1999 outback weatherstripping

[jkrz]

hello everyone

The black rubber weatherstripping seal on the outside of the window around my driver/passenger front and back doors becomes tacky with hot summer days. sometimes the black comes off on your hands, so then you touch the white paint then it sticks on it too!!

but along the cargo area they use a different material.......weird.

i went to a repair shop and the person there said he had seen it before but nothing can be done about it. is this true? does anyone know of a fix for this mess or after market replacement

thanks

joe

[OB99W]

The black rubber weatherstripping seal on the outside of the window around my driver/passenger front and back doors becomes tacky with hot summer days.[...]

i went to a repair shop and the person there said he had seen it before but nothing can be done about it. is this true? does anyone know of a fix for this mess or after market replacement

Unless your weatherstripping is in particularly bad condition, there's something that can be done. Here's what I do about it:

 

Take some isopropyl rubbing alcohol (drug store, 70% kind is good enough) on a cotton rag or decent paper towel and clean the black residue from the glass and weatherstripping. Don't overdo cleaning of the weatherstripping itself, you're just trying to remove loose matter. Get some silicone grease (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone_grease); apply a very thin layer of it to the weatherstripping (so that it won't tend to rub off or transfer much to the glass).

 

The above has worked for me, although you may have to repeat the procedure every so often.

[mwatt]

hello everyone

The black rubber weatherstripping seal on the outside of the window around my driver/passenger front and back doors becomes tacky with hot summer days. sometimes the black comes off on your hands, so then you touch the white paint then it sticks on it too!!

but along the cargo area they use a different material.......weird.

i went to a repair shop and the person there said he had seen it before but nothing can be done about it. is this true? does anyone know of a fix for this mess or after market replacement

thanks

joe

 

when you mention "The black rubber weatherstripping seal on the outside of the window around my driver/passenger front and back doors...." are you talking about the door opening surround weatherstrip that the glass closes against, or do you mean the black metal and rubber trim strip at the base of each window on the outside--(some manufacturers refer to them as the "outer belt seal") ??

[porcupine73]

Weatherstripping on my '96 legacy looked live it could use a little love so I put some kanolabs Lubricone on it (this stuff is silicone in a volatile carrier); seemed to work great, cleaned the dirt right off, soaked in really nice, then the carrier fluid evaporates leaving nothin' but a nice silicone sheen. Good idea on the cleaning with isopropyl first; I didn't think about it, but I'd think that isopropyl alchohol and silicone might be good for rubber as that's what's in those little wipes that come with some windshield wipers.

[jon38iowa]

Unless your weatherstripping is in particularly bad condition, there's something that can be done. Here's what I do about it:

 

Take some isopropyl rubbing alcohol (drug store, 70% kind is good enough) on a cotton rag or decent paper towel and clean the black residue from the glass and weatherstripping. Don't overdo cleaning of the weatherstripping itself, you're just trying to remove loose matter. Get some silicone grease (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone_grease); apply a very thin layer of it to the weatherstripping (so that it won't tend to rub off or transfer much to the glass).

 

The above has worked for me, although you may have to repeat the procedure every so often.

I had the same issue with my Forester,moreover I think Subaru uses a softer rubber ( in places) in oder to get a tighter seal ; I do as OB99W recomends, however I use a product called Meguires for vinyl/rubber. It lasts about six months - my car is a daily driver.

John

[Cubby]

My dealer also recommended using petroleum jelly on the moulding to help soften it up and make it expand slightly for a better fit.

[OB99W]

My dealer also recommended using petroleum jelly on the moulding to help soften it up and make it expand slightly for a better fit.

While alcohol and silicone are generally safe on most rubber compounds, petroleum-based products usually aren't. There's a reason that petroleum jelly causes softening/swelling; I wouldn't use it unless the alternative was to replace the weatherstripping.

[gbhrps]

I would also vote to stay away from the petoleum jelly. Anything oil based will swell up and destry rubber. For years I've lubricated my weather stripping with a spray on silicone that says on the can that it is for use on rubber. I spray it on and rub it in with my fingers. It not only keeps the rubber from sticking to the body of the car, it makes it seal better, and in our freezing winters here in Southern Ontario, it keeps the weatherstripping from freezing to the body of the car, even in the coldest weather.

[jon38iowa]

I would also vote to stay away from the petoleum jelly. Anything oil based will swell up and destry rubber. For years I've lubricated my weather stripping with a spray on silicone that says on the can that it is for use on rubber. I spray it on and rub it in with my fingers. It not only keeps the rubber from sticking to the body of the car, it makes it seal better, and in our freezing winters here in Southern Ontario, it keeps the weatherstripping from freezing to the body of the car, even in the coldest weather.

There is one place I would recomend the Petroleum Jelly- The battery terminals!

I coat them once a year, and they still look almost new (no white dust) when the time comes.

John

[jkrz]

thanks to everyone for the response

seems everyone knows what i am talking about

to mwatt: let's take the driver door for example.

to get perspective from inside the vehicle to out

first have the window then the weatherstripping against the window

then have the particular piece of rubber that we are all talking about

looks like rubbing alcohol and silicone are the starting point

thanks again

joe

[mwatt]

thanks to everyone for the response

seems everyone knows what i am talking about

to mwatt: let's take the driver door for example.

to get perspective from inside the vehicle to out

first have the window then the weatherstripping against the window

then have the particular piece of rubber that we are all talking about

looks like rubbing alcohol and silicone are the starting point

thanks again

joe

 

The reason I mentioned the "belt moldings" (the black metal and rubber trim strips at the base of each window on the outside of each door) is because I've got the same problem with them on my '99 Legacy GT wagon. The black finish has become "tacky" and everything sticks to it....I've used alcohol on them, and it works for awhile, but the tackiness reappears eventually....and of course the problem is worse is hot weather.