Has Anyone Ever Found A Use For WD-40?

If your car won't start after a foggy night because your high voltage spark is leaking out "somewhere"???---Just spray WD-40 on the PLUGS/WIRES/DIST CAP/COIL TOWER & It'll START!
Bill W.
 
Used it in the USMC to clean my M14. Now use it for machining. Years ago when there wasn't much of anything else in a spray can used it to fix noises in car suspension. To me it is a oil and kerosene mix. For the last couple of decades I use Kroil, which looks like acetone and ATF
 
ericr said:
I sure never have, it runs out as a lubricant very quickly. As I recall there was a lot of ballyhoo about it when it appeared back in the '60s, I think it was developed by the Government, hence the name, maybe in connection with the space program.


Since all we had before that was 3-in-1 Oil, or maybe LiquidWrench, it seemed like a technological miracle at the time....seems like a waste now.
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Same kind of stupid thought train as; have you ever tried making a martini with whisky or a manhattan with gin?

IT IS A WATER DISPLACEMENT CHEMICAL!! THAT IS IT.

Booze works good for a lot of other things but that is not it's intended use.
 
WD 40 DOES Make a rust penetrant in a spray can (picture below), and
if you do a search, WD 40 also makes a spray can of Industrial Lubricant.

Click on picture to Enlarge ;)
 

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I use it quite a bit for water displacement, quieting fan belts, and just kind of general purpose stuff. Its definitely not a lubricant or penetrating oil, but isn't intended to be. My understanding is that it was developed during WWII by the Navy as a water displacement spray. Apparently a large component is a mix of fish oils which is why it smells the way it does.
 
They do make a WD 40 product especially made as a pentrating oil. I have never used it but do know they make one.
 
Don S said:
I have used Wd 40 to kill wasps. Works really well and does not leave a stain.
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This really works well. I worked on telephone lines and It was a scramble 30 feet up a ladder or pole and opening a box or boot covering the wires and confronting a wasp nest. WD-40 to the rescue!
 
Here is how the can looked when it was first introduced, circa 1953.
 

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The two best uses I know of are:


1. the water in the distributor thing mentioned many times above, and


2. for use to keep bare metal surfaces from rusting; specifically, drill press tables, table saw tables, etc. For those of you in low humidity areas (southwest USA for instance) you'll never need this. But for those of us in the rust belt it works well.
 
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