Bulb Grease

[Vic Roma]

Did/do any of your trucks come with bulb grease?

One of my front parking lights is not working. I still haven't raced the cause but as part of my investigation I inspected the bulb socket which was jam-packed full of a thick grease, including the void at the back of the socket where the wires enter. No joke, it was absolutely full. I disassembled the socket (disconnected the wires) and soaked it in simple green for a few weeks to thoroughly clean out all the grease from all the nooks in the socket.

Now I am not sure whether to protect the connection with bulb grease (not dielectric) or just leave it to the elements.

Thoughts?

[6.9-250]

It wouldn't hurt to apply some dielectric grease to the contact areas to help prevent corrosion.  I would use silicone grease for the connectors and connector seals.

"Silicone greases are electrically insulating and are often applied to electrical connectors, particularly those containing rubber gaskets, as a means of sealing and protecting the connector. In this context they are often referred to as dielectric grease."

A quick search online says silicone grease will harden over time (not sure about that though?)  Applying "dielectric grease" will be your best bet.

https://www.classiccarrestorationclub.com/video/dielectric-grease-bulbs-015568/#

[ArdWrknTrk]

Yes. Bulb sockets came greased from the factory.

[Vic Roma]

Good to know, Jim.

Did it have the consistency of construction adhesive?

[Gary Lewis]

That's the stuff.  Don't know what it was like originally, but some of it is almost rock hard by now.

[ArdWrknTrk]

It doesn't start out that way.
But 40 years down to road....

I suspect it is just white lithium grease (at least that's what it looks and smells like to me)

[ckuske]

I learned a bit more by reading this, thanks.  I'll make a note to grease the connectors moving forward.

I couldn't help but think of Blinker Fluid when I read the post title though...

[Danny G]

6.9-250 wrote

It wouldn't hurt to apply some dielectric grease to the contact areas to help prevent corrosion.  I would use silicone grease for the connectors and connector seals.

"Silicone greases are electrically insulating and are often applied to electrical connectors, particularly those containing rubber gaskets, as a means of sealing and protecting the connector. In this context they are often referred to as dielectric grease."

A quick search online says silicone grease will harden over time (not sure about that though?)  Applying "dielectric grease" will be your best bet.

https://www.classiccarrestorationclub.com/video/dielectric-grease-bulbs-015568/#

I had to clean mine out too it was preventing a bulb from working but replaced with dielectric grease. There are a lot of unsealed connectors in these trucks it doesn't hurt to hit them with the dielectric grease, even your battery terminals. I would keep a tube of this around and consider it nominal maintenance any time I took a connection apart to hit it with some.

[Vic Roma]

Agreed. I use CRC but Permatex appears in almost every YT video on the topic. When installing the socket, I’ll apply a little dielectric grease to the end when the three wires protrude through the cap, but not fill the whole socket to the point where it touches the glass on the bulb. Like I said, it was full. Or did you guys also fill the socket with grease?

[ArdWrknTrk]

Just a dab to keep the contacts sealed and the bulb base from seizing in the socket.