| Slant Six Forum https://slantsix.org/forum/ |
|
| bulb grease? https://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=67849 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | Badvert65 [ Fri Jul 26, 2024 3:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | bulb grease? |
Has anyone used Bulb Grease on spark plug wires? I can see no reason why it wouldn't work. It is waterproof and conductive. |
|
| Author: | hyper_pak [ Fri Jul 26, 2024 5:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: bulb grease? |
I don't see any issues. Anything to keep corrosion under control is good. |
|
| Author: | SlantSixDan [ Fri Jul 26, 2024 6:13 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: bulb grease? |
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. |
|
| Author: | hyper_pak [ Sat Jul 27, 2024 9:24 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: bulb grease? |
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. |
|
| Author: | SlantSixDan [ Sat Jul 27, 2024 4:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: bulb grease? |
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. |
|
| Author: | mcnoople [ Mon Jul 29, 2024 8:53 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: bulb grease? |
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. |
|
| Author: | SlantSixDan [ Mon Jul 29, 2024 3:56 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: bulb grease? |
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. |
|
| Author: | swptln69 [ Tue Aug 06, 2024 1:40 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: bulb grease? |
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.
100% correct, it also helps prevent corrosion as well.
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. |
|
| Author: | SlantSixDan [ Tue Aug 06, 2024 10:44 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: bulb grease? |
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) |
|
| Author: | Killer6 [ Sun Oct 13, 2024 7:40 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: bulb grease? |
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.
|
|
| Author: | Killer6 [ Sun Oct 13, 2024 7:45 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: bulb grease? |
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) |
|
| Author: | EC_CO [ Sun Nov 10, 2024 6:30 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: bulb grease? |
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. |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC-08:00 |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited https://www.phpbb.com/ |
|