Safe to spray silicone lubricant on engine?

[Yong Cheng]

I was wondering does a can of silicone lubricant such as Liquid Wrench Silicone spray is safe to maintain the engine plastics and rubbers. It describes that it can be used on rubber, wood, plastic and metal. Low odor. Safe for painted areas. Saw Eric used it to protects brake and lubricates rubber parts, does it safe to sprays on radiator hoses, engine mount, CV joins to protects rubber from swelling and normal wear and tear.

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[Lorrin Barth]

I would suggest making sure it doesn’t contaminate any accessory belts. The belts and the pulleys they run on need to be dry and clean not lubricated.

I used to be very religious about spraying silicon on the weather striping every 3K miles. Then I decided to have the car painted. The silicon gave the painter trouble. Other than that, I’ve seen cars at car shows where it looked like the engine compartments had been flooded with silicon.

[Erin]

Probably safe enough. I just use armor-all to shine rubber and plastic stuff under the hood (never on belts of course) Tire shine doesn’t seem to work as well.

If you want to use something on the plastic and rubber, maybe spray the stuff on a rag then apply where needed. I don’t know if I would just go spraying it all over the place. Lubricants attract a lot of dirt also so you might have to do a good detailing every few months to masintain the look and protection.

[EricTheCarGuy]

It should work fine. However, you may find that if left wet it can attract dust. If that happens your efforts might be in vein.

[Author]

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