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an FYI about dielectric grease and electrical components
considering the FC harnesses are usually the worst condition of all the vehicles i see i have seen many people do different things with the harnesses to try and buy more time from them.
one thing people have tried is dielectric grease on various electrical component connections. this is NOT a good idea! dielectric grease or "tune up grease" as you may find in auto parts stores is ONLY meant for high voltage connections such as spark plug wires, that is about the only place it belongs on a car. using it on electrical connections, eventually you may as well pitch the harness into the garbage.. it's almost impossible to get the stuff out once it's in there, dielectric grease does not conduct electricity very well and will in fact cause resistance issues and eventually failed connections. the best thing to do for connections is to clean and dry them with cleaners like brake cleaner or carburetor cleaner and compressed air. a nice dry solid and sealed connection is about the best you can hope for. any other electrical connector grease compounds are not easy to locate so dry and clean is your best bet. don't let the name fool you(just put the first 3 letters together and think about it) or let the store clerks tell you otherwise, they're not the ones who have to deal with the aftermath of diagnosing intermittent issues or replacement parts aside from grabbing them off the shelf and ringing them up for you. in fact it's meant as a voltage inhibitor, to keep the spark from leaking out of the spark plug boots and to also keep them lubricated for easy removal. also seen people use it for the contacts on the notoriously bad window switches, it's at least easy to clean off in there but if you really like tearing the switches apart regularly then go for it. :) |
Yep. If it's weather-tightness you're looking for, get some weatherpack connectors and start hacking your harness up, replacing each one. Once dielectric grease dries, it forms a chalky white residue that becomes a mess to clean up.
On the other hand, it lubricates the rubber seal on weather tight connectors wonderfully. :nod: |
Originally Posted by Karack
(Post 10895971)
considering the FC harnesses are usually the worst condition of all the vehicles i see i have seen many people do different things with the harnesses to try and buy more time from them.
one thing people have tried is dielectric grease on various electrical component connections. this is NOT a good idea! dielectric grease or "tune up grease" as you may find in auto parts stores is ONLY meant for high voltage connections such as spark plug wires, that is about the only place it belongs on a car. using it on electrical connections, eventually you may as well pitch the harness into the garbage.. it's almost impossible to get the stuff out once it's in there, dielectric grease does not conduct electricity very well and will in fact cause resistance issues and eventually failed connections. the best thing to do for connections is to clean and dry them with cleaners like brake cleaner or carburetor cleaner and compressed air. a nice dry solid and sealed connection is about the best you can hope for. any other electrical connector grease compounds are not easy to locate so dry and clean is your best bet. don't let the name fool you(just put the first 3 letters together and think about it) or let the store clerks tell you otherwise, they're not the ones who have to deal with the aftermath of diagnosing intermittent issues or replacement parts aside from grabbing them off the shelf and ringing them up for you. in fact it's meant as a voltage inhibitor, to keep the spark from leaking out of the spark plug boots and to also keep them lubricated for easy removal. also seen people use it for the contacts on the notoriously bad window switches, it's at least easy to clean off in there but if you really like tearing the switches apart regularly then go for it. :) You're correct, Dielectric grease is an insulator, and a non- conductor. Just pumping it into already bad connections is a bad idea, and using it on contacts is a bad idea as well. Why are you opposed to pumping it into connectors after they've been cleaned with an electronics cleaner? It will insulate the clean connection, and keep garbage and corrosion out. You're talking about just cleaning up conenctions, plugging them back together and leaving them. How is that so much better? Over time they will still get crap in them, and the resistance will go up either way. They'll just get tarnished and corrode again. I don't see anything wrong with cleaning connections, and then insulating them with dielectric grease. People do much worse things like using crimp on connectors, and those squeeze on splice type. |
Well, of course I'm going to argue that. :) When used properly, dielectric grease will do a great job of keeping moisture out of open connections. Typically the sealed connections don't need a load of it so I just put a bit on the rubber seal to lubricate it. But applied to a non sealed connection like a spade connector, it does a great job. Of course the connector needs to be cleaned and free of corrosion first, otherwise you're just sealing the nasty in. Once the connector is in place the grease will be squeezed out of the areas of metal to metal contact and seal them up tight.
I've been using dielectric grease on all my connections for over 12 years and not had an issue. The metal and wires at all my connections look as good as the day they were assembled with no signs (such as heat discolouration) of high resistance. I use Permatex dielectric grease and they even specify it on electrical connections: http://www.permatex.com/products/Aut...p_Grease_1.htm A great non-automotive example of how well it works are my outdoor Christmas lights. 5 years ago I was sick of dealing with 5-8 corroded sockets every year, so I greased up the base of every bulb. There hasn't been a corrosion related failure since. |
Originally Posted by Aaron Cake
(Post 10896040)
Well, of course I'm going to argue that. :) When used properly, dielectric grease will do a great job of keeping moisture out of open connections. Typically the sealed connections don't need a load of it so I just put a bit on the rubber seal to lubricate it. But applied to a non sealed connection like a spade connector, it does a great job. Of course the connector needs to be cleaned and free of corrosion first, otherwise you're just sealing the nasty in. Once the connector is in place the grease will be squeezed out of the areas of metal to metal contact and seal them up tight.
I've been using dielectric grease on all my connections for over 12 years and not had an issue. The metal and wires at all my connections look as good as the day they were assembled with no signs (such as heat discolouration) of high resistance. I use Permatex dielectric grease and they even specify it on electrical connections: http://www.permatex.com/products/Aut...p_Grease_1.htm It's not the chalky white stuff. |
Originally Posted by Aaron Cake
(Post 10896040)
A great non-automotive example of how well it works are my outdoor Christmas lights.
Works exceptionally well in the running lights. |
well then in most all cases it was used improperly. the grease is not conductive and will not repair bad connections. properly cleaning the wiring harnesses is virtually impossible to disassemble the connections and i'm not sure i would trust electrical cleaner to do the job properly.
almost always it was used on crappy dirty electrical cavities and slapped together, doing more harm than good. the tension on most of the pins in the harnesses are already marginal at best. |
What's the grease the factory puts in newer car wiring? My '98 Honda has grease in the wiring connections from the factory.
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Your honda probably has weathertight connections, so probably dielectric grease. I'm not saying it's a terrible thing to use, and I don't think that's what Karack's saying either. I've seen the same thing he's talking about, numerous times. Dielectric grease on the connections inside the Rx7's non-sealed connectors dries up and turns to chalk and makes for very poor connections, especially if they're not tight in the first place. When done properly, it does prevent corrosion. But let's face it, everyone thinks they're a mechanic and does some dumb shit, especially when it comes to wiring. Then it's up to someone like Karack to fix it (because I never really saw many old cars come my way at the shop). The only way to really fix corrosion issues somewhat permanently is, like I said earlier, with weather-tight connections. That's why when I installed my Megasquirt, every connector got replaced with something that doesn't suck.
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I was just thinking about this today...
I pulled apart my ignition switch today because it's been getting worse when trying to start the car. I'd have to jiggle it to get the pump to prime (aftermarket computer). It started this morning, then immediately died because the pump never stayed running when I released the key from "start" to "on". After pulling it open I saw there was grimy black grease inside, and the copper contacts were glazed over with what probably the hardened/baked grease. I used a dremel and a fine paint striping bit to clean off the copper. It came out looking super shiny. I reassembled and had no problems with the switch. However, I did not have, thus not use, any grease inside the switch. Should I have? It looks pretty sealed. |
That may have been graphite lube.
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What about a small WD40 touch up on clean connectors befor putting back in.
Had the problems on my H4 Headlights, PO pulled the bulbs and did not reinstall connector properly, so guess what ? Connector melted leaving me with only 1 light at a dark mountain road ... Brought it to the shop (had no crimping tools and no new connectors to crimp on) guess what they did ? cut the harness 4 cm from the connector and installed an used pair of H4 with spade connectors, filling the 3 H4 pins with dielectrical grease ... *facepalm* What a mess... Thats a triple FAIL ! |
I've always used d grease on clean connections with success. I would never put it over an old connection though.
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+1. I made a mistake putting dialectic grease on a power window switch.
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