Vasolene on gaskets

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Wild one

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Had a guy ask me about using a smear of vasolene on the intake manifold rubber o-ring gaskets,and i honestly had no answer for him.I know anytime i've had an intake off and on,i've never used anything on the gaskets,but he got me wondering if it might be something to think about.It's common practice to use vasolene on the injector o-rings to help them slide into place,which makes me wonder about using it on other rubber gaskets.
What's your guys thoughts on using it on the intake gaskets
 

danielmid

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I would hesitate a small bit since Vaseline is petroleum based and if they are natural rubber it would be harmful to the gaskets. But not sure how much rubber is out there anymore. Might be safer to stick with a silicone based lube?
 

Bigskyroadglide

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I see little to no downside to the practice, Vaseline is petroleum based, is used for this purpose in a variety of settings some automotive and some not. In medical settings its used to keep gauze from sticking to skin, and as a temporary barrier to protect areas from exposure to other substances, think, cryotherapy. Ive seen grease used like this as well.

I'd say between the two it's easier to clean off Vaseline, it responds well to plain rubbing alcohol for cleaning.

My thoughts
 
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Wild one

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I see little to no downside to the practice, Vaseline is petroleum based, is used for this purpose in a variety of settings some automotive and some not. In medical settings its used to keep gauze from sticking to skin, and as a temporary barrier to protect areas from exposure to other substances, think, cryotherapy. Ive seen grease used like this as well.

I'd say between the two it's easier to clean off Vaseline, it responds well to plain rubbing alcohol for cleaning.

My thoughts
My thoughts were along those same lines,as i think the o-rings are nitrile based,and are set-up to handle the fuels of today,so a petroleum lube shouldn't hurt them
 

crash68

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dhay13

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I used to use chapstick on my valve cover gaskets. Used to pull them a few times a month and made it easier
 

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When I've replaced anything with an oring of any kind I use Dow 33, and Dow 55 when the oring might need to swell up a little bit. Had a bunch of it from paintball years ago, but we also use the dow 33 at work when making pneumatic set ups to go into temperature chambers
 

dhay13

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Patience and saliva. :p

I like the chap stick idea.
used it alot on Holley metering blocks too. used to have to re-jet my Chevelle at least once a day at the track and it saved me tons of time and money not having to replace the gaskets every time. i think they came out with non-stick gaskets later though
 

Sherman Bird

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Had a guy ask me about using a smear of vasolene on the intake manifold rubber o-ring gaskets,and i honestly had no answer for him.I know anytime i've had an intake off and on,i've never used anything on the gaskets,but he got me wondering if it might be something to think about.It's common practice to use vasolene on the injector o-rings to help them slide into place,which makes me wonder about using it on other rubber gaskets.
What's your guys thoughts on using it on the intake gaskets
GM directs the technician to use a light film of motor oil on the o-ring style gaskets to prevent them from distorting upon component shuffle during installation. As A professional mechanic who has done this for over 30 years, vaseline won't hurt.... it'll help.
 

REDNECK28871

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If its a new gasket why put anything on it?? This isn't the 1920s whe they slathered black death all over everything.
 
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Wild one

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If its a new gasket why put anything on it?? This isn't the 1920s whe they slathered black death all over everything.
The intake uses o-rings and alot of guys re-use them,as they aren't all that cheap.Here in Canada the o-rings will run you about $40 each from the dealer,and there's 8 of them,10 if you also want to replace the oblong shaped ones that seal the pcv system,and the oil fill tube
 

dhay13

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If its a new gasket why put anything on it?? This isn't the 1920s whe they slathered black death all over everything.
In the racing world I was pulling valve covers sometimes 3-4x a day and swapping jets in the carb even more than that. Having 'reusable' gaskets saved lots of money. Using chapstick allowed them to seal but not stick
 

CanRebel

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The intake uses o-rings and alot of guys re-use them,as they aren't all that cheap.Here in Canada the o-rings will run you about $40 each from the dealer,and there's 8 of them,10 if you also want to replace the oblong shaped ones that seal the pcv system,and the oil fill tube

I recall my father would use Vasoline once in while. But only when he would run out of super lube as Crash mentioned above.
 

18CrewDually

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GM directs the technician to use a light film of motor oil on the o-ring style gaskets to prevent them from distorting upon component shuffle during installation. As A professional mechanic who has done this for over 30 years, vaseline won't hurt.... it'll help.

After going through the threads comments, the above is the most accurate in my experience and training. Not GM, but Ford also stated lightly coat o-rings with new motor oil.
 
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