I dropped my tcase last night on my 2000 XJ. N231. I got the speedo connector undone no problem. When I dropped the tcase there was another wire connector on the top side, I am guessing for the 4x4 indicator lights on the dash. Well it looked like they had just been pulled from the california tar pits. They were completely douched in oil, road grime, etc... I got them apart, but they were disgusting. I am guessing that was why my dash indicator lights no longer work. What can I clean these with? I am worried that brake cleaner or similar will tear up the plastic or rubber. Any ideas?

 

You can buy electrical parts cleaner in a spray can. Works great too.

 

Yup this stuff is generally safe on plastics, it certainly is on automotive plastics. Ingredients-wise it's mostly heptane and isopropanol which are decent as solvents and not that bad for you in the short term. The "non-flammable" stuff I don't recommend as it's tetrachloroethelyne which is used in some dry cleaning operations. It works okay but it's not a very nice aerosol... fat soluble AND carcinogenic.

Get the bulk of the crap out with the cleaner, then scrub away with a nylon brush. If you can get at the pins/sockets try a brass wire brush. Hit it with the cleaner again to get any loose bits out and put a little dab of Gardner Bender OX-GARD on the actual pins and in the sockets. This stuff is a conductive grease used to improve connections and prevent corrosion between conductors. You can find it beside electrical tools at Home Depot - other places should have something similar as it's required to use between copper and aluminum in wiring. Smear some dielectric grease around the outside of the female plug to keep water from entering (don't get it in your pins though, it's not conductive). That will last you quite some time!