Topic: LUBRICATE your top so this does not happen to you.

[Sly Bob]

One of the members over at Solstice Forum had never lubricated his top and as a result tore a large hole in it. The picture below is one that he uploaded to the thread that he started.

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Don't let this happen to you.

When you read your owners manual you will remember that it states that the following weatherstrip lubricant is to be used (GM Part No. U.S. 3634770, in Canada 10953518) or Dielectric Silicone Grease (GM Part No. U.S. 12345579, in Canada 992887).

Save yourself some money though and go to your favourite auto parts store and buy a tube of Dielectric Silicone Grease for less than $10, that will last you for life.

Hopefully no damage has been done under there from a lack of lubrication as you don't want to lose a top. I hope these pictures help in locating the lubrication points.

[attach=1]

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[LatinVenom]

Why not use the same lubricant that is use for the rubber seals?. That is what I have use on all the rubber seals parts, like the windshield, trunk etc.

[TomatoSoup]

Why not use the same lubricant that is use for the rubber seals?. That is what I have use on all the rubber seals parts, like the windshield, trunk etc.

That's what he said!

When you read your owners manual you will remember that it states that the following weatherstrip lubricant is to be used (GM Part No. U.S. 3634770, in Canada 10953518) or Dielectric Silicone Grease (GM Part No. U.S. 12345579, in Canada 992887).

Save yourself some money though and go to your favourite auto parts store and buy a tube of Dielectric Silicone Grease for less than $10, that will last you for life.

[Uranium-238]

Dielectric grease IS what GM recommends on weatherstripping.

I've still got the can I bought for my Kappa, and use it on both the truck and the Camaro. It's a bout empty at this point, but I've got double the spark plugs to change per engine...

[Steelmesh]

Dielectric grease is often silicone grease re-labeled, check out the msds.  Silicone grease is compatible with all rubbers except for silicone.  I'd recommend buying silicone based dielectric grease in the jumbo size and use it as both a gasket/o-ring lubricant along with dielectric uses. 

In my opinion a great application for silicone spray is temporary use when installing certain o-rings or rubber/silicone hoses; because it's so thin it won't over lubricate and won't last as long where I hypothesize there is a risk of blowing off intake tubes or coolant hoses because you greased them up and you don't want to over tighten hose clamps.

Also, only certain types of solvents (ask yourself where do you get heptane?) can prep metal for paint after the metal has been exposed to silicone; a rule of thumb is to ban all silicones in the paint shop for example of how mindful you should be.

[hammy221]

hmmmmm didn’t even know this was a thing

[Sly Bob]

hmmmmm didn’t even know this was a thing

It isn't, until a hole wears through the top.   
As it wears for the inside out, you don't know it's a thing until it's too late.
A lot of us have had the top pinch to indicate that the mechanism was dragging but that's apparently not always the case.

[kwtoxman]

Thx for the heads up. I completely forgot about this maintenance item.


Anything else many forget about?


Cheers

[Ironhide]

Thanks for the good advice!

Lubricated the top last weekend.

Noticed that something wasn't working properly, when the right side of the fabric got stuck between the two seals (during closing the top).

[Sly Bob]

Glad it was helpful Ironhide. I have had the pinching you describe as well and that's what alerted me to this issue years ago. Problem is, there are some that have issues and never experience the pinching issue and don't realize there is a problem until the top wears through.

When the top wears through it's a little late unfortunately. Glad you got the heads up with your top pinching.

[Ironhide]

Glad it was helpful Ironhide. I have had the pinching you describe as well and that's what alerted me to this issue years ago. Problem is, there are some that have issues and never experience the pinching issue and don't realize there is a problem until the top wears through.

When the top wears through it's a little late unfortunately. Glad you got the heads up with your top pinching.

Since spare parts started to get rare (mostly in Germany)I'm looking for advice how to prevent any damage.

So that has been the reason why I've alerted the forum about my rusting driver door.

[Kappaccino]

This thread here kept me up all night when I first came across this forum. I have since slattered DE grease all over it including the leading edge of the plastic piece where it nudges against the canvas.
I wonder for added protection if one can past black electric tape over the screw head. Thanks for the post!

[Sly Bob]

I don't know that tape would stick especially after you slathered it with grease. If it did, I can't see it staying there long, just make sure it's snug and not backing out.

[2wrdr]

Can someone help me identify this "plastic tip"?  I see the screw and felt some metal pieces along with some rubber gasket type material so I put dielectric grease on everything in this area hoping I covered what is needed but would feel much more confident if I knew what the "plastic tip" was.

[Sly Bob]

You can see the tip in the last picture of the first post in this thread. The plastic tip rubs against the rubber fastened to the top as it opens and closes.

[TomatoSoup]

Warning Wil Robinson!  My top was acting and folding just fine, but I used some dielectric grease to lube it just in case (per this thread).  After a while the top started to bind up!  Seems the grease gets sticky and negates the lube effect and makes the situation worse than it was.

So I wiped it all off and cleaned it with silicone spray squirted onto a rag.  YMMV, but check!

[Sly Bob]

Hmmmmm, interesting! I found that the grease that I used was just as slippery a few years later. I guess you have to choose your grease carefully and be sure that the lubricant won't cure in any way. I used a Loctite product.

[DeepBlueGXP]

I used silicone grease and never had an issue.