[Vwdiesel] Plastic VW parts-what falls apart?

[dieseltdi at verizon.net]

OZONE,  OZONE, OZONE!!!! One of the biggest culprits in the break  
down of plastics and rubber parts is ozone.  This is especially true  
if you live in a large urban area like I do.  I have installed rubber  
parts, like boots, caps etc and seen them basically destroyed in a  
matter of years.  Heat plays a big roll also.  As the plastic parts  
are repeatedly heated and cooled over thousands if not millions of  
cycles, the bonds between atoms break down and eventually the plastic  
comes apart.  Newer plastics last much longer because they have  
different chemical bonding agents and  other things to keep them from  
aging as fast.  Hayden

On May 13, 2007, at 12:39 AM, Tony and Lillie wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tony and Lillie" <tonyandlillie1 at earthlink.net>
> [Vwdiesel] Oil dip dtick degrade.
>
>
>  Here's what I've seen fail from fatigue:
>
>  Expansion tanks and caps, Radiator hose fittings, Wing window  
> openers in
>  B1's, various dash plastics, especially hard pieces exposed to a  
> lot of
> sun.
>  Seatbelt trim, plastic key heads, dash vents.
>
>  And, of course rubber things such as all mounts and suspension  
> bushings.
>
> Probably some things that need to be added to the list, but that's  
> all I can
> think of right now.
>
> Tony Hoffman
>
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
>  From: "William J Toensing" <toensing at wildblue.net>
>  Subject: [Vwdiesel] Oil dip dtick degrade.
>
>
>>> Thank you for calling this to our attention. While I can't speak  
>>> to VW
>>> plastic life in particular, I have noted many plastic items  
>>> degrade with
>>> age & become more brittle. This can happen to metal as well. In  
>>> general,
>>> manufacturers don't design their cars to last more than 10 or 15  
>>> years.
>>> I collect old radios & have collected some Soviet era Russian  
>>> radios.
>>> There radio knobs tend to be brittle & break easily. I think when  
>>> these
>>> plastics were new, they often had no way of knowing how long they  
>>> would
>>> last as I don't think the Soviet economy believed in planned  
>>> obsolesce.
>>> With the forgoing in mind, what other plastic parts in our VWs do  
>>> we have
>>> to watch out for?
>>>
>
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"Dictatorships all have common factors:  a government controlled by  
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