super sticky dome light (g50)

[speed3198]

has any one found their dome light to be sticky? my 91 has 150 k on it and has spent its entire life outside. I figure whatever it was coated with at the factory is breaking down due to sun and heat. I just want to know what I should clean it with since dish soap doesnt cut it.

[Q451990]

Welcome to NICO fellow South Carolinian!

This is something I have never seen written about, but mine has that sticky coating too - or at least my old Q did. No idea what to clean it with... I almost never touch it and haven't tried to clean it. I would think in terms of a plastic conditioner like Vinylex or another armor-all like conditioner.

Heath

[mxr662]

Just checked front and rear--not sticky. Always been garaged. Lower humidity here.

[captainluigi]

now thats just plain weird. mine was so sticky that bugs stuck to it. i figured it was just one of one. i cleaned mine with 99% isopropyl. we clean the turbine blades on the bell jet longrangers helios w/it. also put a few ozs. into the petrol tank occasionally. probably drugstore isopropyl would work. did not soften the plastic. glk

[Q45tech]

IsoHeet [Walmart and others] is 99% IPA and cost $1

[greg_atlanta]

Mine is sticky too. I tried to clean it but no luck. My also rattles a little when the sunroof is open, can't fix that either.

[speed3198]

I cleaned mine this past weekend. I tried an alcohol and water solution but that was a waste of time, so I just started wiping it down with the 70% isopropyl alcohol I had. It worked great and cut right through it.

[captainluigi]

YA MON!

[lino]

My dome light is super sticky too! I tried cleaning it a few times with no luck. I'll try the iso-heet since I have a bottle in the garage. Only $1 in US, tech? In Canada, price is $5.49 + taxes.

[Black stallion]

I too have the sticky dome light. My 91 G20 was like this on the entire console. Everything that touched it stuck to it. I took it out of the car and scrubed it severly to no avail (took the entire first layer off).

Just one of those aggravating things you have to make right (especially with a brand new interior).

[Haitian_King]

I've never really felt mine. I'll take a look later.

[lino]

ISO-HEET worked like a charm! Thank you for the tip Dennis

I took some pics but they didn't turn out great. Here they are anyway:

[Q451990]

Thread resurrection here...

I touched my light today and it was like I'd flown in to fly paper!

I used regular rubbing alcohol and it worked well. Mine was so sticky it was like wet gray paint coming off onto my hands. I took mine apart and broke the plastic slider on the "on . off" switch, but in a way that I think it'll still glue back on.

Don't use anything stronger, like goof off, it will damage the plastic underneath the sticky layer. I was able to get it to smooth out ok using some more, but regular rubbing alcohol is all you need.

As a side note, this light had a really soft matte feel to it when it was new... I'm sure whatever coating they used it what's degraded to goo 20+ years later.

Heath

[OwnerCS]

On Monday I got into the Q after work and found the trim piece around the front dome lights and sunroof opener hanging down. The plastic frame covered in brown vinyl had melted and cracked. The plastic frame back that is exposed was sticky. I believe the sticky feel comes from the plasticizer separating from the plastic base material. I need to find another trip piece or find a way to repair the one that melted and cracked.

When I was in high school, I worked after school at a Fiat, SAAB, and Subaru dealership. At that time, Fiat plasticizer would literally evaporate from the vinyl and appear to be a black oily like film condensation on the windows. Window cleaner would not cut the oily file that would build up on the windows if a car had been parted on the lot during the summer. It took a razor blade to scrape the oil from the inside of the windows. Since the plasticizer separated from the vinyl so quickly, the seats would become brittle and crack like a saltine cracker after a few years of being exposed to the sun. Interestingly, I never saw the problem with a SAAB. A Subaru would be sold only a few days after it arrived so I never knew how their vinyl held up.