Lubricant for wiring harness ?

Traveler74

New member
I had a devil of a time removing the 3 wire pig tail from the alternator and I don't want to go through that ever again. Is there a lubricant that I can spay on a wiring harness that will assist in removing it from its nearly frozen on position ? Maybe something I can spray on ahead of time so it has time to penetrate before I attempt to remove it ?
 
Register to hide this ad
Deoxit is a good product too. It cleans terminals and leaves a lubricant behind. I’ve never tried it specifically to “break loose” connectors but it may help.
 
I was thinking in terms of some sort of spray that would seep into the wiring harness which would , hopefully make it easier to pull out.
 
I think all the underhood road grime is what makes it difficult. Mine was the same way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've always just used plain old WD40 on my wiring harnesses and stuck on vacuum hoses. This cleans crap out well, makes them slippery enough to pull off easily, and is non-conductive. It probably leaves enough residue that it just collects dust and recreates the problem the next time I need to get to them, but then I just spray them down again.

Anything that is permanently lubricating will collect dust if it's open to the elements and just turn into a grimy crud trap, so you just needs something to cut through it.
 
Deoxit is a good product too. It cleans terminals and leaves a lubricant behind. I’ve never tried it specifically to “break loose” connectors but it may help.
DeOxit spray. Specifically for electrics. Let it soak, work the connector in and out, then blow out any excess before any sparking/arcing might occur. Good for stiff household electric plugs/sockets. It must be good because it costs a lot.
 
I never used fluid flim as a wire lubricant or oxidation barrier on wire. The connections get dielectric grease for connectivity and keeping the oxidation out.

Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk

Dielectric grease is good for protecting connections from oxidation an keeping them lubricated so they will come apart, but it does not conduct electricity so should not be applied directly to contacts. Terminal grease, like in the old Ford light sockets is conductive. I started using Fluid Film in the early 90's while working on a commercial fishing boat, you used to have to order it through the mail from a distributor back then. I use it on everything.
 
Dielectric grease is good for protecting connections from oxidation an keeping them lubricated so they will come apart, but it does not conduct electricity so should not be applied directly to contacts. Terminal grease, like in the old Ford light sockets is conductive. I started using Fluid Film in the early 90's while working on a commercial fishing boat, you used to have to order it through the mail from a distributor back then. I use it on everything.

You should never use a conductive grease in a connector. At least not any connector that is more than a basic 2 wire connector which does nothing but provide power (Even then I would be very wary of doing so). Otherwise it's a great way to create all sorts of problems. If you use conductive grease, you are essentially connecting all of the wires which run into that connector. Imagine what that would do to a sensor connector for instance which now instead of seeing a changing voltage based on what is happening with the sensor simply sees a constant voltage because you have connected the power feed back to the wire sending a signal back to the ECU.
 
Wow. Someone reading this thread is going to be more confused then when they started. I am going to add my own thoughts just to make things worse. A lot of good products are mentioned, but they have to be used the right way and a lot of time these posts don't explain that.

First, nine times out of ten the connector is not stuck, you just haven't succeeded in disengaging which ever diabolical locking device Toyota engineers installed on that plug. This is not a shot at anybody...I am talking about my own experience. Make sure you are doing it right, and not trying to separate something that is really one piece. Go get the right tool you were too lazy to look for at the beginning and really squeeze that locking thing and don't get blocked by any ridges on the side and try again also using the right tool to separate at the same time. Get help if you need it. Sometimes it just takes three hands. Usually, it will amaze you by how it flies apart when you find the secret.

If it really is stuck, (rare) I will use a penetrant like PBBlaster to help get it apart. Then, clean the contacts with DeOxit or CRC Contact cleaner or whatever and blow it out with compressed air. Do it again if it needs it. Then dielectric grease on top to protect it. Do not use conducting grease unless it is a ONE wire terminal, like a car battery. Then you can use Fluid film, Vaseline or terminal grease or whatever. I use Vaseline. Dielectric grease does not interfere with metal-to-metal connections. Don't listen to anyone who says different. I've been using it for forty years.
 
Last edited:

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
278,310
Messages
3,554,080
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Trending content

Back
Top