What do you do with dielectric grease on spark plugs?

Question

There seems to be a lot of conflicting answers on what you're supposed to do with dielectric grease. The instructions on the grease I bought says to squeeze it into the boot, but everywhere I've read online says to only put a TINY bit on the porcelain since it's non-conductive.

I squeezed a decent amount of dielectric grease into my spark plug boots and now I am wondering if it could have an effect on the ignition.

Is there a definitive answer on what you're actually supposed to do with dielectric grease?

Answer 1

tl dr: You've hurt nothing by putting more than a little bit of grease in the boot ... don't worry about it.

Dielectric grease serves two purposes:

• Prevent electrical leakage
• Keep the boot from sticking to the porcelain of the spark plug

According to Wikipedia:

Dielectric grease is electrically insulating and does not break down when high voltage is applied. It is often applied to electrical connectors, particularly those containing rubber gaskets, as a means of lubricating and sealing rubber portions of the connector without arcing.

It's specific design is to help ensure arcing does not occur. It also helps keep water/moisture out of the boot as well, which can cause electrical leakage and ultimately arcing. Remember that direct current (what we find in cars) will find the easiest route to ground. Ignition voltage ranging around 40k-50k vdc can be considered high voltage. Putting the extra grease in the boot has only made it so you shouldn't have either of the issues which dielectric grease is meant to prevent. If it squishes out from the boot as you push it on, you've probably used too much. A little dab may only prevent the boot from sticking, but will it actually prevent electrical leakage? Probably not.

Answer 2

First, you need to cool down the spark plug hood. Then, open the spark plug boot and clean the spark plug gently. After that, you can apply dielectric grease on a cardboard piece and the boot's inner wall. Now, you can fir your spark plug boot in the hole.