While a friend was using my 2003 Nissan Sentra evidently a child spilled a sugary drink onto the gear shift console without my friend realizing it. The car sat for 2 weeks in the Sept. heat. When I drove it for the first time, I noticed a grinding sensation when I put the gear shift into reverse and park. The other settings were normal. Do I need to have it checked out, or will the motion of using the gear shift eventually wear away the sticky mess that obviously is in there? My husband didn’t notice a thing, but it is my car and he very seldom drives it.
I’m sure the stuff that was spilled thickened up pretty hard in the heat.
I would want to pull the console apart and rinse everything out good.
If you are a little handy, you could buy a repair manual Hayes or Chilton are only about $25 at at most auto parts chains and they should guide you through the process of taking it apart.
There may be a few things not to touch, so read the directions good, so you don’t remove some bolt that you are not supposed to.
Then rinse the area good using a spray bottle with good hot water and plenty of rags to dry everything off. There are a lot of close moving parts, so it may take a few times.
Then dry all the parts good with a hair dryer, and coat all the moving parts good with WD40 before putting it back together.
You can also find big repair manuals in the library and photo copy or take notes.
Yea they always blame it on the little kid. Next time insist that she uses sippy cups.
Yosemite
Kids are easy to blame, but not always guilty. I bought my car from my Dad. He had a number of soda spillls that were not cleaned well, including the console, seat,and carpet. It took a while, and involved gutting the interior to clean it all out. But, it only takes soap and water. Just gotta get into the nooks and krannies.
Assuming you plan on keeping the car for a while, I’d take it apart and clean it out. It might possibly get worse when cold weather arrives (if you live in an area where it gets cold).