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WD40 as releasing oil -- NOT!

To: mgs@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: WD40 as releasing oil -- NOT!
From: Simon Matthews <simon_matthews@avanticorp.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 12:11:16 -0700
Since I see people posting comments about soaking in WD 40, I want to
relate my experiences on this:

I had an Alfasud many years ago. Now the wheels on these cars had an
interesing design. Instead of sliding the wheel onto the studs and
tightening down with nuts, the hub had a centre boss and no studs. The boss
fitted tightly into a hole in the centre of the wheel. You held the wheel
on this while inserting and tightening down the bolts. 

Unfortunately, if the wheels are not removed and the hubs greased, they
rust onto the hubs. Since the car also had inboard disks, there was no
reason to remove the wheels routinely. 

I found that I had excessive wear on a tyre, so I thought I would swap it
for the spare wheel. After a weekend of soaking in WD40 and application of
a BFH, I had still not removed the wheel. 

So on Monday, I drove to work, where I applied some real releasing oil that
was used in the labs. 10 minutes later, the wheel fell off the hub.
Conclusion -- as a releasing oil, WD40 does not cut it. 

Postscript: when I had this situation re-occur on another Alfasud, and I
was without proper releasing oil, I loosened the bolts a turn each and
drove round the block. That did the trick!

Simon
---
Simon Matthews
'57 MGA

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