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Applying WD40

StuH

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Superb Estate 3.6 V6
With the wet weather and my car standing still for a few days at a time I thought it might be an idea to give the electrics a dose of WD40 but what do I actually treat?
 
A few months ago, after a load of rain in summer, my Accord refused to start one morning. I just had zero current - it was dead. I checked the battery terminals and they were covered in dirt, so I disconnected them, sanded them down gently with fine sandpaper and instead of using WD40, put a dollop of Vaseline over each terminal. No problems since.

In terms of treating the rest of the elecrics, you could squirt some WD40 on each end of the HT leads plus any earthing straps in the engine bay.
 
I wouldn't bother. Car electrics are very well sealed nowadays, particularly if it's stood still! As benw123 says, cleaning battery terminals and covering them with vaseline and making sure earths are clean and tight would be more beneficial.
 
I've heard vaseline warms up, turns to liquid and runs off the terminals, meaning a mess and lack of insulation. I used full on proper Castrol grease on mine. Looks fugly but there ain't no corrosion getting in that's for sure ;) .
 
Don't forget, WD40 is sticky, so it attracts dirt and dust, which then absorbs water so you end up with a damp layer of dirt on the electrics you were trying to protect.
 
Don't spray WD40 onto the high voltage electrics until you actually have a dampness problem causing a no-start condition. And don't waste it on the low voltage electrics.
 
Yep, go with proper products for electrics or electronics.
There are both cleaning and anti rust/corrosion products with conductive properties that ***ure the best results.
 
Yep, go with proper products for electrics or electronics.
There are both cleaning and anti rust/corrosion products with conductive properties that ***ure the best results.
...don't use anything with conductive properties near the high voltage electrics (e.g. on the plug leads) unless you want to stop your engine running!
 
Do they? In which case, ***uming they go straight onto the plugs, then there's no point in spraying anything electrical... job done and money saved!

My old '96 Vectra GSi had coil packs that weren't close coupled, so still had plug leads. Had to daub that coil pack with vaseline because of all the cracks!
 
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