Your links came up as google searches, not refence material. I tried the grease years ago and saw no benefit so I am not using it anymore... I would never use dielectric grease to coat the contacts in a points-style ignition and now looking back would never use it on a rotor. Wouldn't coating posts with non-conductive grease increase the resistance across the air gap and cause the posts to burn up faster? What would happen if you tried to weld aluminum through a layer of dielectric grease? I'm still willing to bet it would splatter and the bead wouldn't be any easier to control. Over time the grease certainly looks burnt and flings off the rotor anyways. Grease certainly is a dirt/dust magnet as well.

 

You sir.. are either a troll or worse.

I once spent a full day arguing with an idiot who declared that coating battery terminals with grease caused starting problems. Cuz his dad, a shop mechanic said so!
So I aint gonna do that again.
The core principles are:
- Aluminum is a bad material to make high voltage contacts
- Because of spatter.
You believe what ever you want.

 

I used grease on my cap and plugs and never had a problem

 

For clarification, I use the grease on the external contacts, but not the internal contacts where the rotor spins. Why are you getting nasty pettyfog? You can have an opinion without slinging insults...

 

use the Dielecrtric greaseon wires and contacts,, I also know this to work and was done for years in race cars, its a cheap working fix that will only help,, I have done all my service trucks also for years and never had issues with burnt or crusty caps making a no start..

again both ends of cables and on contacts and a small dab under rotoe where its colesest to shaft keep it from burning thu to drive shaft also..

Hope this helps you too..

Patrick

 

here is the general consensus I've found on the various car/truck manufacture forums I visit , also how I've always "done it" ... on the use and application of dielectric grease during a tune-up :

"source quote"
Dielectric grease does not conduct electricity. It's an electrical insulator not a conductor. It's only used for the rubber portions of the spark plug boots to keep moisture out and to keep the boot from sticking to the ceramic portion of the plug. Electrical conductors should not be coated with dielectric grease prior to being mated. A lot of people think it enhances electrical conductivity, a common misconception.
You should just ensure that the contacts are clean and you should be good. Maybe a slight film of some conductive grease if you want to feel better.


another quote here -
DON'T use dielectric grease on the cap or rotor contact! The contact is a spring loaded carbon brush, it's self lubricating, and it sheds a small amount of carbon dust. That carbon dust plus the grease will turn the grease conductive, and the heat and centrifugal force will make it ooze all over the inside of the cap until you start arcing over.

In other words, it will ruin your cap and rotor eventually.

Originally Posted by BobKWJ
To answer your question, do not use it on the metal to metal electrical connections. It will inhibit the conductivity of the connection.

OLDGeezer wrote -
It can be useful in preventing moisture and air and other corrosive stuff away from the uninsulated metal (blades, pins, sockets, etc.) in metal-to-metal contacts of separable electrical connectors. When the connectors are pushed together, the metal-to-metal contact is made by the blades, pins, etc. pushing the soft grease away from the areas of contact.

I differ from BobKWJ and will say that the grease will not hinder electrical conduction in a metal-to-metal contact any more that any other insulator, like air or plastic if the contact is potted, surrounding the contact.

However, in a distributor, the rotor does not actually come in physical contact with the electrodes in the cap. There is a very small gap between them. Grease on the rotor tip and the electrodes could fill up the gap and make it a little harder for current to jump that gap. Current through the grease could also cause chemical reactions that would degrade the tip of the rotor and the electrodes. Don't use dielectric grease in those places.




the above quoted posts , pretty much sum it up .... (for me anyway)

 

Like I said... you believe what you want... your sources, UNLINKED, I notice are WRONG.
Point out the carbon rotor contact in the cap, okay?
Go to your service entrance/circuit breaker box. Look at the terminals where the aluminum cable from the meter clamps in the terminal.
Grease is used to prevent oxygen from entering the contact / conduction area not just to make insulators waterproof. Contact areas corrode from the outside in due to the heating/expansion- cooling /contraction effect along with galvanic eddy currents caused by electron flow through dissimilar metals. When that occurs, oxides are formed on the peripheral area if there is oxygen available. Oxides do not conduct, thus the mating area is reduced even if miniscule amount. And the process starts over,
There are only two UL approved methods of splicing household aluminum wiring. One REQUIRES dielectric grease, the other recommends it.
- point of interest. Aluminum power wiring is totally safe. It's only the connections that cause the troubles and can be dangerous.

But none of that matters because the real applicable physics in the case of aluminum points in caps is that concerning welding arcs ,, just on a much lower arc/current. Any drawback caused by conversion of the silicones that may be present is overcome by reduction of open area spattering. Like I said above, it's not the 'white' powder that's the problem, it's the spattered non-oxidized aluminum that's lying there with it.

Again.. you do what you want, just dont spread the flawed 'conventional wisdom' around when you dont understand the physics.

Best bet.. use quality caps. Which rules out aluminum. Then the discussion is moot.
That is, until you have troubles with the wiring under your truck and go by your rules. Clean the contacts good and only put grease on the connector seals.. cause the wiki says it doesnt help on the contacts. Then wonder why you have to do it again next year.

Read this.. it's far from unique
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...ic-grease.html

 

I wrenched for several local dealerships back in the day with 4 years ASE training , before taking up electronics and now networking and servers . I am not spreading miss-information - posted are the carbon spring loaded brushes visible (just like the spring loaded brushes in an alternator) along with what happens if excess dielectric grease gets under the cap ...

aluminum cap with low miles



clean used brass cap

 

What ever.. we're done with this. I'm sorry.. I dont care if you have a PhD. We're arguing over side-issues, but you havent made the case. You dont need to accept that I did.
{BTW I was wrenching on Mainframes back 45 years ago when solid connections werent taken for granted as they are today.}

 

Avoid the use of aluminum post style caps - BRASS is superior ...
but I still prefer to not put anything inside the distributor cap/rotor contact area - externally and the plug wire boots