I think the previous owner of my car must have spilled a gallon of Coke or Pepsi in the center console in my car. When I installed my short shifter I spent as much time cleaning gooey sticky pop residue as doing the install. Nasty just begins to describe it. So as one might expect the latch to the center console storage bin is sticky too, and sometimes won't close after it's opened.

On the plus side i have ABSOLUTELY ZERO squeaks or rattles from the center console. LOL

I took the latch out and was trying to find a way to disassemble it. I was thinking about soaking it in hot soapy water (like Dawn or other dish degreaser?), followed by a flowing water rinse?. Or is there a better solvent/solution that will dissolve the residue safely without ruining the chrome look plastic? I figured dousing it in wd40 is probably a bad idea for the chrome.

It's only $50 for a whole new latch mechanism (minus the lock cylinder), but just trying to fix it by cleaning it up first.

 

Last time I had to remove congealed Slurpee from a car I just used an old tooth brush and some dish soap/warm water in a spray bottle. I'm not sure how much access you have but it did the trick (it takes a while though)