Adhesive Identification and Removal Advice - Help!

DesertDreaming

New member
Took off a door panel on the Jeep and found an unholy mess that a previous owner has left us with. They apparently broke the adhesive after removing the moisture barrier, and decided to put it back on with the most disgusting tar pit residue they could find. See attached pictures. We have d-limonene on hand (the active ingredient in Goo Gone, etc), and it's worked a treat on other bits of adhesive around the jeep, but it just bounces right off this stuff. It's gooey and tackey, you can smear it around, it gets stuck to everything, and I am at a loss to figure out how to get this stuff off. Any idea what it is and how I might remove it?
 

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NOPEC

Well-known member
Yikes, what a mess. It looks to me something like windshield adhesive. The local automotive glass shop might have a suggestion.

Failing that, I just go to to my garage shelf and start at "A" as in acetone and work down to "W" as in white gas (Naphthalene) and try all the assorted solvents and the other nasty stuff in between. I often have good results with plain old mineral spirits as well as, kerosene and even diesel. Goo luck!:)
 

driveby

Active member
butyl "tape" or maybe some sort of PL caulking/glue used in construction? that stuff is meant to stay flexy but sticky. But Nopec has it right, start with A :(
 

ExpoMike

Well-known member
That looks like the factory stuff. Looks like the barrier was pulled off and put back on a couple times, which will make a huge mess.

As suggested, WD-40 might work and if not, mineral spirits/acetone.
 

Zillon

Active member
Looks like the factory butyl tape strips.

Heat it up and use a plastic scraper to remove as much as you can, then hit it with WD40
 

NatersXJ6

Explorer
Agree on the heat. I’ve stripped the undercoat from a few old cars with heat guns and wd40 or mineral spirits…. Same stuff, black butyl goo!
 

86scotty

Cynic
Why remove it? It's there for a purpose. Stick some new moisture barrier (plastic sheeting) on it, reinstall door panel and move on!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
If you do clean the butyl off, I would strongly advise putting it back on using a clean 10mm flat ribbon shaped to about 1-2mm thick. As others have already stated, it serves to keep the plastic sheet sealed around the metal door and minimize water from soaking the inside door panel. Nice clean spool of butyl is inexpensive and looks like ribbon of silly putty and easily reapplied onto the sheet metal.
 

1stDeuce

Explorer
Yup, that's the factory stuff that was used by DCX in the early 2000's at least. It's messy, and much softer and stickier than typical rv butyl. Clean up the places that it is hanging out and stick the plastic to the rest of it and re-assemble. (AKA "Run away!!!")
 

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