Drewjharper1900

Alright so i just put hood vents in my jeep and i want to put some grease on my TPS and IAC connections. I dont know much about di electric grease. Will regular grease work? I have a whole bottle laying around that i use for my BMX bike to lube bearings. Will this work or do i HAVE to use di electric?

Gee oh Dee

Dielectric grease is the one you want to use.

5-90

Do not use regular chassis grease.

Dielectric grease may be used, but bear in mind that it is an insulator. Only apply it to the silicone sealing boots (green or grey bit) for the housing, and use it sparingly so it doesn't wick down and disrupt the electrical connections

However, the "Weatherpack" style connections used on early models are very effective at sealing, and the later "Deustch" style connectors are quite effective as well (I have more experience with the Delphi Weatherpacks - they're easier to work with and assemble.) Neither is an Amphenol or CPC, but they're good at what they do.

You may find it more useful, however, to make a small aluminum baffle to cover the two units (loosely) instead - the problem with them getting wet isn't so much disrupting the electrical connection to the harness, but water getting into the unit itself - which isn't helped by using any sort of grease, sealant, or whatever (without interfering with the operation of the device.) Making a small "splash baffle" to keep water off of the unit as a whole will be more effective than applying any sort of sealant to a sealed electrical connection. It need not be tight-fitting, and you should be able to find screws you can use to mount the thing (or to mount an adapter bracket to to hold the thing down.)

Drewjharper1900

I REALLY like that idea!!! Thanks alot!

Marcucco

Dielectric grease is specifically made for electrical connections, but there is another option.
I live in New England, so there's lots of salt on the roads in the winter and an ocean just around the corner. Electrical stuff gets screwed up quick.
There's this stuff called Ox-Guard that I use on all the electrical connections in the car the truck and the boat. It's available anyplace that sells electric supplies (Home Despot, Lowes, Hardware store).
If you're worried about moisture causing corrosion in a connection, you want to go with this stuff. Small tubes are only a couple of bucks and it's more then enough to do everything on your truck and your buddy's.
The stuff keeps the water out permanently and doesn't effect the continuity of the connection.

I do try to keep the stuff off the rubber boots and paint. I don't know if it will harm them but why take the chance. I use a little artists paintbrush to apply it.

Use it on all your chassis grounds, coat the bolt, ring connector and the frame, Tighten it up and wipe off the excess. You'll never have a problem with that ground again.

It works great on spade connectors and butt connectors, squirt them full of it before you put the wires in and crimp them or click them together.

I use it on the battery terminals of all my vehicles, side and top posts.
It doesn't react with lead or zinc or batter acid.


However, it will not keep your plug wires from arcing out if they get wet.

5-90

Dielectric grease has insulating properties - which is what "dielectric" essentially means. Use it between insulators protecting electrical CNX.

Corrosion inhibitor is conductive. It's meant to protect single-wire CNX against corrosion (either galvanic or chemical,) but it is conductive, and therefore should not be used in multi-wire connections where it forms a "common pool" that the wires go through (if you can keep the stuff between wires from touching, you're fine. If you can't, you're going to get crosstalk and screw up something.)

As I said, Delphi Weatherpacks and Deustch connectors (and the newer Metri-Pack connectors) typically do not require sealant, as these connectors are already environmentally sealed against rain, splash, and even short-term outright immersion. If you want to enhance this, then apply dielectric grease evenly and sparingly to the silicone sealing boot on the half of the cnx that is inserted into the other, and leave it at that.

If it's an OEM CNX, it should have been properly assembled. If it's a CNX that you put together, make sure that you crimp it properly (the terminals have two sets of crimp wings on them - the smaller set gets crimped to the wire, and the larger set gets crimped to the insulation, over the small end of the silicone boot that gets slid onto the wire.) Also, make sure to use the proper crimp tool - the five-dollar generic crimp tool is not the one you want.

I've been working with this stuff for years - I can still remember when Weatherpacks came out... Dielectric grease and corrosion inhibitor? Use them constantly, buy them in pound cans.

However, I'll still stand by the idea of a splash guard being ultimately more useful for you than applying any sort of chemical sealant to the connectors.

4xXxJ

I'm having problems that seem to be caused by heavy rain (TPS codes primarily). My hood does have vents too. Can I use dielectric grease around where the TPS goes into the throttle body to try to seal this area better? When I removed my old TPS they was a little rust mark inside of the "wheel" part that turns inside of it where the tongs from the throttle rest. Is there another thing I could use that would be better to deal out moisture? Would electrical tape hold up?
Also, does anyone have any pics of splash guards they have crafted for inspiration??
I'm going through all the wiring and connections in my engine bay trying to solve my engine trouble and just weather proof in general.
Thanks!

4.3L XJ

Ox-Guard is great stuff. I salvaged my winch controller on my Warn winch connection with it. You have to use it sparingly though. Like applying it inside the female end with a tooth pick. I highly recommend this stuff for corroded connections. It contains a grit that makes connection with new metal when you plug the ends together. Sometimes you have to put them together a few times, but great stuff