WD40 and water crossings

Thelgord

Thelgord

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Launch Member

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Harlem, GA
First Name
Chris
Last Name
Lyons
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7058

I was watching a Ronny Dahl video yesterday and there was one gas engine vehicle in the mix. Before going through a particularly deep water crossing, they sprayed WD40 on the electrical connections (spark plug wires, coil, etc...).

Does this really do anything to prevent water incursion? Or is it merely a feel good measure?
 
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WD stands for water displacement. It was originally designed for the military to prevent corrosion on bombs and missiles, so it makes sense that it would leave a protective coating on electrical connections. That is certainly not a common practice though.

In my opinion dielectric grease inside the connector to a) promote electrical conductivity and b) fill the air void with grease to prevent corrosion is a much better practice...

I’m just a Navy trained electronics tech though... what do I know :):):)

James
 
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WD40 has a lot of uses and one that might surprise people is a use in the campground industry. A partner and I manage campgrounds and we use WD40 to spray on the inside of the outhouse toilets. It displaces more than water and helps keep the fiberglass toilets cleaner and easier to clean, doesn't smell and is inexpensive (we buy the 4 liter liquid cans and use a spray bottle). So if anyone is looking after back country outhouses on their trips - try it!
 
When i tried it decades ago (someone told me it was great) I sprayed it and had misfiring. Found out it conduct's electricity. Wiping off the excess and cleaning around the terminals inside distributor fixed it. Not sure why people spray plug wires or coils. If their bad they will arc and short, with or without spraying. Coils, no idea why someone would do that. 12 volts isn't high enough to have issues. Ever start a vehicle while the starter was submerged? I have a bunch of time's. It didn't care. If it was a problem you couldn't drive when it rained.
I bet the guy in the video did it because his father did it, Father did it cause his father did it.. none understood what they did just that someone told them it displaced water. Oh, WD40 is petroleum based, it will rot some types of rubber it gets sprayed on.

I never worried about my old carb vehicles or new ones when it came to water crossings. The old trick was to glue a small plastic tube to your distributor and hook a small vac hose to it. the water would evaporate and get sucked into the tube. Ran that on a few old jeeps i had. My Land Cruiser suffers from the same water intrusion in the distributor. If i get misfires from a deep crossing (or power wash) I just pop the cap, wipe it out and spray part wash in it and call it good.

Scott
 
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