How to Repair falling headliner

micah · Post by **micah** » 26 Jun 2016, 07:39

I recently purchased a 2005 S40. After driving on the highway with the windows open, the headliner started to come down behind the rear passenger seat on the driver’s side. The cloth is separating from the foam above. I have thought of using a spray adhesive or some rubber cement to re-attach the liner. I’m looking for your suggestions or recommendations on how to re-attach the liner. What has or has not worked? Thanks for your help

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 27 Jun 2016, 02:05

micah, I have moved your thread to the correct forum (S40 2004 1/2+)

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 27 Jun 2016, 02:14

I really don't know the conclusive answer with lasting results except to take it out and completely recover it. You would have thought that after the early 850 headliner fiasco where Volvo used an environmentally safe glue they would have improved on this by now. Anyway, here is a thread on another forum where there is discussion and some conclusions about what can be done about it: http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread ... dliner-Sag Btw, my son pinned his 850 headliner up for a long, long time with thumbtacks.

If you opt for the actual replacement (taking out the headliner), here is a write-up for doing that on your car: http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?145397

Post by **alschnertz** » 27 Jun 2016, 14:39

With due respect to MadeInJapan, headliner failures started before the 850.
I know because I had to replace the one in my '86 745T. It is a PITA job.
I'm happy I did it because it came out great, but oh what a PITA job.

It's funny that this was posted today. I took a trip today and the headliner on my '01 S40 started to fall down.
Ugh, another one to do. Did I mention it is a PITA job?

difflock54 · Post by **difflock54** » 28 Jun 2016, 03:12

As long as vehicle manufacturers persist with using head linings that are glued to a thin layer of foam rubber this problem will continue to occur. It is common knowledge that foam rubber perishes and turns to a powder as it ages.
Another example of it is waffle type foam rubber carpet underlay.Evidence of it's failure is when the carpet starts to appear stretched and loose over the flooring.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 28 Jun 2016, 08:49

I had some '05 V70 A-pillars that are covered with cloth (same stuff as the head liner...I had no luck dealing with these until I took them off and used 2 sided heavy duty 3M tape on them around the edges...to get the cloth to further adhere, I ironed the pillars with a clothes iron- on a pretty high setting and that seemed to compact the foam and help a great deal. With that in mind, I'm wondering if spot ironing the roof lining from below would compact that silly foam enough to actually use the spray adhesive with success? My previous attempts at the spray adhesive was that was messy- created greasy looking spots on the material and never held because all it was doing was being absorbed by the spongy stuff that was between the headliner and the roof.

Post by **alschnertz** » 28 Jun 2016, 14:58

MadeInJapan wrote:I'm wondering if spot ironing the roof lining from below would compact that silly foam enough to actually use the spray adhesive with success? My previous attempts at the spray adhesive was that was messy- created greasy looking spots on the material and never held because all it was doing was being absorbed by the spongy stuff that was between the headliner and the roof.

I think once the fabric has become delaminated, it's virtually impossible to "re-stick" it with spray adhesive. Maybe it will last for a little while, but most likely, it's not a long term fix. And as you mention, the glued areas will probably bleed through.

I'll eventually do the S40, but I'm not looking forward to it and will let it go for now. The 745 had way fewer contours to go around.

I have to look into how the sunroof panel is removed. That's the most annoying one right now because the headliner is almost resting on my head. If the sunroof panel is easy enough to remove, I may just pull it, remove the fabric, paint the remainder grey and reinstall. That may get me by for a while, but I'll cringe every time I look at it.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 28 Jun 2016, 23:39

In the meantime, thumbtacks may work to get it off of your head!

Post by **alschnertz** » 29 Jun 2016, 14:24

Thanks. I saw you post that and may give it a try for a quick fix.
Did your son put anything on the thumbtacks to keep them in - like a glue or something?
Maybe bent over the point?

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 29 Jun 2016, 21:30

No glue or bending- actually, he used the ones that may be called "push pins" that normally you see in bulletin boards at a school...they have a plastic tab on them...he used whatever he had on hand. They stayed in for the most part too but if you see them slipping out, bending them a bit or some glue might not be a bad idea.