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Dielectric grease or not?

9K views 18 replies 9 participants last post by  Luckymac 
#1 ·
My starter was not working, removed it and bench tested it, it is fine. Connectors were dirty, poor contact. I cleaned them off, but wondering if there is a benefit or drawback to using dielectric grease on the connections at terminals as well as between the starter and engine block. Opinions?
 
#4 ·
You're right! Waaay too much. I spot read the link.

I have been in the car business all my life and am now retired. Since I discovered dielectric grease about 40 years or so ago, I have used dielectric grease when re-connecting critical electrical connections on customer cars and on just about every electrical connection on my own vehicles.

After spot reading the links, I will continue to use it.


Don't get me started about Anti-Seize. I use it a lot too.

Good Luck, L.M.
 
#5 ·
Thanks guys!
 
#7 ·
That's an opinion... Nobody's anecdotal experiences are the end all of data. I, among many others, have had good experience with dielectric grease. You haven't. No problem, just don't go around calling people "fools" for a personal agenda.

Simply say you don't like the stuff and think it's bad, and that's it.
 
#8 ·
Simply said it is an electrical insulator and insulators don't just not promote conduction they inhibit it, which is why they are called electrical insulators. Now granted some insulators are more effective then others but an insulator is still an insulator


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#9 ·
Just a personal observation, I used to have a Ford F150, occasionally, when I turned on my left or right blinker, my windshield wipers would turn on, naturally, I Googled the problem.... I found out that the factory used the wrong grease for the contacts, it was recommended to clean out the old grease from the turn signal/wiper stalk and replace it with dielectric grease and it would cure the problem. So I did..... I cleaned out all of the grease from the electrical contacts on the turn signal/windshield wipe stalk and replaced it with dielectric grease..... no problems after that. Real world results, that worked.....it did not affect the electrical contacts, i.e. the turn signals and wipers still worked, but it removed the "short" that caused the wipers to turn on when I activated the turn signal. Bottom line: problem solved, because I used the correct dielectric grease.......
 
#10 ·
Ay caramba...the dielectric grease wars again.

Digger, I know how it feels to be the lone dissenter on issues trying to educate the masses.

To be fair, your position that you don't want to have an insulating agent smeared all over two surfaces that you want to make electrical contact is logical.

But...dielectric grease is the one exception to that logic. It was specifically designed to facilitate the proper contacting surfaces to penetrate the film while providing crucial corrosion inhibiting, lubricating, and moisture proofing to the rest of the connection.

As long as the connector contacts are not damaged in a way that they don't supply enough contact pressure, they can be slathered with as much as you want.

The factory doesn't slather their connectors unless absolutely necessary due to cost considerations, but do advise to use it in service situations.

It is doubly important to use it liberally on offroad vehicles for weatherproofing.

We understand your position. We really do.

But the fact is that dielectric grease isn't an insulator structurally, and wasn't designed to be one. It cant be easily used as an insulator. It was designed to be a NON-CONDUCTIVE corrosion inhibiting waterproof lubricant
 
#12 ·
Still a bad idea based on a major misconception it was not developed for electrical connections it was developed as a lubricant for use where you did not want electrical conduction

Like on the follower for points in a distributor or the boots of the spark plugs any other use is based on manically thinking and when your cluster developed a no bus connection your foolish use of a insulating lubricant on a low voltage friction fit connector will be a self inflected wound


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#13 · (Edited)
Nothing I have read in the above posts has made me want to change my mind.

Although my experience with dielectric grease can only be described as "anecdotal", it is nevertheless, my experience.
As stated above, I retired from the car business and don't recall any instance of dielectric grease ever causing a problem.

Digger44 is the first person that I can think of that has anything negative to say about the stuff. With over 7K posts he probably is quite knowledgeable but we can disagree on this point.

Ay carumba...Good Luck, L.M.
 
#15 ·
Well Digger84, do you have any recommendations of what to use to prevent water intrusion (and thus corrosion) on a persons electrical connections?
Solder and shrink tubing is ideal for permanent connections but what do you suggest for plugs and light bulb sockets?

Good Luck, L.M.
 
#16 ·
I have yet to ever find a factory connection with any grease of any kind spread on the contacts

Just this weekend I picked up a couple BCMs off WJ and neither the connectors nor the pins from the fuse/relay junction box to the BCM had and greasy residue of any kind

If it was such a Jim dandy idea the oem plugs would have it

It is fine on the gaskets on the connectors with gaskets and on the insulator to rubber boot connection of the spark plugs but that's it besides the follower if you have points otherwise I see no need

Although the EE who worked at electric boat said the one type of connection they used it on in the Nuke submarines was on the outside of large high voltage cables tightly clamped together with bolt tightened clamps where exposure to sea water was anticipated so only miniature replica your jeep has of that is primary battery cable connections and maybe winch but they are still much smaller and lower voltage without sea water exposure


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#17 ·
I see your point... Yet in day one of engineering class we learned that the best method wasn't always the most practical. Putting dielectric grease on every connection on the assembly line is another step. Aside from the obvious materials cost, it is a lot of small labor time that adds up.

In addition, you can get a worker that may put too much on it and actually cause a problem, like you mentioned. I remember Milemarker winches having a problem where there was so much grease in the gearbox that it actually jammed up the free spool.

Why weren't our frames under coated? Why didn't they put antiseize on the bolts? Same reason. The benefit is not worth the cost and risk. Now for someone working on the vehicle, extra steps will make things easier in the long run.
 
#18 ·
I do know a couple places with electrical contacts in cars where they do use dielectric grease but it is for lubrication and chosen to insure no cross conduction via the grease

In multifunction switches and in some windshield wiper motor park switch contacts

I know they did a recall on first couple months of the 1984 300zx multifunction switch because of early failures related to use of corrosive grease

Unfortunately even the replacements with non corrosive grease typically failed after a few years as the headlight current was just too much for long term use of the contacts despite or maybe compounded by the resistance of the dielectric grease

The solution I found that solved it for me was adding Nissan relays so only relay closing current went thru the switch contacts

The relays had no sliding contacts so no dielectric grease was needed

Additionally given that oxygen and silicon are the two most common elements on earth and gold is rare and expensive if dielectric grease was really a non problematic contact corrosion inhibitor there would be a lot less gold plated contacts in the electronic industry starting with high end audio connections


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#19 ·
Digger84, are you denying any benefit from using dielectric grease or are you claiming that problems may arise from the use of it?

If you are claiming that problems may arise from the use of dielectric grease, please provide some evidence other than anecdotal.

I don't view this as an argument, rather I view this as a technical discussion between knowledgeable professionals.
I want my Jeep to last as long as possible and be as trouble free as can be for that time. If you can show me that using dielectric grease can possibly cause harm to my Jeep, I am open to reviewing whatever you can provide and continuing this exciting discussion.

Good Luck, L.M.
 
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