Anti-Seize: It’s Not Just for Spark Plugs Anymore
Rusty bolts may have just met their match, thanks to this novel use for the anti-sieze you have lying around.
The YouTube channel MercedesSource has an impressive library of Mercedes-Benz DIY videos, covering a wide variety of procedures from how to properly jack up your Mercedes-Benz for service to how to completely overhaul your self-leveling suspension (SLS).
ALSO SEE: The Mercedes-Benz SL is a Technological Masterpiece
Today’s lesson will be a surprisingly easy one: how to keep your hardware from rusting and sticking in place. Rusty bolts are a major source of frustration when working on older Mercedes models. Stuck bolts can slow down a job, or considerably add to it when they strip or the head breaks off.
One common location for bolt rusting is the bolts for your seat tracks. The exposed metal seat rails and mounting hardware are subjected to a surprising amount of abuse, from water and dirt to salt.
Rusted seat bolts are a problem, since many electrical repairs require removal of the seats to access the harness or make working under the dashboard easier. They’re also a problem because as the rust spreads, it can leave nasty brown stains on your light-colored carpet.
So what can we do? If you clean the rust off of the bolt threads, it just comes right back to the exposed metal. It might even be worse the next time you remove your seats – and you know that that means. More snapped bolts, more time spent with an easy-out, a drill, and a tap. That’s not even factoring the time spent tracking down replacement fasteners.
The solution comes from an old friend that you already have laying around the garage for spark plug services – anti-sieze. We’re surprised we didn’t think of it ourselves.
A small coating of anti-sieze is all it takes to prevent the rust from coming back. Just spread a very small amount on a couple threads. There’s no need to go overboard, as the anti-seize will spread itself very thin and cover all the threads. A little goes a long way, which is good – anti-seize is expensive, and our heads are spinning thinking of all of the new ways we can use it.
