Grease for Plastic?

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I have a shifter box with a shifter shaft attached to plastic ball sitting in a metal cup. It doesn't look like it ever had much grease in it if any at all. I have a tube of dielectric grease and a can of Valvoline Red axle grease. Which one will be less harmful to that plastic ball?

TIA
 
Always silicone grease. Regular grease contains oil and over time can cause plastic to swell or soften, neither of which is conducive to longevity of the part or your driving pleasure.
 
Originally Posted by sdowney717
Never noticed a plastic part on a car fail when greased.

Originally Posted by Boomer
Always silicone grease. Regular grease contains oil and over time can cause plastic to swell or soften, neither of which is conducive to longevity of the part or your driving pleasure.
I noticed the same gatekeeping on the weatherstrip lubrication thread. Multiple posters made it seem like anything but silicone would ruin them instantly, other people used anything under the sun including antifreeze without any issues.

There are many types of plastics with varying degrees of solvent resistance. I myself lubed the plastic shift mechanism in my MK4 Golf with white grease when I changed a bushing, and it worked perfectly for as long as I had it.

"Real" (not Sil-Glyde) silicone grease is also very expensive. I paid like $50 CAD for a jar of 3M from Amazon.
 
Originally Posted by JHZR2
I like the super lube silicone grease with ptfe. Easily confused with the synthetic petroleum version.

https://www.super-lube.com/silicone-lubricating-grease-with-syncolon-ptfe#product-565

I've used the silicone based Super Lube on pool equipment for almost 20 years without any type of issue or problem. Anything and everything dealing with pool plumbing is plastic. It's also about as waterproof of a grease as you'll ever find.
 
Mineral oil, SHC (PAO, polybutene) and silicone fluid should be fine with most common plastics. esters and PAGs may be a problem. Try to find out what the plastic is and then check chemical compatibility if you are really concerned.
 
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