Biodegradable wiring.
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp...&doc_id=234658 Interesting discussion at this link. I have two friends, one of whom is a '69 Vette owner ,who have experienced the disintegration of the plastic insulation in their cars. In their cases two Volvos and a Mercedes. The reason I bring this up is, are American cars using this biodegradable plastic? I know some seat foam is now made of organic material. If so,that may explain the chipmunks chewing the insulation and braking the wires at the rear of our '06 Ion and setting trouble codes for the emission system. The car was up on the lift getting new tires this morning and I looked at the wiring in the back and I was shocked at the broken and bare wires . Spoke to the tech and " chipmunks" was the first word out of his mouth. If the wires are biodegrading on their own , that can have some nasty diagnostic and potentially dire consequences whether driven or stored. One Volvo is in Fl. and the other is in Ohio so the climate can be ruled out. The other question is if we are using the same stuff, are new old stock harnesses degrading on the shelf?
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Re: Biodegradable wiring.
John -
They should have learned from license plates; back in the early 50's, at some point Ohio made license plates for one year from some kind of composite material, and dogs loved it - they chewed and ate them.
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Re: Biodegradable wiring.
All organic materials degrade... heat, UV, and just plain time. The rate of degradation can increase exponentially with temperature, so hot climates and low speed traffic can age wiring faster than cooler cliimates and highway driving, which yields cooler underhood temperatures.
It's even a bigger problem in space due to the vacuum conditions, and since most organic materials "outgas" (think new car smell) lack of atmospheric pressure causes organic materials to "age" faster, nothwithstanding the greater temperature extremes in space.
I recall being involved in a flap over a wire insulation material for a military space program that proved to lack durability. I think it was called Kapton.
It's a problem in the Mercedes community, and I think the mid '90s W124 models (like the 320E) are particularly prone. The harness is expensive, and it's a lot of labor. IIRC the total bill can come to $1500. Most of these models have either had the OE harness replaced, or will sometime soon.
Our Corvettes were built before "biodegradeable insulation" became a politically correct selling point, but durability can vary widely depending on the life the car led. At least the repro harnesses are reasonably priced and not too hard to install compared to a modern car, which can be a real nightmare.
DukeComment
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Re: Biodegradable wiring.
Here in Florida, and probably elsewhere, it has become common place for newer model vehicles to have their wiring chewed up by squirrels. My Brother in Law's 2008 Silverado had such an experience down here in 2009 (they snowbird usually in rural areas). They barely made it back home to Wisconsin in the spring. He had to have much of the wiring harness replaced and it took about two months in the shop. When it was completed, he just traded it in for a new truck as he didn't trust it anymore.
I suspect there is something tasty about the newer vehicle's wiring insulation. I have heard of a number of other such cases, but never heard any talk about it being due to biodegradable insulation.
I know I have yet to replace any wires on my 63 except for the plug wires, even after experiencing front end damage from hitting a deer in 92.
Stu FoxComment
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