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Sticky steering wheel


ikesdad

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My BII has been sitting in the sun this past summer and now has a sticky to touch steering wheel. Is the plastic disintegrating ? How do I remedy this ?
 


adsm08

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I had the same thing happen. I cleaned it down with denatured alcohol, and it helped for a bit, but the condition returned. Eventually I just got a steering wheel cover for it without ever finding a proper fix.
 

ikesdad

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I've been doing the alcohol thing today but that's only getting the dirt off of mine.
 

Denisefwd93

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I think it's ultraviolet & or something I remember reading about that automotive plastics outgasing even though they are many years old
 

ikesdad

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I suspected that and have been wondering if there is a way to stop the process.
 

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Denisefwd93

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I've had plastic outdoor and camping gear get sticky like that over the years just toss it get another wheel I can't be that difficult
 

bf750

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On my 87 (which was quite bad all the way around) I used concentrated (by the gallon) 100% strength Simple Green first, then brake clean sprayed on a rag, then followed up with Simple Green again. It took care of the problem for the last 10-12 months. It's starting to return again ever so slightly on the 12 o'clock position of the wheel. I'll just do it all over again..

I do recommend you test this method on a very small portion of the wheel first, just in case it would discolor your wheel or anything, but it's worked for me.


GB :)
 

JerryC

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I used windex to clean mine and it was still sticky. Some twenty year Armor-All got rid of the stickiness and made it so slippery I had to be aware to grip the wheel more than I used to. It's been a couple of months and the wheel is slick but not slippery.
Looking close at the wheel, all of the texture is gone off the contact surfaces. I don't know how that happened.
Someday a leather wrap will go on there.
 

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