mark03c5

My 03 did the same some one here told me to use goof off2 really worked good but it lightened up the black just a little.but know more sticky.i could even scrape it with my finger nail it was so bad.its been about a month now and still looks good.i found the goof off2 at a hardware store.what ever u use make sure its not petroleum base.

craig04c5

That is what I used as well.

Z06CE

I think what caused the air bag cover to get gooy in my case was the Meguirs leather conditioner.
I live in Florida but I had no issues until I detailed the interior and used the Leather conditioner on the leather steering wheel cover and must have got some on the air bag cover. About 6 days later I noticed the air bag cover was gooy where the leather is close to the air bag.
WTF? Could it be the leather conditioner?? I have a 04 CE.

J.Ho

Florida car with same sticky issues. I know most of the instructions are for Black wheels but I figure "why not" with my Shale. I'm forking out $$$ either way.

Thanks for all the input.

coh2000

I had a sticky bag cover too but the only product that was ever used on my car was Griot's Vinyl & Rubber preservative. That product has not caused a problem on any other vinly in my car. So, perhaps there is a common chemical additive in several other products that is at fault. The Griot's product is otherwise good on the car I think.
However, I put it on a 'synthetic rubber' knife handle (SOG knife), and soon got sticky too. Just not good for synthetic rubber I guess.

rrwirsi

J.Ho

Not terrible. I have a Blue/Black/Shale theme going anyway. I left the inset of the horns, the logo, and the word "Airbag" in Shale. The posted process works like a champ though.

I'd buy a "new" airbag but there is no guarantee it won't do the same. Thinking I might leave the airbag in black and get a custom Shale/Black steering wheel to match it instead.

Woodyman

After a little over twelve years of garage storage, took the car to have some work done and when it came back from the speed shop, the AB cover had turned to a sticky mess. Found this thread and ordered Lift Off 3 & microfiber towels from Amazon. It worked as stated earlier in the thread and it was amazing how much crap came off, but cover looks like new......now to enjoy the ride without the mess staring you in the face......!!!!

vetterss

Well I just picked up a Florida 2004 ZO6 and same problem as everyone else. Shiny, slimy, sticky driver's air bag. But I had just bought a used one in good shape from a forum member and thought I would try one of the extreme methods mentioned in this thread to clean mine prior to having to take it off; carb cleaner. One member said they tried carb cleaner with good results. Well, I am here to verify it works. Removed everything, material is dull now but I haven't conditioned it yet. Now, I do not know the long term effect but for me having a back up air bag it doesn't matter. I will store the other air bag in room with controlled temperature and avoid tearing apart the car for now. I couldn't believe it but it does work! Evaporates quickly but be sure windows are down and area is ventilated or you will be flying high.

Hohorodshop

I read his thread because I had the same issue. Used the product
"Goof Off" like the thread says and it returned to like new condition. Spray it on and let soak for a couple of minutes. It will take all of the sticky stuff off and leave the original grain. Finished it off with a light coat of protectant and looks as good as new. I thought I was going to have to buy a new airbag but not now.

patriotpa

If you're using Armor-All protectant, then that is your most likely culprit.

Hohorodshop

Nope. No Armour-All here. Overdoing it looks to be a problem. The stuff that came off of mine looked like build up. I have only had the car for a couple of months. Looks new now.

gulfstrings

I had success with these steps:

1. Goof Off to remove the sticky surface material
2. Spray household cleaner to remove any residue
3. Vinyl protector spray
4. Lexol leather conditioner

Like new again, but I expect repeating will be necessary. Vinyl can be chemically unstable. As example, I have an older Nikon DSLR camera that has become sticky. Nikon acknowledges this issue and has offered to replace the bad material, but only at my expense. This camera has never been exposed to anything other than time.

Even though I live in Florida - and our heat may be a contributor to the degradation of my AB cover, I'm pretty sure that the issue may just be the instability of the vinyl used by GM vendors and could happen anywhere.

Thanks to the folks on this thread that provided direction in repairing this problem.

Note: I replaced the center console in my '93 vert because it had also become sticky.

C5RClone

Another Florida, garaged victim of sticky air bag cover saved by the forum, Goof Off and a lot of microfibers later it looks great. Thanks for sharing.

3318C5

Hello to all, so I as well was a victim of this. My car has 19K on it, bought it new & has always been garaged. When I discovered this I was pretty upset to say the least. Well I was one of those unfortunate folks that used something too abrasive & ended up taking the paint off a section. So as you can imagine I was furious & frustrated. I found this website:

http://www.paintscratch.com/

They can match ANY color, inside or out. I ended up buying the cleaner, primer, paint & clear. I removed my airbag (not too difficult-do a search if you need to or PM me) & re-sprayed the entire thing!! To say the least I would rather have used "goof-off" & simply cleaned it, but if you make a mistake like I did, there IS HOPE!!!

Here is a pic of the redone airbag cover:


Good luck & hope this helps if you ever make the mistake I made.

loragen

With apologies for responding to an old thread, I felt I should add one other possibility for a sticky feel to the airbag cover. If the air bag was every replaced with a "repaired" airbag, the "repairer" surely got the cover from one of the suppliers of replacement air bag covers. A Google search will find several.

The ones I have encountered have been made out of some kind of plastic with a sticky surface feel to it, almost like injection molded silicone.

How to check? Disconnect the battery, wait 5 minutes, and pop off the airbag module per the service manual. Look through the corners in the back to see if the folding of the airbag appears to be factory or hacked. Also, factory inflator cartridges are riveted, not screwed to the support frame.

I hope that this is not any of the cases in this thread, but just had to mention it.

Lee DeRaud

The only reason to replace an airbag is because it deployed. Even then, I'd expect it to be an OEM replacement.
My question is, is it even possible to be in a collision heavy enough to deploy the airbags in a C5 and not total the car?

pingiii

OK, After reading all the threads on this website, I got the fix. Get some Goof Off HD Cleaner at Walmart or Ace Hardware. Then buy some Mr. Clean Magic eraser scrub pads or their equivalent at Walmart. Tape off your steering wheel leather so just the air bag is exposed. Cover everything with old towels so if the Goof Off drips, you won't get it on the seats or carpet. I used a cheap plastic painters drop cloth. Saturate the eraser scrub pads and then simply start to scrub the air bag. In a few minutes, all the black comes off on the scrub pad. I kept turning the pad to use a new surface and used about 5 pads in total to clean all the gunk off, but it worked like a dream. It only took me about an hour and I never had to really scrub hard. Other links on the site said to take out the horn fuse because if you used micro fiber towels to do the scrubbing, you would be honking the horn a lot, but with the Mr. Clean scrubbing pads, you really don't have to scrub hard at all. Just let the Goof Off do the work. After all the sticky stuff was gone, I washed the Air Bag with soap and water and it looks and feels great. It leaves a dull finish, but still looks good. I'm going to try to treat it with some type of protecttant that will leave it shiny, but no rush. It looks and feels great and it didn't take much effort at all. Thanks to the guys before me who found that Goof Off HD did the job. It's much better than buying a new air bag!!

coh2000

Bluicide recommended the Goof Off HD WATER base product to me.
Great guy. I talked with him for quite a while on the phone.
What I did do different was to use a Scotch Brite DOBIE pad.
It's very flexible, and the advantage I see is that it has a very soft mesh on one side with large openings to capture the the 'mystery junk' as it comes off.
I think it took about 30 minutes light rubbing.
I did NOT have to disconnect the horn, and only 'honked' it one time.
Just rub easy... I did not have to use any 'elbow grease' or pressure in the process at all.
Wash with weak solution of dishwashing soap and wiped with plain water and dry.
Then applied Aerospace 308 protectant for a little color as recommended by another member.
The DOBIE PAD is really good for this... Got mine at Kroger's.

loragen

A collision with localized damage, such as just a fender? That's what happened to me. But I expect that more often than not, you are correct since vehicles over 10 years old are not given much replacement value by insurance adjusters.