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View Full Version : OT: antiseize as plug lube after head gasket failure



ryan roopnarine
09-30-2008, 01:15 PM
background: 99 ford taurus, head gasket blew, causing steam to come out of front of head and front 3 spark plug holes.

i drive a lot, so i usually replace spark plugs about once a year. i admit to usually tightening down sparkplugs as loosely as they will go, so that i don't kill the threads. i removed one of the "steaming" plugs about a week after this happened, and noticed that the plug was very difficult to start and turn. i left it barely threaded in after this, and told the mechanic that we left it with that it was not in fully. i was going to do the gasket myself, but i am too far away from the car to get it done in under a month, and the mechanic's price was far too cheap to pass up for the likely hassle. when something like this happens, do you just pass a threader/chaser through, and ram them in afterward? or will anti-seize help get them down? i don't use antiseize in anything, so i wouldn't know. thanks.

632 Regal
09-30-2008, 01:41 PM
since the head will be off ask the mechanic to chase the threads for you. you shouldnt need antiseize with the plugs as they are coated/plated.

russiankid
09-30-2008, 04:38 PM
Anti-seize prevents threads from seizing, hence the name. It won't help a spark plug go in if the threads are damaged.

I put a small amount of anti-seize on my spark plugs. I also clean the threads just about everytime I replace spark plugs.

ryan roopnarine
09-30-2008, 04:58 PM
since the head will be off ask the mechanic to chase the threads for you. you shouldnt need antiseize with the plugs as they are coated/plated.


i guess it is too late for that. he called me this afternoon to tell me that he was finished, but that the resivoir bottle was cracked, and that he couldn't test the car at operating temperature unless he replaced it.

Tiger
09-30-2008, 05:11 PM
You can always tap the spark plug holes... get the KD spark plug thread tap... it has the thread for the full length of the spark plug... other type only gives you 1/2" of thread. Put grease on the tap to catch the metal shaving.

Ross
10-01-2008, 08:09 AM
I use it. Some here will disagree.
I would tighten the plug as usual also, leaving it loose might prohibit proper heat transfer and I think promote crap accumulating on the threads.