Corroded Bolts - What's the best preventative?
 

Greetings All,

In the process of replacing the water pump on my '86 300E I've found several bolts with corrosion heavy enough to make it difficult to extract the bolt (the 10mm belt tensioner through-bolt and the long 8mm bolt that goes through the upper part of the "Y" bracket in front of the tensioner). I'm replacing the bolts and cleaning out the holes as best I can, but I'd like to know anyone's opinion on what to use to prevent further problems of this sort. I was thinking of either using waterproof wheel bearing grease (the type used on boat trailers) or anitsieze (the silver-grey type). Which would be better, given the environment, or what other suggestions might you have?

Thanks,

Gary

Neversieze
 

Neversieze - that's what it's made for. I'm still using the same 4 oz bottle I got 20 years ago. The stuff goes a long way.

Who makes Neversieze, and where can you buy it? All I ever see is the Permatex/Loctite stuff. Also, what are the two different types (copper or nickle based) for?

Gary

The most common anti-seize is made by Loctite/Permatex.
The copper stuff is meant for high heat applications ( exhaust manifolds, etc. ).
You want the silver coloured stuff for your application. ;)

There's something like 8 different formulations of neversieze that I found in McMaster Carr catalog.... copper, nickel, aluminum, moly disulfide, graphite, teflon, etc. Nickel is for very high temp applications. Copper is for high temp and general applications. It doesn't make a whole lot of difference which kind you get. Their primary function is all the same. I think the copper stuff is most widely sold, though it appears grey and Permatex doesn't specifically list the formulation on the bottle.

Also make sure that you are using the Mercedes antifreeze. Remember it is also an antirust compound, it is PH neutral. The rust your seeing is partially due to either the lack of Mercedes antifreeze and/or the lack of changing it every 2 years. Those bolts are exposed to the cooling section of the engine block.

Dave