br@wucs.UUCP (Bill Ross) (03/10/86)
My new Honda seems to rely heavily on the rubber door seals for
watertightness etc.. How should I treat these seals to make them last
longer? Is there some kind of silicone lubricant or something that will
keep them supple and protect them from the sun? Thanks for any help!
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Bill Ross Washington University ECL, St. Louis 314-889-4794
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CSNET: wucs!br@seismo.ARPA%csnet-relaymberns@ut-ngp.UUCP (Mark Bernstein) (03/11/86)
** > My new Honda seems to rely heavily on the rubber door seals for > watertightness etc.. As opposed to what?? :-) It seems to me that there may have been considerable advances in whatever chemical technology is used for rubber weatherstripping in cars - both of ours (an 80 Volvo and 81 Honda) have shown no deterioration whatsoever without any special treatment. That is, compared to what rubber used to look like after just a few years, it seems more troublefree in late model cars. The Volvo has lived both up north (for 2 years) and in central Texas after that; the rubber has shown no sign of cracking or crumbling or whatever. I wonder whether other net.readers have noticed similar longevity of the seals or if we've just been lucky in this respect with these cars. If you're really worried I would imagine that any auto parts store carries rubber preservative which would be beneficial once in a while. -- Mark Bernstein, Univ of Texas at Austin, Speech Communication, Austin 78712 ARPA: mberns@ngp.UTEXAS.EDU UUCP: ihnp4!ut-ngp!mberns allegra!ut-ngp!mberns gatech!ut-ngp!mberns seismo!ut-sally!ut-ngp!mberns harvard!ut-sally!ut-ngp!mberns
hedden@atux01.UUCP (D. Hedden) (03/11/86)
In article <1490@wucs.UUCP>, br@wucs.UUCP (Bill Ross) writes: > > My new Honda seems to rely heavily on the rubber door seals for > watertightness etc.. How should I treat these seals to make them last > longer? Is there some kind of silicone lubricant or something that will > keep them supple and protect them from the sun? Thanks for any help! > All my experience with Armor-All (sp?) Protectant has been very good. I have used it for several years to preserve rubber and vinyl on my motorcycles, and it has definitely done the job with no apparent damage to any of the materials it has been applied. Purchased retail at a parts house it tends to be fairly expensive, but it is usually available on sale in discount stores. I have no interest in the prod- uct, it just seems to do what it claims! I began using it after having read recommendations in two different cycle magazines. Good luck with your Honda, I loved mine through all 150,000 of its miles. "The moving hand writes ..." Don
chrise@ihlpl.UUCP (Chris Edmonds) (03/14/86)
> > watertightness etc.. How should I treat these seals to make them last > > longer? Is there some kind of silicone lubricant or something that will > > keep them supple and protect them from the sun? Thanks for any help! > > > All my experience with Armor-All (sp?) Protectant has been very good. I also have used Armor-All with good success...HOWEVER...those of you with sensitive sniffers will notice that the Armor-All on interior plastic surfaces (such as the top of the dashboard) makes the car smell like the inside of a Cat litter box (URINE)...I didn't belive this when I first was asking the same kind of question as the original poster... NOW (two years after the first application) I drive around with the windows open a lot. It isn't extremely strong but it's there.... commercial car deodorizers don't seem to help either. Chris Edmonds @ AT&T Something-or-Other, Naperville, IL ...!ihnp4!ihlpl!chrise
ugzannin@sunybcs.UUCP (Adrian Zannin) (03/20/86)
> It seems to me that there may have been considerable advances in whatever > chemical technology is used for rubber weatherstripping in cars - both > of ours (an 80 Volvo and 81 Honda) have shown no deterioration whatsoever > without any special treatment. That is, compared to what rubber used > to look like after just a few years, it seems more troublefree in late > model cars. The Volvo has lived both up north (for 2 > years) and in central Texas after that; the rubber has shown no sign > of cracking or crumbling or whatever. I wonder whether other > net.readers have noticed similar longevity of the seals or if we've > just been lucky in this respect with these cars. [] No...the better door seals are just because of the fact that both your cars are foreign! :-) -- Adrian Zannin SUNY at Buffalo Computer Science ..{bbncca,decvax,dual,rocksvax,watmath,sbcs}!sunybcs!ugzannin CSNET: ugzannin@Buffalo.CSNET ARPANET: ugzannin%Buffalo@csnet-relay.ARPA BITNET: ugzannin@sunybcs.BITNET
keith@whuxl.UUCP (TITUS) (03/24/86)
> > > It seems to me that there may have been considerable advances in whatever > > chemical technology is used for rubber weatherstripping in cars - both > > of ours (an 80 Volvo and 81 Honda) have shown no deterioration whatsoever > > without any special treatment. That is, compared to what rubber used > > to look like after just a few years, it seems more troublefree in late > > model cars. The Volvo has lived both up north (for 2 > > years) and in central Texas after that; the rubber has shown no sign > > of cracking or crumbling or whatever. I wonder whether other > > net.readers have noticed similar longevity of the seals or if we've > > just been lucky in this respect with these cars. > > No...the better door seals are just because of the fact that both your cars > are foreign! :-) > > SUNY at Buffalo Computer Science > Foreign cars are better huh??? That is the biggest piece of bull that is still believed by so many but seems to me that it just is not so any more. Back in the old oil crisis days of the early 70's when US manufacturers were still pumping out the big cars and all of a sudden the demand slumped due to the shortage and the price per gallon increases, habits virtually changed overnight to the small cars. Since US makers did not produce these, the public bought from Japan and Europe where those cars had been the norm for years. And when GM,Ford and Chrysler did begin to produce these, I agree, they were definitely not up to par. But now I we are making those cars with the same types of skills the foreign makers are and I think our cars are every bit as good. It all depends on what you are comparing. I have a 1977 Chrysler Ner Yorker, 1982 and a 1984 Cadillac Fleetwood. All three cars are in excellent shape and the rubber door seals on all of them are in excellent condition. Obviously I am not a small car driver. But I must say that the Cadillacs get excellent mileage (27mpg on a long drive, 20 around the area). Can't really complain. Before there are any flames, I did not buy the cars for mileage, because I really don't care if they get 8, 15 or 50!! Keith Titus Bell Labs *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***
levy@ttrdc.UUCP (Daniel R. Levy) (03/30/86)
In article <1067@whuxl.UUCP>, keith@whuxl.UUCP (TITUS) writes: >Foreign cars are better huh??? That is the biggest piece of bull that is >still believed by so many but seems to me that it just is not so any more. >Back in the old oil crisis days of the early 70's when US manufacturers were >still pumping out the big cars and all of a sudden the demand slumped due to >the shortage and the price per gallon increases, habits virtually changed >overnight to the small cars. Since US makers did not produce these, the >public bought from Japan and Europe where those cars had been the norm for >years. And when GM,Ford and Chrysler did begin to produce these, I agree, >they were definitely not up to par. But now I we are making those cars >with the same types of skills the foreign makers are and I think our cars >are every bit as good. It all depends on what you are comparing. >I have a 1977 Chrysler Ner Yorker, 1982 and a 1984 Cadillac Fleetwood. All >three cars are in excellent shape and the rubber door seals on all of them >are in excellent condition. >Obviously I am not a small car driver. But I must say that the Cadillacs >get excellent mileage (27mpg on a long drive, 20 around the area). Can't >really complain. Before there are any flames, I did not buy the cars for >mileage, because I really don't care if they get 8, 15 or 50!! >Keith Titus >Bell Labs I note that the consumer product testing magazine Consumer Reports (New York based) generally thinks otherwise, be that for good or bad. Quite frankly, I don't know how much validity their survey samples have (they at least have the manifestations of conscientious study) but they generally give American-made vehicles a worse-than-average ranking and Japanese-make vehicles a very good ranking on troubles. Looking through their latest issue on automobiles, I see that most Japanese-born autos have a ranking of at least "better than average" (many "excellent") for troubles, while the highest kudos given to American autos are almost all "average" (with just one or two models rated "above average"). To be fair, I must say that the C.R. people's "bumper tests" (supposed to be similar to a 5 mph collision with an immovable object) come out with very little or no damage on a good deal of the American cars which are otherwise rated worse than average in troubles, while a lot of the otherwise meritorious Japanese makes crumple quite expensively. So there are weaknesses and strengths in both options. Sometimes an "average" trouble rate comes with a "better than average" repair cost for the American makes, I suspect because many American auto parts are cheaper and easier to purchase and install. Note that I focus on Japanese makes here. The C.R. people have found some other foreign makes (e.g., the French Renault) to be wanting in reliability. Other auto makes are too new for the necessary data to have been collected (like the Ford Taurus) and the C.R. people have no ratings yet for them. (Though they generally suggest waiting until the new makes have had a chance to get a reputation before choosing. Trouble is if everybody waited, then the new makes never WOULD have a chance to make a reputation, because they wouldn't sell.) I wonder if anybody else has any comments on the Consumer Reports approach to the auto quality question? They certainly don't take a wimpish stand on the issue, but I'm curious what else there is to be considered; they're surely not the only people in the world concerned with investigating this question. As for me, I am beginning to look for something that will be easy to fix myself. I am no newcomer to do-it-yourselfing with auto adjustments and repairs (though leaving the big jobs to the commercial shops) and I can see no better way to cut costs than to change those fluids, check those settings, and replace those small parts myself, rather than having to go through the awkwardness of leaving my car at a repair shop I barely know, to make choices as to repair based on what I am told over the phone by a stranger, and to pay a big markup on things that I know how to handle and would were it not for needing to raise the car over my head to get at them or having to take out ten jillion other parts to get at what I want to repair. Having been "spoiled" by the highly accessible layout of my aged (don't laugh) Vega, and noticing the jam-packed underhood compartments of the new automobiles, I wonder if the do-it-yourself routine is even feasible any more. I would welcome opinions on this issue; how many of you are successfully do-it-yourself-maintaining your late model cars, and what late models are proving the easiest to work on (and to get parts for)? -- ------------------------------- Disclaimer: The views contained herein are | dan levy | yvel nad | my own and are not at all those of my em- | an engihacker @ | ployer or the administrator of any computer | at&t computer systems division | upon which I may hack. | skokie, illinois | -------------------------------- Path: ..!{akgua,homxb,ihnp4,ltuxa,mvuxa, vax135}!ttrdc!levy