Silicon Dielectric Grease - Smoother running, more responsive & less smokey TDI!!

beefy

Active Member
Oct 28, 2006
114
0
I managed to find a shop in my local town who stock it, although they had sold out. They are ordering some for me. It is just a standard electrical store. I tried halfords, a shop which sells spares for cars and another large store which must have sold every type of grease under the sun except silicone dielectric grease.

Some guy on TDICLUB also stuck it in the freezer overnight so we know its winterproof too

I think it works in any weather condition from -70f to 400f.

So unless u plan on driving round the north pole or adding a jet engine and some wings to fly to the sun you should be ok using this stuff :rolleyes:
 

OLDOILER

Full Member
Jul 28, 2005
1,292
1
Wiltshire, UK
Let me start by saying i wasnt experiencing any real bad problems, i had noticed my car had got a bit laggy which was annoying, but otherwise it was tip top.

well, i bought the tube of stuff from maplins on sunday :-

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=DIELETRIC GREASE&ModuleNo=29006&doy=30m10

in a 50g tube. Cleaned the car and applied last night by putting in the female part of the connectorand plugging and unplugging a few times then refilling and finally plugging back in.

The results.....
A good improvement in the laggy problem, seems to have reduced it nicely in 2nd and 3rd, quite noticable.

Otherwise, performance etc all seem to be the same.

So another happy customer here :)[/QUOTE

Dow Corning also do dielectric grease part no. DC4 also known as MS4 @about £8.50 for a BIG tube
Buck and Hickman/Farnell do it for £3.70 part No. 537019 - unless you work in the aircraft/military business then its FOC!
 
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mafplugko8.jpg


Sorry for the photo quality but it was taken for different purpose.

If I understood the instruction properly, you just needt to unplug the plug and put some grease in it, then pulg & unplug it several times, adding the grease.
 

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Yes I know :), the photo was taken while installing FMIC and this was just a try how to fit the pipes ;) I didn't have any other suitable for the topic.
 

redcupratdi

Offical SCN Pole Dancer
Oct 13, 2005
755
0
cambridge
okay quick guide:

Firstly locate your MAF

STA70003Small.jpg


then push the underside of the plug in and pull plug toward you

picture of underside of MAF plug

STA70007Small.jpg


then put 5 small blobs of silicon grease on

STA70005Small.jpg


then insert back in and out i few time reapplying grease again on final push.

STA70010Small.jpg


job done!! go for a drive and feel the smoothness..

Hope this helps
 

craig-pd130

Full Member
May 7, 2003
353
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Manchester
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Sorry to be daft here ..... but if dielectric grease does not conduct, won't that affect the electrical signals across the connectors?


(I apply Caig Deoxit contact enhancer on my MAF & MAP every few months and get the benefits noted above -- I just wondered why it also works, electrically speaking, with a non-conducting grease)
 

EdButler

Full Member
Apr 24, 2005
713
1
Sheffield
It stops arcing (electrons jumping through the air from one conductor to another)

For example, if the entire earth was covered in a metre of di-electric grease, lightning would never strike the ground. The maf connector works in a similar way. There will be hundreds of these tiny sparks when the connector is no making a perfect contact. The grease stops this so the electrons flow though only the points that are touching each other correctly!
 

slick

Bit of an animal
Mar 15, 2005
1,124
0
Essex
Couldnt have said it better Ed..... except the one metre of grease all over the earth... thats just silly!! LOL
 

muddyboots

Still hanging around
Oct 16, 2002
5,739
1
Ed

I know you were as sceptical about this as I am (grease hasn't arrived yet :rolleyes: ) but the huge number of good reports means there is obviously something in this mod.

BUT I can't see how a system running only at 12-14v can suffer from arcing...surely you'd need a much higher voltage to force current across an air gap...?

I wonder if it's more a case that plugging/unplugging the connector cleans up corroded contacts and gives a more stable connection, and the grease just prevents them from getting corroded again. What do you reckon ?
 

EdButler

Full Member
Apr 24, 2005
713
1
Sheffield
Muddy your correct that cleaning the contacts will be very helpful, however arcing happens on the microscopic scale of connected metals - this is how simple push toggle switches need de-bouncing circuits, as when you press it, the arcing of the connections throw the switch literally hundreds of times before you have fully depressed the button, the first spark starts to ionise the air and makes the contacts more prone to arcing also.

This happens to all voltage devices, and with our MAF's having a plug, this means there is no direct path for the current to go. There will be millions of nano-metre gaps between the copper and the grease prevents those being used.

The MAF measures air pressure by a system of cooling. A constant voltage is applied to the element - as the air cools the element, the resistance decreases and current increases. The ECU reads this current change. If there are ANY slight deviations in electron flow, the voltage will fluctuate and will corrupt the ECU's findings of what is really going on. :D
 

wrc

Full Member
May 1, 2005
168
0
TAMWORTH
ordered my grease the day before yesterday & it arrived today, put the grease in & there is a vast inprovement, need to take it for a longer run.

very happy.:D :D :D :D
 

muddyboots

Still hanging around
Oct 16, 2002
5,739
1
Muddy your correct that cleaning the contacts will be very helpful, however arcing happens on the microscopic scale of connected metals - this is how simple push toggle switches need de-bouncing circuits, as when you press it, the arcing of the connections throw the switch literally hundreds of times before you have fully depressed the button, the first spark starts to ionise the air and makes the contacts more prone to arcing also.

This happens to all voltage devices, and with our MAF's having a plug, this means there is no direct path for the current to go. There will be millions of nano-metre gaps between the copper and the grease prevents those being used.

The MAF measures air pressure by a system of cooling. A constant voltage is applied to the element - as the air cools the element, the resistance decreases and current increases. The ECU reads this current change. If there are ANY slight deviations in electron flow, the voltage will fluctuate and will corrupt the ECU's findings of what is really going on. :D
:worship:
 

BeezerDiesel

Minus a Diesel Beezer
Aug 3, 2002
1,852
0
Exeter
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Darn, after all these good reports you lot have got me on the trail of some of the stuff.....and I don't even think I've got a problem to start with!
I asked the engineers at work and they don't have any so bang goes my hopes of a freebie, gonna have to order some now.
 

craig-pd130

Full Member
May 7, 2003
353
0
Manchester
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I remember reading somewhere (can't find it now of course) that on switch off the ECU puts a high current through the MAF wires to heat them up and remove residues and moisture .... but I'm not 100% on this.
 
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