White Lithium Grease: Safe for?

[JimW]

Antenna masts?

Mine is getting a bit dry and got stuck this morning. The antenna motor sounds ok, and it needed a bit of help to come up. Once it was up it was fine, but I figure some lubrication was in order.

I picked up some...in stick form (pencil style application) and tube form. Any experience? I figure it should be safe for the sunroof rails as well, but should it be cleaned first and with what? Same goes for the antenna mast, I dont want to wet it cuz it will freeze, but what can I do to clean it before applying the grease?

Thanks for any insights!

[erw38]

Before applying the grease you can use some 409, rubbing alcohol or just soap and water to clean the dust out. I wouldn't think that lithium greese could be bad for the antenna mast or sunroof rails or anything (not the door locks). Just don't get it into the electrical components.

Make sure that no water based additives gets in there. Water might freeze (esp. in that country called Canada) and blow the whole thing up Lithium greese freezes at like -40 deg F (you Canadians can convert that into deg C) so I think you will be fine with that.

[JimW]

Thanx er! I will keep all of that in mind, rubbing alchol sounds like a good idea.

[dred98]

My owner's manual says a clean cloth with some "mineral spirits" or equivalent solvent to clean it.
It also says - in bold type - "Don't lubricate the power antenna. Lubrication could damage it."

[JimW]

Interesing....mineral spirits eh?

Someone wanna decipher wtf a mineral spirit is? like Perrier Water?, it looks, feels and sounds like my antenna needs lubrication.

[SupaStealth]

JimW said:

Interesing....mineral spirits eh?

Someone wanna decipher wtf a mineral spirit is?

lol, it's often used to thin paint or remove paint. it's good for cleaning things, pretty much like using gasoline or rubbing alchohol to clean stuff.

[JimW]

Rubbing alcohol is what I will use, but can I used the lithium grease for the moonroof? (I thought I read somewhere that it was recommended for it)

[Isnibs]

I cleaned my antenna some time ago and put the smallest amount of 3 in 1 oil on it.
It has never worked since

[JimW]

Sounds like a no win situation....it needs something to work smoothly, but any application of anything and it dies...wtf

I'm goin along with Scotty and looking for an interior antenna idea...heh or keep looking at something else *coughtouchscreencough*

[Aurora40]

Mineral spirits are a solvent. You can buy them in a hardware store in a metal canister.

What would you use it for in the sunroof? I'm not really sure what white lithium grease is. What does the service manual say to use on the sunroof?

I used to wipe my power antennae on the 'vette with WD-40, but I just sprayed a light amount on a cloth and wiped the antennae. I didn't spray the antennae or let it run. But I'd follow the manual's suggestion.

[JimW]

I think I will leave the antenna alone, but its warmed up a bit lately and everything seems fine now (this car is weird for that kinda thing), as for the sunroof, I'll wait til spring to lubricate it, but it looks pretty dry in there.

thanks for the insights folks!

[Custom88]

I used white lithium grease on my sunroof a few months ago and it only made a little bit of a difference. It isn't what they used from the factory for sure because from the factory you can't see the grease, but white lithium grease is just that. White. You can see it a lot from above the car as it doesn't become clear, or become darker to blend in with the tracks of the sunroof. There has to be another type of grease more appropriate for use on the sunroof.