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Sticky Steering Wheel

C

ContourSurvivor

CEG'er
Joined
Nov 30, 2023
Messages
31
Location
New York, NY
Hey All,

So I've noticed a weird issue with my SVT's steering wheel where only the center feels very sticky and there's a bunch of black material that comes off on my hands.

It's almost as if it's degrading or something like that and I was wondering if there is a spray or something I could apply to the wheel to keep this from happening.

The feeling I'd describe like if someone poured Coca-Cola all over it or something. I'm told newer cars are having this issue also and degreaser and cleaning supplies only makes it worse.
 
Yea cleaning supplies do make it worse. Try this, The best alternative…wheelskins.com
I had mine for over 10 years.

Dont know what that that black stuff can be bit i bet simple green will remove it without harming the material
 
Last edited:
Stick Steering wheel: Yeap , my 98 Ranger wheel does it too, i've used a foamy hand soap, like this, gets rid of most of the stickiness.

71wsYN3lXRL._SY679_.jpg
 
But how will this help with the deterioration as there's all of this black stuff coming off of it... we tried dove dish soap and it seems it's destroying the leather.
 
I'm confused. The center of the steering wheel where the horn and airbag are located are not leather. They're a rubber type of material. Or is it just the stems going from the outer wheel to the inner wheel? I'm confused.

Not sure there would be any solution if you can not cover it with the wheelskins or steering wheel cover. If the material is peeling or falling off then anything you could coat it with will just come off with the material. You may have to carefully remove as much of the material as you can and then try to clean, prep, and repair somehow.
 
CLASSVT said:
I'm confused. The center of the steering wheel where the horn and airbag are located are not leather. They're a rubber type of material. Or is it just the stems going from the outer wheel to the inner wheel? I'm confused.

Not sure there would be any solution if you can not cover it with the wheelskins or steering wheel cover. If the material is peeling or falling off then anything you could coat it with will just come off with the material. You may have to carefully remove as much of the material as you can and then try to clean, prep, and repair somehow.
Click to expand...
Sorry if I wasn't as clear as I could have been here :). So it's definitely the rubber type material where the horn and airbag are located on the center of the wheel. the stems and the outer ring of the wheel are perfectly fine... I'm told this is becoming an issue with newer automobiles as well, but I do not know how to solve for it :(
 
ContourSurvivor said:
Hey All,

So I've noticed a weird issue with my SVT's steering wheel where only the center feels very sticky and there's a bunch of black material that comes off on my hands.

It's almost as if it's degrading or something like that and I was wondering if there is a spray or something I could apply to the wheel to keep this from happening.

The feeling I'd describe like if someone poured Coca-Cola all over it or something. I'm told newer cars are having this issue also and degreaser and cleaning supplies only makes it worse.
Click to expand...
My moms 1988 Lincoln mark vii did this too. It was like black sticky stuff was all over it id wipe it and it still came back
 
Check out BMW forums. This was a huge problem for BMW's . I just googled it and came up with a bunch of forums you can choose from that might have information on what works for this problem.
 
972svt said:
My moms 1988 Lincoln mark vii did this too. It was like black sticky stuff was all over it id wipe it and it still came back
Click to expand...
Thank God for Reddit.

Okay so this guy had the same issue I'm having with his Ford and this was his solution.

I've just picked up Car Guys Premium Super Cleaner and I plan on using this and some shop towels to get everything off of the wheel on the car.

I'll update you guys with some photos when I finish so nobody has to go through this.
 
1710661428014.png1710661445902.png

Finally got around to taking care of the airbag cover, and I’ve got to say this stuff is absolutely amazing. There is NO MORE sticking on the wheel and there is no discoloration of any type.

As promised, here are the images! :)

As an FYI, you're REALLY going to have to scrub the daylights out of this for it to work. My suggestion is to go a section at a time and switch to another part of the micro fiber cloth as soon as it turns black. Constantly apply the solution and wrap the towel around two fingers to scrub. Just laying the whole cloth across the wheel will not work as it will be too sticky and you wont be as effective in this method.
 
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