anyone advise of a good silicon grease available from halfords or the like

anyone advise of a good silicon grease available from halfords or the like
If you look through the thread "Drip,drip,drip" you will see numerous references to a material known as krytox which is available from VW dealers, but expensive. Also reference to a similar material from GM which is less expensive. Comments seem to indicate it works! Good luck!

anyone advise of a good silicon grease available from halfords or the like

Please please please....


read your instruction manual before you apply any silicone-based lubricant to your roof seals. It specifically states that you should NOT use silicone products on these seals. This is, most likely, due to their special nature (what VW did to the rubber compound to reduce wind and road noise from the seals).

As the previous poster said, Krytox is the only safe product to use (at this point). Although confirmation is still being done, that is the product line that VW most likely uses.

Krytox, unfortunately, references a whole product line of lubricants. Greases, Oils, thicker, and thinner... So, finding out which one is the exact same is a challenge.

I wouldn't recommend the Krytox grease, as it is prone to "sit" on the surface of the seals rather than absorbing into the seals. (we want penetration for the process to be really effective, plus, it tends to rub off onto clothes if it sits on top). What we want for our Eos roof seals is the oil version...

VW just reduced the price of their VW branded krytox bottle. I'd suggest sticking to that until the chemistry experts confirm which of the various Krytox product lines are correct.

I think, they have agreed that it is most likely the 10x (101, 102, etc) models...but that isn't confirmed yet.

Cheers!

The official Eos roof lubricant G 052 172 A1 is USD $51 from VW directly. It's less than $40+S/H at 1stVWparts

Pacemaker, the correct lube is Dupont Krytox GPL 105, it is available from
www.gbrtech.co.uk cheaper than from VW but there is a £30 min order so you will need to buy two bottles to make up the order, when you add the postage it works out to about £45, but you get twice as much compared to about £38 from VW.

Paul

i thought i read in the instructions to use silicon based but make sure it was non acidic

page 25 says
"if it is cold, dry the rubber seals and the surfaces they touch with a cloth to prevent them from freezing. Treat the rubber seals with a silicon spray-this does not apply, however, to the seals on the CSC roof"

Page 26 says
"Please do not use any silicon-based rubber care products or cleaners which contain acids on the seals of the CSC roof, such as industrial dust cleaners or insect removal products."

page 25 says
"if it is cold, dry the rubber seals and the surfaces they touch with a cloth to prevent them from freezing. Treat the rubber seals with a silicon spray-this does not apply, however, to the seals on the CSC roof"

Page 26 says
"Please do not use any silicon-based rubber care products or cleaners which contain acids on the seals of the CSC roof, such as industrial dust cleaners or insect removal products."

i stand corrected
sorry

Just in case anyone don't bother to read the manual...

http://www.myunreal.com/files/other/CareofRubberSeals.jpg

It reads "Do not use any rubber cleaning or treatment products containing silicone, OR
any products containing acides"

Do NOT use any silicon based product!

Just in case anyone don't bother to read the manual...

http://www.myunreal.com/files/other/CareofRubberSeals.jpg

It reads "Do not use any rubber cleaning or treatment products containing silicone, OR
any products containing acides"

Do NOT use any silicon based product!
Thanks WKC,
I don't think I have ever read that far into the manual ... it's time to do a treatment, and have called dealer to order the Krytox. Appreciate your advice!

Agree with pdog! Ordered mine from gbrtech.co.uk and got one tube of "grease" and the other a bottle of "oil", as you have to order two items (both for the price of one from VW. Grease is terrif for the roof rails and other metal moving items in the complex gears & pulleys, and the oil is for the rubber seals. The bottle comes with a lint free cloth applicator that screws to the top of the bottle, but will wear out on the "cats tongue" surface of some of the seals. I use a fairly stiff small art brush to apply the oil, and it means using less than smearing with the applicator or finger! Too much and you will be cleaning the edges of your windows every time you use them!

wkc, or anyone else for that matter, is there a downloadable copy of the manual or did you scan that in? would be handy for personal reference

It's a scanned image. I looked but I couldn't find a downloadable copy of the manual.

I think it is important to say that there are many more seals that need the oil to be applied than appear in that picture. I'm not sure why VW didn't include more comprehensive instructions for dealing with the seals, however, I think that it is related to what they feel the "average" owner would be able to do themselves.

Still, if you know about the other seals, then you stand to save yourself from possible issues in the future (leaks, creaks, etc).

There is an excellent post on VWVortex that really covers the seals needed to be lubricated, along with full color pictures and descriptions. It really is the best "how to lubricate your VW Eos roof" reference I've managed to find. Link HERE (http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3087297)

I agree that the Krytox 105 is most likely the oil used by VW (mentioned in the image above), however, none of the experts have formally confirmed it yet. I have the grease version Krytox 205 and wouldn't use it on the roof seals-- I agree with the previous poster that it is excellent for metal mechanisms.

I'll have my 105 on order soon, as I'm running low in the VW branded bottle I purchased before the price reduction.

The process is easy and doesn't take long, but really does ensure that the roof is trouble-free.

Cheers!

VAG workshop manuals are known as ELSA if I remember correctly

Bought a version for the A2 a couple of years ago so it does not cover the EOS!

just ordered 2 bottles from gbtech at approx £16 each plus del plus vat
very helpful, explained i needed to use white spirit to remove silicon i had applied before using
next day del
great!

My 2006 Eos has just developed a leak down the A pillar INSIDE the car and water is starting to come where the front and back passenger windows meet and ive found a spot of water on the plastic ledge inside the car by the back passenger window.

VW are aware of this and are insisting on doing a water test (which will take 5 days) to establish where its coming from despite me telling them as you can clearly see where the water is coming in.

I asked about lubricants and the service department told me not to use lubricants as it will rot the seals, and yet in the manual it says to lubricate the seals and gives the part numbers on whats best to use.

When i bought the car i asked the dealer at the time about the servicing of the roof and seals as this is my first convertible and they said theyre done when the car is in for a service but they only check the mechanisms. Why not the seals?

Ive read on other forums that dealers have told others the same and have ended up having to have their interiors replaced due to rotting foam within the seats leaving smells in the car that are worse than a slaughter house.

i will be investing in the lubricant/oil/grease recommended on here and in the manual to see if that stops the leaks while i wait for it to go into VW, which wont be for another 4 weeks.

I just hope we dont have anymore rain in the mean time :(

I assume you're going to Heritage?

They fixed my EOS a couple of years ago - which involved them replacing many of the seals. They had the car for a couple of weeks in the end, but did provide a free courtesy car for the duration.

They made it quite clear to me that you DO need to lubricate the seals with Krytox. In fact, they complimented me on the condition of my seals when I took it in as I make a point of lubricating every 4 months or so.

If you only have a few drops I expect an application of Krytox will sort it out. Make sure you check the footwells and boot for dampness in case the problem is more serious that you realise.

FWIW - My car has been water-tight ever since they had it.

Pacemaker1000 How did you do this -

just ordered 2 bottles from gbtech at approx £16 each plus del plus vat
very helpful, explained i needed to use white spirit to remove silicon i had applied before using
next day del
great!


I enquired today..... and got this reply.


Good morning David

Further to our telephone conversation this morning, please find our dossier/information details below as promised. We are the UK and Ireland agents for DuPont Krytox performance lubricants.
This is the Industry Standard anti-squeak and rattle product for the Automotive Industry.

Grade you require is Krytox GPL105, supplied in a 30ml applicator bottle - photo and tech data sheet attached.

Price is £34.00/30ml bottle, ex works, ex VAT (total including p&p & VAT is £45.00)
We can ship these by post to a UK address in a padded envelope - allow £3.50 for this.

We accept Credit Card payment (except Amex and Diners Club) and product is always ex stock.
If you are able to telephone in with card details, we can process the order and ship the goods same day.

David, Are you querying the price if so Pacemaker100 post was done in Jan 2007.
See my post http://www.vweosclub.com/forums/showpost.php?p=36830&postcount.
Hopefully still cheaper than VW.

Yeah i bought it from Heritage Salisbury but Bristol are working on it thankfully theyre only up the road from me and theyre the specialists for the south west, handy to know

Just got off the phone to VW, turns out my 3 little leaks were alot worse than i thought, it was totally stripped down and the boot had an inch of water in it and all of the seals and trims are being replaced thankfully at the expense of VW. £2k's worth of parts and 25 hours worth of labour. Adrian the manager there whos over seeing all of the work on my car has been great as well as Charlotte in the service department, wont get it back this side of the weekend though so a courtesy car is being sorted out for me for when i go bk to work next week.

oh and all of this was done under the sale of good act, as the problem developed in the first 6 months of ownership, it means the dealer or the seller is liable for the repair or replacement! and that is LAW, something worth knowing :)

I assume you're going to Heritage?

They fixed my EOS a couple of years ago - which involved them replacing many of the seals. They had the car for a couple of weeks in the end, but did provide a free courtesy car for the duration.

They made it quite clear to me that you DO need to lubricate the seals with Krytox. In fact, they complimented me on the condition of my seals when I took it in as I make a point of lubricating every 4 months or so.

If you only have a few drops I expect an application of Krytox will sort it out. Make sure you check the footwells and boot for dampness in case the problem is more serious that you realise.

FWIW - My car has been water-tight ever since they had it.

anyone advise of a good silicon grease available from halfords or the like Hi not sure if you know this I bought an EOS second hand & the guy I got it from was brilliant & he had the Vw grease analyzed & it turns out its the same compound as ... vasaline I have been using it & it works a treat

Hi Geoff,
welcome to the forum from another smog dweller.
Don't be fooled mate, vaseline and krytox are totally different. Vaseline, being petroleum based, will eventually rot your seals so keep it away from them at all costs. Krytox is inert so won't react with your seals in any way but will keep them supple and pliant, hence its use by dealers and owners alike.
Hope to see you around, get some pics of your car up and I'll look out for you.:)
Regards,
John

Cheers for that I will do

I have looking for the red one, if any picture will be better, thanks in advance