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  View original topic: Lubrication for sunroof tracks
Intrinsic Tue Apr 03, 2018 8:51 am

Hello

After installing a new headliner, I am reinstalling the sunroof. As I have it all apart and out of the car, this would be a good time to lubricate the cables and tracks.

What lubricant should I use on the cables, and also on the tracks?

Thanks

Bobnotch Tue Apr 03, 2018 12:57 pm

I used white lithium grease on mine.

gregson1 Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:52 am

Bob--how often do you get in there and re-lube the tracks and cables--if ever?

I planned to use white lithium grease on mine, too. The sunroof is motorized in the Type 34 and this seems like the right stuff to use.

Long ago I saw reference to using Vaseline on sunroof components. I can't find the reference to this info. The original stuff from Golde seems to have been something similar to Vaseline, but white lithium seems like a much, much better choice.

I've found that white lithium can sometimes harden or get sticky over time, so am not sure what the 'maintenance schedule' would be for it.

Bobnotch Sat Apr 07, 2018 1:01 pm

gregson1 wrote: Bob--how often do you get in there and re-lube the tracks and cables--if ever?

I planned to use white lithium grease on mine, too. The sunroof is motorized in the Type 34 and this seems like the right stuff to use.

Long ago I saw reference to using Vaseline on sunroof components. I can't find the reference to this info. The original stuff from Golde seems to have been something similar to Vaseline, but white lithium seems like a much, much better choice.

I've found that white lithium can sometimes harden or get sticky over time, so am not sure what the 'maintenance schedule' would be for it.

Well, I'll be honest in that 4 years ago I re-greased the tracks and new shortened bus cables with white lithium grease. When I first put the car together back in early 2000 I used red wheel bearing grease (Wolf's Head), as I couldn't find any info at the time for what to use. That grease stayed in place for 14 years. I also excercized the hell out of that roof in those 14 years. It wasn't until I took it apart for repaint that I decided to put new cables in as the car was 49 years old at that point, and the cables were showing wear. I still have them too, but I degreased them.
Maybe Ray can chime in and give a good recommendation of what to use.

KTPhil Sat Apr 07, 2018 1:44 pm

I wonder what is is "Spa Lube" sold in pool/spa stores. It's sort of like thick vaseline, but it won't harden when cold, and more importantly, won't liquify when hot. It's used to lube o-rings, not metal-metal parts, so it may be totally wrong. It's waterproof, obviously.



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