New here. Hit a deer. Need parts!

Welcome from So Cal

 

Okay friends, I’m gonna go off on a little rant here. If you’re the scoundrel that does this kind of stuff then I’m calling you out. If not then just laugh along at my unfortunate experience.
So, last night i welded my busted headlight back together then polished the crap out of both of them. When I removed them I noticed the hi/low bulb connector was odd. They were both wrapped in black tape and greasy as all get out. I realized that whoever had this truck before me had put LED hi/lo bulbs in. (I’ve had this truck about 14 months and all I’ve done to it is change the oil and rotate the tires)
Up till then I just figured that’s what it was from factory. They are Sealights. They kinda put out a crappy low CRI blue ish tint. I looked them up and they are claimed 6000K. Seems more like 7000k but whatever.
After I unwrapped the layers of greasy black tape from the connections and drivers I found that the connectors were packed slam full of some kind of sticky peanut butter like gunk. If any of you have ever worked on a Blackhawk and had to lube the bifilar weights with that stuff we call peanut butter then you know what I’m talking about.
This wasn’t just a small dab of dielectric. It was some nasty junk. I tried cleaning it with isopropyl to begin with and that didn’t cut it. If I’d had a can of break clean I’d have used it but I had to use the alcohol and elbow grease to remove the crap.
Anyway, don’t be this guy. And if you are I’m about to help you out if you pay attention.

that’s what it looked like after I removed all the tape and disconnected the sealight.

See the peanut butter pack

With the backshell cover off. This is ridiculous!
That’s the first end I pulled out of the shell. They all were the same.

After half a dozen paper towels

All cleaned up. That took about 3 beers worth of time.

Still waiting on parts…

So, here’s the thing. Putting that much crap in a 12 volt electrical connector is dang near insanely. Look at the connectors. They are steel, plated in a gold colored material. Definitely not Gold but it’s the first layer of corrosion preventative in the connector. If left alone by itself it would last at least 30 years or more in this application. With a little coat of dielectric even more.
This thing could have sat at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico till everything around it turned to dust!
It’s wasteful, it’s unnecessary, and above all it’s a damn mess.
I’m an aircraft technician and all I’m saying is that this isn’t the way to prevent water intrusion or corrosion. (I have a CPCP certification) It’s not helping in anyway other than saving the connector from full immersion in salt water at 5000 ft below the Gulf of Mexico.
In the aviation world we don’t use any kind of grease on electrical connections. I know there are exceptions so don’t come at me with that crap, but 99.98 % of aircraft electrical connectors are just dry sealed connections.
Most of times now days we do regularly clean connectors and apply a Corrosion preventative compound (CPC) made for that. The CPC isn’t a grease. It comes in a spray can and a little bit goes a long way. Just enough to wet the surface can last for years inside that headlight connector.
If anything else save the next guy from having to clean up behind you and don’t pack your electrical connectors full of peanut butter.
More pics to come. I’m out.

 

That’s the bulbs that were in it.

This stuff is about the best there is for DC electric connectors. Get some and use it. A little dab will do ya. Put it on your battery terminals. Thank me later.