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

craig-pd130

Full Member
May 7, 2003
353
0
Manchester
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I've used Caig Deoxit contact cleaner & conditioner with the same results -- cleans the connector terminals and leaves a trace of a conductive material to reduce rubbing & potential arcing.

You can order it from lots of places online and it works wonders with hifi gear too :D
 

sssstew

Editing your spelling
How do you remove the connector? Does it just pull off? I tried wiggling mine but it didn't seem to want to come off - I don't want to pull it too hard in case I break it.

i think on the PDs the clip is on the underside, but on my one there is a small clip on one side which you need to lever with a screw driver to release it then it will just slide off.

ive noticed mine is a bit laggy at the moment, so im hopefully going to try this over the weekend, will report back.
 

dmjw01

Upstanding Member
Jul 28, 2005
442
0
Woking, UK
www.dmjwilliams.co.uk
Thanks folks! Indeed, there's a clip on the underside of mine - a little tab that you have to pull back (away from the MAF sensor itself), but the tab is quite tricky to locate with your fingers when you can't see what you're doing. It's easy once you've learnt to feel for it.

Also, I hadn't realised that it's the whole thing that disconnects - about 2 inches or so - rather than just the end bit. In fact there's barely enough slack on the cable to allow you to pull the connector far enough back to remove it.

I've squirted some contact cleaner and plugged it in and out a few times. No change yet, but I await the arrival of the grease!

By the way, on TDIclub lots of people say you should really fill up the female part of the connector with grease so that you exclude air completely.
 

redcupratdi

Offical SCN Pole Dancer
Oct 13, 2005
755
0
cambridge
put some on mine!! and WOW!!

ed it's true one turn of the engine it starts! usually 2-3 on mornings


and my god driving back it was soo smooth usually has hesitation on some points on rev range

and the smoke levels have gone tried it in 5th my soot gear and it was reduced to near nothing..the pick up was improved and the engine felt miles better completely different to the engine i drove to work last night.

highly recommended... :)
 

EdButler

Full Member
Apr 24, 2005
713
1
Sheffield
put some on mine!! and WOW!!

ed it's true one turn of the engine it starts! usually 2-3 on mornings


and my god driving back it was soo smooth usually has hesitation on some points on rev range

and the smoke levels have gone tried it in 5th my soot gear and it was reduced to near nothing..the pick up was improved and the engine felt miles better completely different to the engine i drove to work last night.

highly recommended... :)

*smug mode* Thats two happy customers :funk:

I cant take much credit for this 'mod' though, i merely passed on the info. The guy who thought it up was "Cage" from www.tdiclub.com
 

dmjw01

Upstanding Member
Jul 28, 2005
442
0
Woking, UK
www.dmjwilliams.co.uk
Well, after a second go with the contact cleaner this morning, I applied a pea-size blob of dielectric grease to the contacts this afternoon and slid it in and out a bit. Just been out for a test drive now.

Er... Wow!

This has definitely made a difference, even though there was nothing exactly "wrong" with the car before. As others have said, it's more responsive and so smooth. The turbo whistles in response to the tiniest movement of my right foot.

If you're an old-ish fart like me, you'll remember the good ol' days when you used to take your car for a service and it would get new points. It would then drive like an absolute dream. Over the next 5k miles or so it would deteriorate very gradually, but you wouldn't notice until the next service. Nowadays, cars drive exactly the same whether they've been serviced or not, but smearing the MAF connector with grease has just given my TDI that "new points" feeling. ;)

Tomorrow I'm going to fill the socket up with grease, as suggested by various people on TDIclub, in the hope that this improvement will last.

Dare I say it - this is almost as good as the remap! :D
 

EdButler

Full Member
Apr 24, 2005
713
1
Sheffield
Sisson: dmjw01 and I got the latter one - the 'luberex' tube - seemed to work well.

Anyone venturing this mod on a 1.8T yet? Ill give a few cars a squirt tomorrow at the Sheffield meet :D

If this gets many more good testimonials it may have to become a sticky!
 

spyke85

I Like Cheese!
Oct 26, 2003
2,247
0
Bolton
Visit site
OK, well I went to the Sheffield meet and Ed immediately attacked me with this whatever its called! I haven't seen this thread before so didn't have a clue what he was doing!

But...first I thought, is it making a weird smell on the drive back to Manchester? But it soon disappeared and car seems to be so much smoother. So Ed, what have you actually done to my car? lol
 

redcupratdi

Offical SCN Pole Dancer
Oct 13, 2005
755
0
cambridge
do you think it causes a resistant at all that increasing fueling/boost slightly?

spyke it stops arching of the signal from the maf making it more smooth.
 

gazjones

Guest
may have to look into this as winter is coming! :whistle; any excuse for a better and smoother engine!
 

TornadoRed

Full Member
Aug 22, 2004
184
0
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
So Ed, what have you actually done to my car? lol

I think his description in the top message is pretty accurate:
"As the MAF is very sensetive, the arcing caused by movements of the plug can make the reading vary considerably - couple this with a clattery diesel engine shaking it and youve got a lot of interference! The dielectric grease prevents the arcing of the connections and also repels any water from potentially corroding the contacts."

I think it is something that one should do before a MAF problem arises. If you've already got a problem, it might work or it might not. It's like melting a tiny weep hole (with a needle or paperclip) in the bottom of the coolant reservoir connection (NOT the reservoir itself), in order to prevent coolant migration. Never heard of coolant migration? Good, because it's a rare but nasty problem that might required replacing wiring, instrument clusters, light assemblies, etc. See here:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=1400102&postcount=75

or here:
http://pics.tdiclub.com/video/cincitdi/coolantmigration.html
 

lukey

4 Ringer
Sep 28, 2006
327
0
Harrogate
so what kind of grease is it? did you order arctic silver cpu cooler thermal paste? i fix computers and have fistfulls of arctic silver syringes lying around
 

EdButler

Full Member
Apr 24, 2005
713
1
Sheffield
so what kind of grease is it? did you order arctic silver cpu cooler thermal paste? i fix computers and have fistfulls of arctic silver syringes lying around

Nooo mate - thats mostly silver (conductive), you want Dielectric (non conductive) grease. Follow any of the links already mentioned as its pretty rare here in the UK. Its also an all-purpose lubricant!

Spyke - I dont think the wierd smell could have been this as its all odourless! It might have been the cheeeeze in ya boot :p
 

Sisson

Club member
Aug 18, 2005
1,662
0
Derbyshire
Ed,

Ordered mine from the bloke of Ebay, and he sent me an email saying

"Im sorry but all my stock has gone due to having loads of people ordering off him in the last week or so!!!

Ill get mine when he gets his next stock load in...
 
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