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 Post subject: bulb grease?
PostPosted: Fri Jul 26, 2024 3:00 pm 
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Turbo EFI
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Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2015 5:55 am
Posts: 1418
Location: Brightwood, VA
Car Model: 1965 Plymouth Belvedere I
Has anyone used Bulb Grease on spark plug wires? I can see no reason why it wouldn't work. It is waterproof and conductive.

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 Post subject: Re: bulb grease?
PostPosted: Fri Jul 26, 2024 5:31 pm 
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Triple Duece Weber
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Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 6:05 pm
Posts: 2261
Location: Desoto Texas
Car Model: 1972 Dodge Colt
I don't see any issues.
Anything to keep corrosion under control is good.

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 Post subject: Re: bulb grease?
PostPosted: Fri Jul 26, 2024 6:13 pm 
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Has anyone used Bulb Grease on spark plug wires? I can see no reason why it wouldn't work. It is waterproof and conductive.
"Bulb grease" means whatever the marketer wants it to mean; there's no standard, but conductive is the opposite of what you want on spark plug and coil boots! The grease you use in those places is dielectric (very much does not conduct electricity).

Sil-Glyde or tune-up grease or "dielectric grease" is what to use.

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 Post subject: Re: bulb grease?
PostPosted: Sat Jul 27, 2024 9:24 am 
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Triple Duece Weber
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Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 6:05 pm
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Location: Desoto Texas
Car Model: 1972 Dodge Colt
Quote:
Quote:
Has anyone used Bulb Grease on spark plug wires? I can see no reason why it wouldn't work. It is waterproof and conductive.
"Bulb grease" means whatever the marketer wants it to mean; there's no standard, but conductive is the opposite of what you want on spark plug and coil boots! The grease you use in those places is dielectric (very much does not conduct electricity).

Sil-Glyde or tune-up grease or "dielectric grease" is what to use.
You confused me, You have to have conduction IS what you want at a spark plug? Right?

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 Post subject: Re: bulb grease?
PostPosted: Sat Jul 27, 2024 4:14 pm 
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There is plenty of conduction between the metal plug wire terminal and the metal spark plug terminal—if not, then the fix is to replace the faulty plug wire or plug. No assist is needed from grease or any other compound. The point of using grease is to prevent the plug wire boots sticking to the plugs, coil tower, and distributor cap terminals—as well as to provide an extra barrier to prevent electricity leaking to ground between the boot and the spark plug insulator, causing a carbon track and permanent short to ground.

But the grease has to be dielectric—nonconductive. Put conductive gunk on, and you're practically guaranteeing yourself a great deal of misfiring (at best), as you're handing, on a silver platter, the ignition secondary current a beautifully landscaped, nicely paved path to ground.

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 Post subject: Re: bulb grease?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 8:53 am 
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Turbo Slant 6

Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2003 11:47 am
Posts: 525
Location: Illinois
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Just to share...too much slick can also cause an issue with plugs boots. I recall something GM from the 90s that dielectric silicone would allow the plug boots to slide off on their own. It might have been on a coil pack connection, my memory gets fuzzy on the off brands after awhile.


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 Post subject: Re: bulb grease?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 3:56 pm 
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Yup, that's right. You're meant to squeeze the boots—especially the distributor cap/coil tower boots—as you install them, to exclude as much air as possible, but there's always going to be some. And when it heats up, it's going to expand. And if there's not a little friction between the boot and the tower (or the boot and the spark plug, if your plug wire/plug terminal fit isn't such a tight snap as it should be) then that pressurized air can pop the boot off. So don't be a pastewaster, just apply a very light/thin film.

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 Post subject: Re: bulb grease?
PostPosted: Tue Aug 06, 2024 1:40 pm 
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2 BBL ''SuperSix''

Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2024 4:11 pm
Posts: 15
Car Model: 1966 Plymouth Valiant 100
Quote:
There is plenty of conduction between the metal plug wire terminal and the metal spark plug terminal—if not, then the fix is to replace the faulty plug wire or plug. No assist is needed from grease or any other compound. The point of using grease is to prevent the plug wire boots sticking to the plugs, coil tower, and distributor cap terminals—as well as to provide an extra barrier to prevent electricity leaking to ground between the boot and the spark plug insulator, causing a carbon track and permanent short to ground.

But the grease has to be dielectric—nonconductive. Put conductive gunk on, and you're practically guaranteeing yourself a great deal of misfiring (at best), as you're handing, on a silver platter, the ignition secondary current a beautifully landscaped, nicely paved path to ground.
100% correct, it also helps prevent corrosion as well.


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 Post subject: Re: bulb grease?
PostPosted: Tue Aug 06, 2024 10:44 pm 
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it also helps prevent corrosion as well.
That is certainly its purpose in its nominal application—to prevent corrosion at the bulb/socket junction. Here again, only a thin film is necessary, not big globs. And it's best to use bulbs with nickel-plated bases rather than plain brass; that way the grease is pretty much entirely unneeded and bulb-corroded-into-socket stops being possible.

(if there's any water inside the boots on either end of any of the spark plug wires, presence or absence of grease is the least of our worries)

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 Post subject: Re: bulb grease?
PostPosted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 7:40 am 
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EFI Slant 6

Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2016 7:25 pm
Posts: 389
Location: SW PA
Car Model:
Quote:
Just to share...too much slick can also cause an issue with plugs boots. I recall something GM from the 90s that dielectric silicone would allow the plug boots to slide off on their own. It might have been on a coil pack connection, my memory gets fuzzy on the off brands after awhile.
Correct. If the boots/caps are a tight fit, and have no locking/retaining mechanism, they have to be pushed on firmly as far as possible twisting/pushing...then burp the trapped air out. I made a little tool for doing this because You can't always just use a fingertip/fingernail to pull the edges up to do this. Otherwise, if they're just shoved on with lots of grease on a chilly day, the heat will expand the air & shove them off if the terminals don't have aggressive retainers.


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 Post subject: Re: bulb grease?
PostPosted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 7:45 am 
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EFI Slant 6

Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2016 7:25 pm
Posts: 389
Location: SW PA
Car Model:
Quote:
Quote:
it also helps prevent corrosion as well.
That is certainly its purpose in its nominal application—to prevent corrosion at the bulb/socket junction. Here again, only a thin film is necessary, not big globs. And it's best to use bulbs with nickel-plated bases rather than plain brass; that way the grease is pretty much entirely unneeded and bulb-corroded-into-socket stops being possible.

(if there's any water inside the boots on either end of any of the spark plug wires, presence or absence of grease is the least of our worries)
Even tho' I use dielectric grease as a matter of course, I'm curious what the tan factory paste grease base is, a lithium concoction or...??


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 Post subject: Re: bulb grease?
PostPosted: Sun Nov 10, 2024 6:30 am 
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3 Deuce Weber

Joined: Sat Jul 13, 2013 9:17 am
Posts: 76
Location: Denver, CO
Car Model: '70 Barracuda /6 3spd
I just picked up a can of CRC marine dielectric as I've read that it's a good idea to use it on the firewall harness connection blocks to help prevent future corrosion to the semi exposed electrical connections (darn near a full restoration with brand new harnesses front to back). I haven't done it yet, I just completed putting together the rebuilt dash, so if I'm wrong or there is a better methodology, please speak up.

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