Club 80-90 Forums

Just a bit of advice really... based on what I have seen lately..

If you do any work on your suspension components, (or any other items under the van..) use a bit of lube when putting back together.. ie coppaslip.. especially if the bolts/nuts/washers/spacers are not really well plated or already show signs of corrosion.. (VW's original finishes are of good quality, cant be said for a lot of new stuff..) I generally give all of them a smear to help keep out the water regardless of how good the finish is...

Had a van in on Sat that should have been 3 hours work.. turned into an 11 hour day... it has only been apart 18 months ago but not a single bolt or component had been smeared with lube.. so everything was an utter pain to get apart... the level of corrosion on some bits was crazy...

Honestly.. a few mins and a bit of lube will save a shed load of time and grief later....

You do need to be careful not to over torque fixings though, which can lead to stripped threads or overstretched bolts. Copaslip/Molyslip or similar anti-seize will act as a grease on threads, and fixings with greased threads at any given torque can end up being done up much tighter than fixings with dry threads.

Does VW say anything anywhere about whether or not to use grease, oil or thread lock?

I always use copaslip on threads, even when advice is not to. But you need to be a bit careful torquing up and maybe check a bit more often. For me a classic one is wheel nuts/bolts. Most advice is to leave them dry and then some monkey in a garage put the airgun on full so that when your in the Highlands of Scotland in the pissin rain at 10.00 pm at night you can't loosen them. You may have guessed that's a true story. I have 'bikes as well any they often have steel or SS fixings into alie or magnesium alloy. That can be great fun after winter if you havn't lubed 'em.

...and don't muck about with an 85g tube of Copaslip, when a 500g tub is only twice the price and will last for YEARS.

To help keep moisture out of threads etc. always try to have a rattle-can of black wax underseal to hand, to re-coat the heads of fasteners etc that I've had apart.

I find copper grease washes off after a year or so under the van, I suppose some in still in the threads but it needs reapplying to exposed threads or I have been using vactan after it's washed off.

itchyfeet wrote:I find copper grease washes off after a year or so under the van, I suppose some in still in the threads but it needs reapplying to exposed threads or I have been using vactan after it's washed off.

Good tip that; I'll start using it. It's the exposed threads that suffer the most corosion after all.

Well.. I use "lube" on everything.. and just be sensible about torque.. never stripped a thread/broke owt/lost owt because of lube..
never had a problem with coppaslip washing off either.. and my trucm sees a lot of wet and dirt offroading.. everythj g so far has come undone even stuff that has t been touched for a few years..

wosrt offenders for rot and causeing issues are the antiroll bushes and sleeves.. mine always come apart nicely.. but just about every other vehicle I have worked on has rotten and seized on sleeves.. slap plenty on these and they can move about freely..

of course.. everyone has there own opinion. And this is just mine.. based on my experience..... but dont complain when a job takes 3 times as long and needs more parts if everything is rotten..

So whilst on the subject anyone able to complete / add to this list for me? I never remember!

Copper grease/ Copper slip: Metal against metal i.e. threads and bearings

KY lube / non petroleum or oil based grease: bushes and rubber

electrical connections: ????

Smosh wrote: electrical connections: ????

petroleum jelly/vaseline

Itchy taught me that Vaseline is ideal for electrical connections. Apparently, I should lube up liberally to prevent any loss of power in the future due to deterioration caused by being exposed to the elements..........took me a few minutes to script that, can't help myself when lube is mentioned!

The first sentence is true though.

Cheers Itchy!

what2d wrote:Itchy taught me that Vaseline is ideal for electrical connections. Apparently, I should lube up liberally to prevent any loss of power in the future due to deterioration caused by being exposed to the elements..........took me a few minutes to script that, can't help myself when lube is mentioned!

The first sentence is true though.

Itchy taught you that vaseline makes for a good connection. I bet that was a romantic evening

Smosh wrote:
electrical connections: ????

Silicone grease.

AdrianC wrote:...and don't muck about with an 85g tube of Copaslip, when a 500g tub is only twice the price and will last for YEARS.

Yup - I bought my tin in 1979, still two thirds full.