"Never put antisieze on sparkplugs"

I heard this advice over August from many people who know far more about bikes and motors than I do. The logic is that antisieze is a grease, and alters the amount of torque required to tighten the sparkplug properly - people put AS on, torque to the amount in the manual, and have thus severely over-torqued it, damaging the head. Plug threads are galvanized anyway and so cannot gall to the head.

I threw my bike down the track spectacularly in August and so when I got around to rebuilding it for the GNFs, I swapped out the spark plugs, and decided to try that advice. The bike then ran afterward for three days at the GNF, and hasn't run since.

I took my head off the other day and in getting the spark plugs off, there was a ton of resistance from a couple of them coming out. There wasn't any such resistance when they went in. When I got em out, the bottom one or two threads were half-stripped, pretty uniformly across the cylinders. I've never had that problem before.. always went in easy and came out easy.

Is it possible that the bottom couple threads could have been de-galvanized, I'm assuming due to the heat from the cylinders? It wasn't running super-duper-hot.. it looked like it was actually on the cool/rich side, there were carbon deposits everywhere, looked like a street motor almost. No detonation damage. However, that's the only thing I can think of to explain why the plugs were so stripped (and the plug holes need chasing so badly).

Before August I've always just threaded the plug in until I felt it hit the washer, then gave it about an eighth-turn more, just until I could feel the washer begin to crush. This was with antisieze, and never gave me problems before.

 

I always use anti-seize....never had a problem...

 

ive never used it....havent had a stuck plug yet.

 

I've never used it either and haven't had any problems getting the plugs out.

 

^^Same

 

Was that the end of August? Man, we did it on the same weekend. Hope everything ended up ok. Anyways, have never used as on plugs. In fact, my mechanic ( 40 yrs ) said not to. No problems with removal, even when running super hot in Spokane.

 

never use it, never had any problems

 

Well hell....lol

 

The way I understood about AS and spark plugs is that the AS insulated the spark plug at the threads and changed the heat range of the plug.
I've used it and never had a prob.
Just wonder if letting it sit for a while after a hot run with race fuel may have rusted up the end of the plug.

 

This is why they have a chrush ring and should be used once....same as the Oil drain plug crush ring....to prevent this...

 

Yeah right. That's a good one.

Another good one.

 

That's what I'd been told, at least. Do you think there is any credence in my plugs-were-partially-galled theory? I can't really think of any other reason they'd be so hard to get out. They weren't over-torqued and there didn't look like there was any other mechanical blockage (ie deposits on the threads or something). The tips of the plugs themselves were whiter than ideal but not pitted, bent or melted, didn't seem to be in bad condition.

 

Dissimilar Metal Corrosion

 

Here's what I snagged off the web:
Here's what Autolite says about using anti-seize:

We do not recommend the use of any anti seize products for installing spark plugs. Anti seize compounds are typically composed of metallic,
electrically conductive ingredients. If anti seize compounds come in
contact with the core nose of the plugs, it can lead to a misfire condition.
Anti seize compounds can also have a torque multiplying effect when
installing plugs. This can lead to thread distortion and thread galling
resulting in cylinder head damage. Autolite spark plugs are nickel plated
to resist the effects of corrosion and seizing. However, plug seizure is
aggravated further when steel plugs are installed into aluminum cylinder
heads for a long period of time.

Here's what AC/Delco says:

Do not use any type of anti-seize compound on spark plug threads. Doing this will decrease the amount of friction between the threads. The result of the lowered friction is that when the spark plug is torqued to the proper specification, the spark plug is turned too far into the cylinder head. This increases the likelihood of pulling or stripping the threads in the cylinder head. Over-tightening of a spark plug can cause stretching of the spark plug shell and could allow blowby to pass through the gasket seal between the shell and insulator. Over-tightening also results in extremely difficult removal.

 

When I got my 06 750, the plugs were like you said and needed to be chased with a tap when the head was off. I think the NGK EK plugs have an extra thread or two that extend into the combustion chamber and Race gas doesn't help matters. These plugs had well over a season on them.

I replaced my plugs half-way through last season and again a few weeks back and they came out easy and installed the same. I think leaving them in for extended periods of time is the problem.

As for anti-seize, I thought you needed the copper colored stuff for plugs. If you do use anti-seize lower your torque by 25-30% and you will be fine.

 

funny how the auto parts store(s) ALWAYS try to sell you that lil packet of antiseize when you purchase plug...lol.

reason #258 to not to listen to the idiots manning the counter

 

Also one other tidbit spark plugs from different manufacturers for the same application can vary in reach. Ive seen this on my truck plugs alot while experimenting with the cylinder heads off. Autolite & NGK seem to have the least variance from OEM in my case.

 

or reason #259 not to listen to the idiots posting on the internet.

 

hahahah I will continue to use it. And I buy the copper shit....not the cheap pewter type of stuff.

 

My buddy used to work for Mercedes Benz and the stuff they use is the best I have used.

No BS, I worked as a mechanic for almost 20 years. I anti seize all the spark plugs I install.

I have seen first hand how bad a spark plug can seize into head.

Besides over tightening, you need to be careful not to get any of the never seize on the porcelain or it can cause arcing. I put the plug in the socket and then put some anti seize on the threads right before installing to avoid this.