Re: vaseline roller bearings
I used Vaseline for years while rebuilding Mercs. It works just fine and will wash away like it's supposed to. The only issue I ever had with petroleum jelly is that if it's a bit warm outside, the stuff starts to melt and then doesn't hold the bearings in place as well.
On a V4 I rebuilt last year, I used OMC's needle bearing grease, P/N 0378642 and it worked very well. A bit thicker/stickier than Vaseline and will certainly hold those needle bearings in place! Less than $6 list price and well worth it.
Merc sells a similar item, it's more expensive (more in the tube? I dunno!), and unless you can find an internet store that'll sell you one tube, you have to order in multiples of 6 if I recall. More tubes than you'd use in a lifetime unless you rebuild 'em for a living!
P/N 92-802868Q 1 if you want to look for it, but the OMC stuff was cheaper and had plenty of grease to do the job.
HTH.............ed