[elvin]

This is my first car with leather seats...(yep had an LX Civic, then EX Civic, and then went Touring on the Insight). So what's the recommended minimum care be for them?

Also I recently read about applying silcone spray/lube to all the weather stripping on a regular basis? Never did this for any of my previous cars? Does it keep exterior weather stripping along the glass and doors lasting longer and keeping noise out? Just wondering if anyone has any personal experience before adding another task to the twice a year complete wax.

After buying used (3000 miles) at end of February, I figured to check if there was any wax protection left on the car by pouring some water on it. None left. So waxed and hoping to avoid clear coat problems that plagued my last Civic after I bought that used.

 

[insightfully]

Just curious - but what clear coat issues did you have on your Civic? Was it a 10th gen (2016+) Civic?

 

[andrew28]

This is my first car with leather seats...(yep had an LX Civic, then EX Civic, and then went Touring on the Insight). So what's the recommended minimum care be for them?

Also I recently read about applying silcone spray/lube to all the weather stripping on a regular basis? Never did this for any of my previous cars? Does it keep exterior weather stripping along the glass and doors lasting longer and keeping noise out? Just wondering if anyone has any personal experience before adding another task to the twice a year complete wax.

After buying used (3000 miles) at end of February, I figured to check if there was any wax protection left on the car by pouring some water on it. None left. So waxed and hoping to avoid clear coat problems that plagued my last Civic after I bought that used.

I didn't take care of the rubber seals either with my previous cars but I'm definitely doing it with my Honda Insight. If you don't take care of the rubber seals they will break/cut open easily and yes they do keep noise out.

Body Sealing
The 2019 Insight has a high level of body sealing to dramatically reduce the levels of noise inside the vehicle. Included are 9.3 sq. in. of weld seals and other sealers to reduce vibration and the transmission of noise.
Further NVH reduction measures include:

• Pillar separators seal the hollow A-, B- and C-pillars to reduce the transmission of noise from the floor area into the passenger cabin.
• Triple door sealing utilizes 360-degree molded door seals to reduce wind noise and improve isolation.
• Triple sealed door openings, lower door-edge seals, and gap seals at the rear edges of the doors help keep wind noise from entering the cabin.
• Special air leak reduction moldings and clips, located where the side windows slide into the doors, reduce the possibility of audible air leaks occurring in these locations.
• Along with internal bracing, acoustic hole seals fill open areas inside the door structures, significantly reducing the amount of wind and road noise and vibration that can reach the cabin. The same Thinsulate™ material that is used in the doors is also used to reduce sound transmission through the roof, the A- and C-pillars, wheel wells, and rear floor.

Genuine Honda Silicone Grease on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GD49GTS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1 I haven't try it out yet but it has a perfect 5 star rating from customers.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017JSUIRA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1 Here's a meguiar's leather care product with good reviews, too.

 

[andrew28]

https://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G10916-Leather-Cleaner-Conditioner/dp/B0002V9IFU/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me= <--- I think this meguiar's leather care product might be better than the previous one I linked above. From the customer pictures it looks like the leather is full of grease but it could also have to do with them using way more product than necessary. This one is a spray and leaves no white residue so it should be easier to apply.

 

[elvin]

Just curious - but what clear coat issues did you have on your Civic? Was it a 10th gen (2016+) Civic?

Nope that was the 8th Civic (2007). Part of it could be that I checked out the car when it was dark out and my mechanic hadn't noted anything. It was three years old, 30K miles, just off warranty (no extension). Unless it was me that was slow to waxing the car (unlikely - I think I was already in the habit of twice a year with a car cover 3 seasons of the year), it just appeared that bird droppings had just eaten through the clear coat.

 

[elvin]

I didn't take care of the rubber seals either with my previous cars but I'm definitely doing it with my Honda Insight. If you don't take care of the rubber seals they will break/cut open easily and yes they do keep noise out.


Genuine Honda Silicone Grease on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GD49GTS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1 I haven't try it out yet but it has a perfect 5 star rating from customers.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017JSUIRA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1 Here's a meguiar's leather care product with good reviews, too.

Got the Honda Shin-Etsu grease, so will be putting that to work first. Did check leather care instructions in the Honda manual, and they seemed rather minimal in care...so will put that off for now.

 

[hasarad]

Got the Honda Shin-Etsu grease, so will be putting that to work first. Did check leather care instructions in the Honda manual, and they seemed rather minimal in care...so will put that off for now.

Thanks! Just ordered a tube in hopes of rejuvenating my 13yo, outside-kept Odyssey seals. My '99 Civic's had gone so bad that I had water intrusion to the point I had mushrooms growing on the rear-seat floorboards (literally). The was the last straw before I got rid of it.

 

[insightfully]

What is the recommended application frequency to treat the weather stripping? Does the tube offer any guidance on frequency? It seems like that Shin-Etsu grease could last several cars and/or years of application (not a bad thing), but there's probably also a balance of "too much" vs "too little."

 

[tightywhitey]

I don’t hav3 leather I my car. However, I have always used lexol products on my leather...wallets, belts, car seats, etc.

 

[andrew28]

What is the recommended application frequency to treat the weather stripping? Does the tube offer any guidance on frequency? It seems like that Shin-Etsu grease could last several cars and/or years of application (not a bad thing), but there's probably also a balance of "too much" vs "too little."

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-4th-gen-2007-2017/866242-treat-your-door-seals-with-shin-etsu-grease-really-go-do-it-now.html

^Seems like a little goes a long way and one tube should last the lifetime of the car.

 

[hasarad]

What is the recommended application frequency to treat the weather stripping? Does the tube offer any guidance on frequency? It seems like that Shin-Etsu grease could last several cars and/or years of application (not a bad thing), but there's probably also a balance of "too much" vs "too little."

I did a little digging and found 1-2 times a year is optimal. Since I'm able to garage my Insight, I'll probably stick to once a year. As for my neglected 12yo Odyssey, I'll probably have to slather it a few times to "catch up," then do it twice a year after that.

 

[insightfully]

I did a little digging and found 1-2 times a year is optimal. Since I'm able to garage my Insight, I'll probably stick to once a year. As for my neglected 12yo Odyssey, I'll probably have to slather it a few times to "catch up," then do it twice a year after that.

Thanks! If I apply just once a year, I think choose to do so before winter to make the gaskets more pliable/flexible/sealing when the material contracts in colder temps.

 

[hasarad]

Thanks! If I apply just once a year, I think choose to do so before winter to make the gaskets more pliable/flexible/sealing when the material contracts in colder temps.

I think it'd be best to do it while temps are a little on the warmer side so it would penetrate a bit better. To your point, early fall sounds like a good time.

 

[elvin]

Normally I do a full clean on my cars twice a year (before spring road trips and before our fall road trips to prepare for winter).

That's a lot of weatherstripping and it took much longer (an hour?) than I expected for my first time today. I welcome tips to streamline the process to focus on what is most effective:

- exterior weatherstripping on the front windshield (sides and top edge) - this started to crumble and crack on my 2007 Civic, not sure if it contributed to noise though.
- doors: gasket on the inner side of the door, jamb (Primary) and there's a skirt on the door. there is also exterior seal on the top door edge (Secondary?)
- windows: did sides and top (Primary) avoided bottom felt seal for glass, but tried exterior bottom rubber edge (Secondary?)
- moonroof - did the gasket around the glass by sliding it open and also popping the top
- trunk - one gasket around the trunk opening, none on the lid - probably has secondary impact on noise since it's on the back and not directly next to open cabin. additional seal at the bottom of the rear windshield.

 

[hasarad]

Normally I do a full clean on my cars twice a year (before spring road trips and before our fall road trips to prepare for winter).

That's a lot of weatherstripping and it took much longer (an hour?) than I expected for my first time today. I welcome tips to streamline the process to focus on what is most effective:

- exterior weatherstripping on the front windshield (sides and top edge) - this started to crumble and crack on my 2007 Civic, not sure if it contributed to noise though.
- doors: gasket on the inner side of the door, jamb (Primary) and there's a skirt on the door. there is also exterior seal on the top door edge (Secondary?)
- windows: did sides and top (Primary) avoided bottom felt seal for glass, but tried exterior bottom rubber edge (Secondary?)
- moonroof - did the gasket around the glass by sliding it open and also popping the top
- trunk - one gasket around the trunk opening, none on the lid - probably has secondary impact on noise since it's on the back and not directly next to open cabin. additional seal at the bottom of the rear windshield.

How difficult is it to do the power window seals and avoid getting any on the glass while getting all of the gasket? Mine shows up today, and I'm anticipating treating the car this weekend.

Thanks for the rundown. In my mind, I was only thinking about gaskets on movable surfaces. Apparently there are more. Now I need to take a look under the hood and see what's required there. I know there are at least two "foamy" pieces on the fenders as well as the air intake.

 

[elvin]

How difficult is it to do the power window seals and avoid getting any on the glass while getting all of the gasket? Mine shows up today, and I'm anticipating treating the car this weekend.

Thanks for the rundown. In my mind, I was only thinking about gaskets on movable surfaces. Apparently there are more. Now I need to take a look under the hood and see what's required there. I know there are at least two "foamy" pieces on the fenders as well as the air intake.

Windows stayed generally clean on day two, particularly since there's not much stripping on the bottom edge of the window except a small strip on the outside. So greasing only the sides and the top minimizes the amount that'll get on the glass and be spread around. I did find some on one of the rear windows (doesn't lower entirely) but it came off easily wiping with a tissue the day after when I saw it and it was relatively dry.

Have not thought about any stripping around the hood at all given that I figure there's little contribution to noise in the cabin.

What I forgot off the list is that I greased the rails/channels on the sides of the roof above the doors. Yeah probably has little role in noise damping, but it was easily done.

The grease does make any vinyl/rubber pieces clean and black again. Driving around with the windows up today, I suspect a placebo effect of thinking the car was quieter when I could barely hear the bass-thumping of the windows-open SUV next to me.

 

[elvin]

- doors: gasket on the inner side of the door, jamb (Primary) and there's a skirt on the door. there is also exterior seal on the top door edge (Secondary?)

One thing that does slow things down is trying to grease all sides of the gasket which requires multiple passes. The skirt underneath the doors has three different channels. I was kinda sensitive to not be too forceful about gaskets or the skirts for fear of tearing any of them.

 

[4star]

Shin Estu Silicone Grease

I went to my local Honda dealer this morning to pick up a tube of grease that I had ordered yesterday. Don't know if anyone else has applied it to the rubber gaskets but it is a pretty straight forward affair. I used a thin latex glove that I was wearing and put the smallest amount on my thumb and rubbed it against my first finger and then went back and forth doing both sides on the rubber at the same time. I did all the door gaskets, trunk, hood and sun roof in about 2 hours. The trick is to use it very sparingly and not get it on any chrome, glass or paint. I ended up getting trace amounts on all three but it comes off with a little bit of rubbing.:grin: