all plastics are literally falling apart on my cutlass

[onyxxtreme]

I finally started doing some upkeep on this 85 Cutlass, and just about every plastic part on the car is falling apart......like actually crumbling apart. For instance, in the interior, all the hard plastics like the covers over the female end of the seat belt buckles, B-pillars, headliner trim. In the engine bay, all the convoluted tubing looked great, and when I just barely touched it, they just crumbled up and left a pile of plastic around the wires. All of the electrical connectors in the engine bay are breaking into pieces also.
I've had a few older cars, but none of them ever crumbled apart like this. This is the first car I've bought from out of state though, all my other cars have been from AL, never had rust problems or anything like that.

What the hell causes this? I wonder if the car is a flood car or something? Or is it normal with east coast cars (last owner was NC, not sure before that)
Any ideas?

 

[bill]

I finally started doing some upkeep on this 85 Cutlass, and just about every plastic part on the car is falling apart......like actually crumbling apart. For instance, in the interior, all the hard plastics like the covers over the female end of the seat belt buckles, B-pillars, headliner trim. In the engine bay, all the convoluted tubing looked great, and when I just barely touched it, they just crumbled up and left a pile of plastic around the wires. All of the electrical connectors in the engine bay are breaking into pieces also.
I've had a few older cars, but none of them ever crumbled apart like this. This is the first car I've bought from out of state though, all my other cars have been from AL, never had rust problems or anything like that.

What the hell causes this? I wonder if the car is a flood car or something? Or is it normal with east coast cars (last owner was NC, not sure before that)
Any ideas?

Do you live in the north? If so, the lack of humidity may be causing the plastic to become brittle more than usual. My dash, console, etc....have become so brittle that I have to be super careful with them. Not much can be done about it, unfortunately, other than replacing them with better preserved parts

 

[onyxxtreme]

I'm from Alabama, and I've never personally seen cars with plastic this brittle. This car came from North Carolina, not sure where before that.

 

[L.A.X-RATED]

I have complete interior trim(grey or camel)plastics,and also a great set of "power"rear vent windows with all nessasary wiring.pm me if interested.

 

[bill]

I'm from Alabama, and I've never personally seen cars with plastic this brittle. This car came from North Carolina, not sure where before that.

My car is from NC and hasnt been out of it for the most part.....But how it was maintained makes a big difference too. About 15yrs ago, I learned that using products such as Armor All will turn plastic and vinyl brittle over time. Sure, it looks good, but it has its side effects w/exposure to sunlight and creates an extremely brittle part. It will make a vinyl top shrink, crack, and blow off...lol! So, I stopped using it and have noticed a big difference on my other cars. I now clean my interiors with a mild cleaner and a damp sponge. Id rather have a non-shiny whole interior than a shiny cracked one....

 

[onyxxtreme]

wow, i never knew armorall can do that to plastics
This car was sold as a "GREAT condition, solid driver"....unfortunately I bought it off ebay, while I was overseas, so it sat at my parents for 9 months before I even got to see it.
Turns out its in poor condition, and un-driveable. I was about to drive it 9 hours away to my next duty station, and then I found out, it has a rear main seal leak. The car was also sold to me with a new battery and "newer" tires. The battery went bad a month ago, and 3 of the 4 tires had fast leaks.
Yesterday I had to replace all the vacuum lines. They were literally breaking in half, without me touching them.
Everytime I fix or correct one thing, 2 more things pop up that need attention. Definitely turning into a money pit.
Now I gotta tow the car to Ft Polk, when my truck gets back from Europe :|

 

[azmalibuwagon]

My wagon was like that when I first got it, but it had spent most of it's 30 years here in AZ, so no real surprise. I had to replace pretty much everything plastic,vinyl or rubber. On the other hand, there was no rust.

 

[classic gbody]

SUN, HEAT, AGE thats all there is to it.

 

[L92 OLDS]

About 15yrs ago, I learned that using products such as Armor All will turn plastic and vinyl brittle over time. Sure, it looks good, but it has its side effects w/exposure to sunlight and creates an extremely brittle part. It will make a vinyl top shrink, crack, and blow off...lol! So, I stopped using it and have noticed a big difference on my other cars. I now clean my interiors with a mild cleaner and a damp sponge. Id rather have a non-shiny whole interior than a shiny cracked one....

Ummm....You sure about that? Plastics have additives in them called plasticizers. They are added to materials for many reasons, one of them is to keep materials piable. Plastics loose the plasticizers because of plasticizer bloom. It's inevitable and will happen with or without Armour all. Heat and UV exposure will accelerate this process but Armour All and similar products have plasticizers in them to help prevent it.