Ant-Sieze

[Kestas]

ditto

 

[JMG]

When I bought my plugs at the stealership the counter guy did mention getting an anti-sieze.

I couldnt beleive it, only 3 dollars a plug!

 

[TheLoneRanger]

Ditto too.

Anti-seize should be used on any electrical connection where dissimilar metals are mated (such as aluminum and steel/iron). If it's not used, a galvanic type corrosion will occur, and the connection will degrade. This corrosion forms a metallic residue that can make the connection very hard to separate. That's a good reason to use it on spark plugs.

Another use that comes to mind is on a distributor base. If anti-seize is not used here, the current flowing through the distributor will corrode the area where the dist base meets the manifold. This is especially true with an aluminum distributor and iron intake manifold.

If you're out of anti-seize, use "Milk of Magnesia". No joke.

 

[kenw]

quote:

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Originally posted by brianl703:

quote:

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Originally posted by kang:
[anti-sieze] can interfere with the electrical grounding of the plug resulting in a weaker spark

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That I doubt. If that were true, then silicone dielectric grease (which is a lot more viscous and does not contain metal particles, unlike anti-sieze) would interfere with any electrical connection you use it on, and it clearly does not.

(Silicone dielectric grease is an insulator, not a conductor. Many people mistakenly think it's a conductor).

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silicon dielectric grease WILL certainly interfere with an connection that does not use a gas-tight mechanical contact point to displace the grease in the contact area. Mercifully, most have a sufficient point-contact force (even if not technically gas-tight) to move enough of the goo out of the way to get sufficient contact area. However, spark plug connectors do not have this concentrated force, therefore the concern you voice is very valid.

Dielectric strength is a function of thickness and voltage so a thin film on a very high voltage connection would see little if any degradation. Once a connection is made, even a weak one, if the current is sufficient the resulting heat will tend to further degrade the dielectric material and contact may actually improve over time. Although silicon is a tough one to degrade, it does happen. In other words, it *may* be self-healing to a degree on spark plug connections, but not on the average 12vdc automotive connection. Not enough voltage to jump the dielectric, and not enough current to burn it off.

sorry, 15 years of connector engineering may give you more info than you wanted.....

 

[Jim Spahr]

I recommend using a slight amount of anti seize on the plugs. Why? Two reasons. The plugs are steel and the heads may be alum. Even if iron heads, use a/s due to the long interval change for platinum plugs. It prevents the plugs from seizing in the heads. You just need a slight smear, not a big dab. You don't want to get it on the electrodes. NGK rec. applying on just the first couple of threads.

 

[Greaser]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kestas:
ditto

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Another ditto for me too..only it's been 20 years

 

[Schmoe]

OK, this is from a post on fordf150.net site. This guy is an factory Ford tech:

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 8:13 am Post subject: Quote

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I understand the concept, but there are arguments for and against using it. We(techs) never use anti-seize on any plug installation at our shop and we have not had any problems not using it. Just an opinion. Since our shop manuals don't say to use it---we don't. That's all I was getting at. Also, the only corrosion we see, is when a coil over boot leaks moisture and then causes some corrosion. But, if the boot does its' job and doesn't let any moisture in---we don't see any corrosion.