On Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:25:10 +0100, had
this to say:

The thing with WD40 is I agree its not designed for large components
and mainly we used it on small mechanisms and you used nearly half a
can mainly as flushing agent, but it does work as a lubricant.

How can a 'flushing agent' also act as a lubricant? The idea of a
lubricant is that it forms a coating on the working surfaces - a
'flushing agent' removes any coatings.

It may appear to lubricate short term, but that's just because it's
wetting the surfaces - water would probably be just as effective.

--
Frank Erskine