What the heck is this?!

[Shawn]

Thank you all for the replies. Some of you have good reading comprehension, others I fear have been failed by our public school education.

As originally stated, the truck is over a year old and it never had anything applied to the steering wheel. Heck, I don’t even touch the airbag cover with my hands. They are on the wheel of the steering wheel in order to steer! I’m going to go with your suggestions that it is a substance created by the manufacturing process that was then affected by heat, light, temperature and humidity. Interestingly this discoloration was on the backside of the cover as well which rules out transfer from my hands or a chemical applied without my knowledge. Furthermore, this supports the manufacturing theory

I also took other’s advice and cleaned it with soap and a damp cloth.

It cleaned right up.

I worked in auto for many years. This is probably vinyl. Vinyl is made with plasticizers to make them soft for auto interiors. These migrate through the vinyl to the surface over time. This is called blooming in the industry and vinyl is well known for it. Ever wonder what that new car smell is?

Without plasticizers your shower curtain would be as stiff as PVC drain pipe. More or less if the manufactuer chooses vinyl this is going to happen.

After vinyl looses it, it becone stiff and more brittle. This is why old cars have cracks in the vinyl.

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[Maverick202]

As the title says… “What the heck is this?!”

I got in my truck today and it looks like the plastic on the steering wheel (just the center piece) in my Mav aged 15 years overnight! To be clear, this plastic, like the rest of the interior, looked fantastic yesterday. The truck is a year old and it is (was) pristine. Additionally, before anyone asks or suspects it, I’ve never applied any cleaner, protective treatment, or any other product or chemical to this plastic.

Anyone have any ideas?

It looks like you ride your hands on each side of the horn pad while driving. The plastic reacted to something on your hands. You might also be a center wheel thumb tapper as you go down the road as palm touch around the largest area. The plastic that interiors are made of contain oils. As human skin touches these surfaces, the oils are removed and need to be replenished. Soak the plastic with an interior car care product such as turtle wax interior, exterior protectant. It should look fine after that. However, it may require repeat applications at first and just maintaining after that. It looks very depleted of oils.

 

[Maverick202]

Thank you all for the replies. Some of you have good reading comprehension, others I fear have been failed by our public school education.

As originally stated, the truck is over a year old and it never had anything applied to the steering wheel. Heck, I don’t even touch the airbag cover with my hands. They are on the wheel of the steering wheel in order to steer! I’m going to go with your suggestions that it is a substance created by the manufacturing process that was then affected by heat, light, temperature and humidity. Interestingly this discoloration was on the backside of the cover as well which rules out transfer from my hands or a chemical applied without my knowledge. Furthermore, this supports the manufacturing theory

I also took other’s advice and cleaned it with soap and a damp cloth.

It cleaned right up.

Reading comprehension isn’t the failing. It’s disbelief in the situation and what it appears to be. If soap and water took care of the problem, what type of soap did you use? Illuminate us all as to the type so we may all do the same if it occurs. Does the cover just pop off?

 

[jsus]

Does the cover just pop off?

No, that is the airbag cover. The whole steering wheel airbag would have to come out.

https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/e...air-bag-air-bag-module-p-lj6z78043b13ba?pdp=y

 

[Maverick202]

No, that is the airbag cover. The whole steering wheel airbag would have to come out.

https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/e...air-bag-air-bag-module-p-lj6z78043b13ba?pdp=y

So he went to the dealer and replaced it? You know what I mean, right? How else would he know it was on the backside as well? I think he’s full of bull.

 

[Pastor_Zatx]

Reading comprehension isn’t the failing. It’s disbelief in the situation and what it appears to be. If soap and water took care of the problem, what type of soap did you use? Illuminate us all as to the type so we may all do the same if it occurs. Does the cover just pop off?

Well, that’s an even more disturbing issue. First, why would I fabricate this issue and post about it? And, secondly, why would someone automatically assume I’m lying about the facts?

There is no financial gain to be had surrounding this issue. The reason I made this post was purely in trying to identify what might have caused this discoloration. Additionally, I’m reasonably intelligent so I would assume the cause was the application of a solvent or other chemical, had I done so. In an effort to prevent people automatically assuming a chemical exposure, I gave lots details and context explaining that this had never occurred. This was naive or foolish of me because some folks obviously immediately jumped to these types of conclusions regardless.

I don’t think it will matter, but I used some Dawn dish soap sprayed on a wet towel to clean the steering wheel cover. And just so no one thinks I’m lying about seeing the discoloration behind the cover, I did not remove the cover (which appears it cannot be removed) I merely shined a bright light in the small space behind the outer perimeter and could see the discoloration which proves this wasn’t caused by something on my hands or by the application of a cleaner.

 

[Pastor_Zatx]

So he went to the dealer and replaced it? You know what I mean, right? How else would he know it was on the backside as well? I think he’s full of bull.

Your distrust is misplaced and speaks more to your projecting dishonesty onto me.

 

[Pastor_Zatx]

I worked in auto for many years. This is probably vinyl. Vinyl is made with plasticizers to make them soft for auto interiors. These migrate through the vinyl to the surface over time. This is called blooming in the industry and vinyl is well known for it. Ever wonder what that new car smell is?

Without plasticizers your shower curtain would be as stiff as PVC drain pipe. More or less if the manufactuer chooses vinyl this is going to happen.

After vinyl looses it, it becone stiff and more brittle. This is why old cars have cracks in the vinyl.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us in a well thought out response that directly relates to my issue. I truly appreciate it.

 

[Maverick202]

Well, that’s an even more disturbing issue. First, why would I fabricate this issue and post about it? And, secondly, why would someone automatically assume I’m lying about the facts?

There is no financial gain to be had surrounding this issue. The reason I made this post was purely in trying to identify what might have caused this discoloration. Additionally, I’m reasonably intelligent so I would assume the cause was the application of a solvent or other chemical, had I done so. In an effort to prevent people automatically assuming a chemical exposure, I gave lots details and context explaining that this had never occurred. This was naive or foolish of me because some folks obviously immediately jumped to these types of conclusions regardless.

I don’t think it will matter, but I used some Dawn dish soap sprayed on a wet towel to clean the steering wheel cover. And just so no one thinks I’m lying about seeing the discoloration behind the cover, I did not remove the cover (which appears it cannot be removed) I merely shined a bright light in the small space behind the outer perimeter and could see the discoloration which proves this wasn’t caused by something on my hands or by the application of a cleaner.

Dawn dish soap is thick. You sprayed it into a towel? Was it thinned with water?

 

[Pastor_Zatx]

This, I've seen multiple photos of the plastic airbag cover dried out and cracking, not sure what the heck people are using to clean their interior but damn, just stick to some soapy water if you have to. That's clearly chemical induced damage, if you're using alcohol on your interior you are wrong....

Since this is primarily being seen on just airbag covers I would lean more towards the materials and manufacturing used that relate to their performance when the airbag is deployed from a safer perspective. Maybe this part has to be lighter than typical plastic? Maybe it’s more flame retardant? Etc.

 

[Maverick202]

Your distrust is misplaced and speaks more to your projecting dishonesty onto me.

Don’t believe everything you read or see on the internet. Good sense, not psychology.

 

[Maverick202]

Well, that’s an even more disturbing issue. First, why would I fabricate this issue and post about it? And, secondly, why would someone automatically assume I’m lying about the facts?

There is no financial gain to be had surrounding this issue. The reason I made this post was purely in trying to identify what might have caused this discoloration. Additionally, I’m reasonably intelligent so I would assume the cause was the application of a solvent or other chemical, had I done so. In an effort to prevent people automatically assuming a chemical exposure, I gave lots details and context explaining that this had never occurred. This was naive or foolish of me because some folks obviously immediately jumped to these types of conclusions regardless.

I don’t think it will matter, but I used some Dawn dish soap sprayed on a wet towel to clean the steering wheel cover. And just so no one thinks I’m lying about seeing the discoloration behind the cover, I did not remove the cover (which appears it cannot be removed) I merely shined a bright light in the small space behind the outer perimeter and could see the discoloration which proves this wasn’t caused by something on my hands or by the application of a cleaner.

Me thinks thou protests to much.

 

[Pastor_Zatx]

Dawn dish soap is thick. You sprayed it into a towel? Was it thinned with water?

I’m not sure why you’re trying to catch me in a lie when one doesn’t exist, but I’ll make it simple for you with pictures.

Here is the specific product I used:

 

[GreenLady]

Guys, I just ran into this on my 2022 F150 this morning...keeping clean until MY23 Maverick Hybrid is built, production date week of 10/9 ....I used some Turtle Wax Ice Interior cleaner on it and it seems better for now...I do not know the cause. I live in Florida and we have had multiple 100+ degree days so I believe it maybe heat related...Truck won't be a year only until Nov 2023...use to see it years ago and I believe they called it off gassing of the plastic again caused by excessive heat....Just my thoughts...

My ‘02 F250 has the same gray dash and over the years in the sun it looks the same as OP’s only it won’t clean off anymore. The good news, I started using a sun shade about 10 years ago and it hasn’t gotten any worse

 

[Maverick202]

I’m not sure why you’re trying to catch me in a lie when one doesn’t exist, but I’ll make it simple for you with pictures.

Here is the specific product I used:

It’s a new product with different chemical compounds than the original.

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