Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Performance Upgrades - Maintenance - Modifications - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street Trucks. Covering the Explorer, ST, Sport, Lincoln Aviator, Sport Trac, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Aerostar. Featuring H.I. - Human Intelligence.
Are we supposed to apply dielectric grease to the spark plug wire boot at the primary coil end? (Troubleshooting a miss; so double-checking facts here. [Wires are not newly installed.]) Thx! M
Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year. Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,. Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!.
It is meant for high voltage connections (both ends of spark plug wire, on the boot or insulation, not really on the conductor). The idea is to prevent voltage from draining to ground.
Won't do much for a low voltage connection at the primary. To check for a coil miss take off the wire (be very careful, it is high voltage) and as you move the wire away from the coil you should see a spark. Good idea to wear mechanics gloves and use common sense.
Thanks 96. I'm a bit rusty, and should not have said "primary." Yes, it's the end of the spark plug wire attached to the coil atop the engine that I'm trying to ask about. I don't think that I put any dielectric on those boots on the top end way back when. Could be letting a bit of spark out there I suppose. M
Me too. Apparently my dog likes the the way it tastes also. She stole a brand new tube of DG and chewed lots of holes in it. Now I have to keep the remains in a sandwich bag in order to use it up.
Some plug wire sets even come with dielectric grease already in the boot. Yes you should do it to help seal out water/vapor and oxygen to reduce corrosion, but if you don't see excessive corrosion it is very unlikely that you'd get a spark jump to ground on the coil end of the wires, considering the studs are sitting in plastic towers far away from any ground. In other words I doubt that's the problem.
Noticeably rough at idle (been that way for a couple of weeks) and popped a lone code P0430 yesterday. Cleared. Did not reappear today. Short term fuel trims (live) on both banks seem to be in spec at idle (regular variation between +8 and -8). Seems worse in moist weather, better in dry. That's why I'm homing in on spark/wires first. M
I'd pull the plugs and look them over, and change the wires if it's been a few tens of thousands mi. which it seems is the case as you wrote "way back when" for the wires. If you suspect they might be arching you can wait til it's dark and use a water spray bottle to wet them down and see if anywhere, like around the exhaust manifolds, is arching.
