what grease for general car mainentance?

[richtung]

Morning guys,

Just a general car query rather than GTI specific question.

Noticed my hinges on the Ed30 all covered in white silicone grease after the stealers gave it a service. Looks awful to be honest. I was thinking about cleaning the white stuff off and using normal grease.

Is there any reason the silicone grease is used for hinges etc or is it more easier as it squirts from a bottle?

anyone recommend a general purpose grease that can be used for general car maintenance and house hold DIY jobs?

I noticed some garages use copper grease - is this only used for specific areas?

Thanks guys - sorry for the bone questions, better to ask and be a fool for 5 minutes and all that!!

Rich

[uk_stu]

The reason for them using a silicone grease is just to repel water away from hinges etc to stop them rusting. You could clean some off if they have been a bit liberal with it

Copper slip is good stuff and i've got a massive pot in the garage. You could use it on the hinges but its more suited to backs of brake pads and hubs when you refit a wheel etc.

[stealthwolf]

There is a general purpose type oil spray that VW. Will have to look up the part no but it's certainly something you can use on hinges etc.

[uk_stu]

I do have a spray grease... its BMW Gleitspray (spray grease) (BMW because i work for a sister company)

[rob r]

There are so many different greases, generally I use lithium grease but on heavy duty metal moving parts like I would use ep2 grease.

Lithium grease is usually mineral oil with lithium as a thickener, it's much better unless it's used on rubber as it will break the rubber down. Much like you shouldn't use wd40 on most plastics.

I have always been advised against using silicone greases unless it's on rubber or on battery terminals to prevent corrosion. At a guess I think the white grease you see would be lithium grease but I may be wrong.

[Kalpsn2000]

I noticed white greese on the hindges of my dad's golf after being serviced by VW.

I have no idea if its silicone or lithium based though.