the air gets too hot for your hand, it's too hot for the plastic. Gentle heat will soften the glue, and as steelgoat said above, gently try twisting it from side to side. If there's a mess underneath, stick it back on lol.
> 
> Hope you get sorted.
> 
> ...


Steelgoat!!!! 

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## rockhopper (Apr 9, 2007)

🤣🤣🤣


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

That's great news


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

Hereisphilly said:


> Steelgoat!!!!
> 
> Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk


It's not the first time that's happened!


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

steelghost said:


> It's not the first time that's happened!


I was wondering when you'd notice lol. It's kinda catchy, doncha think? Lol 

Cooks

PS - my phone autocorrects to steelgoat now lol.

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