Took mine apart, smeared Vaseline, workn'
good 32 years now.....
Location: Burnsville MN-Moving to Kalispell MT. in June 20111
Posts: 886
My VIN: 2691
Took mine apart, smeared Vaseline, workn'
good 32 years now.....
Location: NYS
Posts: 2,511
My VIN: 4519
Did you put a lot on it?Originally Posted by SS Spoiler
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Location: North GA
Posts: 6,176
Club(s): (SEDOC) (DCUK)
I didn't think it would be a big deal if some got into the tubes and used a liberal amount. Lasted 5 years when I sold it...
Is everything still apart enough that you can tell it's the switch hissing for sure?
Location: NYS
Posts: 2,511
My VIN: 4519
Yes. I can hold it in my hand while the car is running and change the noise by covering different parts of the switch. I took it apart a few more times to add vaseline, then reinstalled the original diaphragm for comparison.
FWIW, my switch has one round hole, three oblong holes. The original diaphragm matches. The replacement has one large round nub, three small round nubs. Steve said he doesn't think the holes on his switch are oblong.
Last edited by Rich_NYS; 09-18-2019 at 09:22 PM.
Location: North GA
Posts: 6,176
Club(s): (SEDOC) (DCUK)
IIRC, on all of them I have seen there was one nub larger than the others for orientation. I haven't needed to install one for a few years now though.
...now that I think about it, I remember two that were glued on and thinking the nubs must of broke....
I wouldn't think it would leak from the sides (ie not through a port) because it was not aligned (rotated). Any chance the electrical portion got yours too hot and warped/damaged the plastic?
Location: NYS
Posts: 2,511
My VIN: 4519
Sounds plausible.
I think there must be something wrong with my switch.
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 8,578
My VIN: 10757 1st place Concourse 1998
It could be cracked. On the earlier cars the hoses are directly attached to the switch. On later cars they attach to a large rubber plug and the plug fits to the switch so you don't have to remove each hose individually, you take the whole plug off. If your hoses are hard and brittle they could be leaking where they connect to the switch. Take teh switch apart and inspect it closely. There are nubs or bumps so you don't assemble it incorrectly. You should not use a petroleum based lubricant like Vasoline, it will eventually cause the rubber diaphragm to break down. There are products out there that are specifically made to be used with rubber.
David Teitelbaum
Location: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif.
Posts: 2,079
My VIN: 0934
Club(s): (NCDMC) (DCUK)
+1, particularly about NO Vaseline on the seal.
Use a silicone grease, same as you would on car door weatherstripping or on an o-ring. Vaseline petroleum jelly will attack some kinds of elastomers/rubber so it's best not to use it on the mode switch seal.
A thin wipe of silicone grease with a clean cloth onto the face of the seal will do.
March '81, 5-speed, black interior
Location: NYS
Posts: 2,511
My VIN: 4519
Half say use vaseline, half say don't....I'm going to use Vaseline on one half of it, silicone on the other half.
I returned everything to its original config (with the stock diaphragm) and used an incense stick my hippie voodoo-child wife gave me. I can see the smoke getting sucked in at the edge of the diaphragm, but nowhere else. All the hoses and the adapter are very flexible and rubbery.
I'll replace the diaphragm with the new one and test again to see if I get the same result.
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Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Posts: 160
My VIN: 04629
Years ago my mode switch failed(diaphragm had slipped out of position on the moving part of this IIRC)
I found only one 'nub' holding everything kinda in proper place. I removed the rubber part. thoroughly cleaned and re-installed in proper place w/superglue.
I polished the metal part to a shiny surface and coated the rubber part with 'baby powder', still working fine for over 25 years!
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