Both Chrysler minivans I have owned have had this problem! The headliner cloth has come loose over both the front driver and passenger seats, but nowhere else. My regular garage suggests a specialty car interior/headliner shop. Is there a cheaper alternative for a 10 year-old-minivan that I'll be keeping for a few more years, but does not need to look professionally repaired? I can imagine a spray adhesive, then using a small wallpaper roller to move it through the cloth, and seal it to the underlayer. Could this work?
My local CarQuest store has push pins in various colors that one can install to fix the problem. Also available where Dorman products are sold (almost all parts stores)
I once used a waterbased contact cement to aghere my fallen headlinr in a 72 Dodge PU. Stayed nice and tight for the additional 30 years I owned the truck.
FWIW I would get the vehicle in a warn place and condition and then roll on the adhesive on both the headlier and what it is to be adhered to. The adhesive does not work well in cold conditions.
It somewhat depends on whats on the roof side of the liner. There was no way I could get the liner on a Chev. Cavalier I had once that did this because the lining of the liner was a cheap layer of foam rubber about 1/16 or 1/8" think. The reason it fell down in the first place was that the foam material had started rotting and turning to dust. I tried contact cement, which ended up holding the next layer of exposed foam dust to the roof while the rest of the liner fell away again in a matter of days (maybe even hours).
My only comment is that if the liner has this foam backing, there is no way you will glue it back on and have it stay. Options are either use the push pins someone mentioned or an upholstery shop. There's people that travel around to used car lots that replace liners. You can check a local lot to see when they're due to come back thru your area. The price last time I checked - about 10 years ago - was on the order of $55. SUre to be more now, and higher probably for a (larger) minivan.
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
Ayup, he problem IS the foam backing on the fabric and Chrysler minivans are infected with the foam eating blight.
The proper fix involves removal of the molded headlining (after disassembling most of the side trim). The FSM tells one how.
As suggested, fabric and glue are both readily available. I have a parts minivan whose ceiling is peppered with pushpins and an old Duster that soon will be. :)
Gluing liner that is in good condition back in place is a different story than gluing one that the surface (foam) that you are gluing has a thickness and is rotting and turning to dust. The best glue in the world won't hold that. You end up with glue that is coated with foam dust, and the liner totally fallen.
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
"maxpower" wrote in news:xqudnQHF4r3g5_PanZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:
Is there a TSB or anything out there for this issue? Seems that there are more than just a few isolated instances of the rotting/sagging headliner problem on fairly new Chrysler/Dodge vehicles. My Dak is an '03, and the headliner foam's pretty rotted. Also, anything on the bubbling clearcoat? I've got that problem as well. Simply bad news for a vehicle that's less than 5 years old.
I have noticed that the headliner lasts for about 10 years before it starts to deteriorate. At least with the vehicles I have owned. There are no TSB's on this or paint.
"maxpower" wrote in news:ybidnXokfYXeXfPanZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:
Glenn, thanks for the info. Unfortunately, my experience has sort of soured me on Chrysler/Dodge, as this is the first vehicle I've ever had where both the paint and headliner haven't lasted 5 years.
The sagging headliner thing happens to a lot of cars. I had a 88 Olds that did it, same issue, the foam rotted away.
I've heard a number of theories. The guy that I had replace the headliner in the Olds told me that the factory used a glue that was incompatible with the foam and it caused the foam to disintegrate over time. I have also heard it happens more often to cars that are in southern climates because they get hotter inside. I'm not sure if the smoking is an issue - I own a 94 T&C that the prior owner definitely smoked in - I don't smoke - it's headliner has never fallen. I also own a 84 Chevy Celebrity wagon that has the original foam headliner and it has not disintegrated either.
As for the paint - that's a fairly easy one. The general consensus with few exceptions is that cars that have clearcoat delaminate aren't waxed regularly. Or, they are waxed but they are in areas that have a lot of acid rain which washes the car wax away much more rapidly than the owner expects.
You cannot expect clearcoat to substitute for car wax. Solar radiation - ie: ultraviolet - will over time bleach and destroy paint. It makes no difference what kind of paint is on it or how expensive it is. I had my 68 Torino completely repainted about 20 years ago with Sikkens, which was one of the most expensive auto paints I could find, with a lot of glossy brochures claiming their paint clearcoat was so good you never needed to wax. Stupid me, I didn't wax it, and today the paint has faded and the clear has delaminated in a number of places.
Car wax is designed to absorb UV and the UV will cause the car wax to disintegrate. It is like adding sunscreen at the beach. You can go to the beach and never put on sunscreen and get sunburn after sunburn and after 10 years of this your skin will look like an old rawhide football. Or you can put on sunscreen and your skin will remain soft and young looking.
"Ted Mittelstaedt" wrote in news:newscache$lfcjtj$2jl1$ snipped-for-privacy@news.ipinc.net:
Never smoked in the truck, and I do live in South Florida. However, I'm still surprised that the foam on a 4-year old headliner is basically rotted away - heat or not. My '93 Mustang's headliner is still fine after 14 years, as is my '96 MPV's after 11 years.
I'm not a polish-n-wax freak, but I do take care of my vehicles. Again, I'm surprised that the paint hasn't lasted 4 years. I haven't waxed the MPV or Mustang in over 6 years, and the paint on those vehicles is just fine (like the headliners).
Even without wax, I can't see _any_ factory paint job bubbling in 4 years.
I used to think it happened only on lower lines of GM cars (it had done it on a Cavalier I had owned), until I bought my mother's 88 Cadillac, and darn if its liner didn't fall (neither I nor my parents smoked, but perhaps the previous owner had?).
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
Do you garage all 3 of them? South Florida isn't known for acid rain, but it does have much stronger sun than most of the rest of the country. Also, what are the colors?
I guess I'm a bit unbelieving since if you haven't waxed the other 2 cars in
6 years I can't really believe you waxed this one every couple of months. Normal car wax only last a couple months. The synthetic waxes can last up to a year but that's about it.
"Ted Mittelstaedt" wrote in news:newscache$ha8ltj$83w1$ snipped-for-privacy@news.ipinc.net:
'93 Mustang - Calypso Green (sort of light teal) - waxed religiously 4 times/year when new, started slacking off as the years went by. Garaged about 3/4 of its life.
'96 Mazda MPV - Gold - waxed about 5 times in its life. Garaged about
3/4 of its life, although it spends every day in the elements.
'03 Dakota - Black (ah, there's the rub) - waxed religiously 3 times/year for the first couple years, then slacked off a couple years ago. Clearcoat started bubbling about a year ago, headliner started sagging around same time.
See above.
Ted, even if I'd never have waxed the truck and still being in South Florida, the clearcoat should still be fine after only about 4 years or so. I can certainly see 8-10 years, but only 4-5? No way.
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