What Kind of Lubricant for Door Handles?

6030 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by arathol, Sep 3, 2018

MazdaLows

Discussion Starter · Aug 25, 2018

So I can't seem to find the answer to this anywhere. What kind of lubricant is used to lube the travels on the car door handles?

When I first got the car years ago, pulling on the handle was smooth and graceful. Now it is stiff and rough. It is like it has to break some surface tension before it finally gives and then that results in yanking it until it reaches its maximum pull. Pulling the handle shows some sort of yellow pasty substance. It looks dry but upon the touch, it is greasy. I asked the dealership if they could look into it for me because they say they lube moving parts on services. When I heard back from my service rep, he said that the dealership has no involvement in lubricating the doors. 'The car comes like that from the factory but the technicians have nothing for it here but really any kind will do.'

As I don't believe in a miracle substance, simply looking up different types of lubricants will yield that each kind has a different purpose. It's hard to tell, but it looks like the handle pulls are plastic but I would believe they are metal.

I was just wondering if anyone had any insight on with what and how to treat these handles.

Thanks

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arathol

· #2 · Aug 25, 2018

Looks like white lithium grease. It comes in a spray can available at most any parts store or WalMart and many other places.
This stuff works good but tends to hold dirt and dust if not maintained. When contaminated in this manner it turns to a sticky glue like substance. Soak it with WD-40 to loosen and remove as much as you can, then re-apply the lithium grease.

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3withthreepedals

· #3 · Aug 25, 2018

Yep. That's white lithium grease....just remember a little bit goes a long way.

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MazdaLows

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 25, 2018

Alright I'll try that. I already have some for uses around the house and the parts on my car. It has looked like that since I can remember. Since I asked my service department about it and their technicians couldn't identify it and didn't have anything to lubricate with (which makes me wonder how they are lubricating moving parts as listened in the manual), I figured it was something else. Thanks for the responses.

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zero_gravity

· #5 · Aug 25, 2018

Mazda is not good at specifying the miscellaneous lubricants like this. Lithium is the right choice. For the brakes, the service manual specifies 'rubber grease'. Good luck finding that, it doesn't really exist anymore.its been replaced with the various caliper lubes.

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arathol

· #6 · Aug 25, 2018

MazdaLows said:
their technicians couldn't identify it and didn't have anything to lubricate with

If the "techs" could not even identify something as simple as the white lithium grease:surprise: that is used on many of the moving parts in the car, you have to wonder just what else they aren't capable of doing. I would be having a word with the management and finding a new service department that actually knows how to service a car........

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opti1

· #7 · Sep 3, 2018

What brand(s) of spray can lithium grease are folks using that don't shoot out the grease so strong that it goes all over the place?

I have some in a tube but that doesn't always get the grease where it needs to go.

Thanks!

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