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I have some sil-glyde(from napa) can that be used in place of die electric grease on plug wires?How about the cam lobe for point ignition? It has silicone in it. Any thoughts???

Dielectric grease is a heat conductor- - - -not an electrical conductor. It's used in places like the heat sink for an ignition module, not like the conductive grease used on light sockets, etc.

The only reason to grease plug wire boots is to keep them from sticking to the porcelain- - - -even wheel bearing grease would work there! Point cams need a high-temp lube that sticks to the surface at speed. Once again, disc brake bearing lube would work great. Most people over-think this kind of stuff!

Jerry

The wire terminal "grease" I have from Truck-lite for preventing corrosion states "not a lubricant"

Put some between two fingertips and you'll be convinced that it IS a lubricant.
FWIW, it will conduct electricity if you put too much on. I tried that on the Injector Driver Module on my Powerstroke and it threw a ton of codes on the scan tool. Wiping most of it out of the connector solved that issue. Of course that runs at over 100V to operate the injectors. At 6 or 12 V it wouldn't really be an issue.

I have a feeling that many of these "different" greases are very much the same stuff with different labels for marketing purposes. Given the example of the high voltage leakage posted above just illustrates that nearly everything will conduct electricity given enough voltage/amperage behind it.
So the question is, does dielectric grease act as a conductor or an insulator?
I would say that in a 6 or 12 volt world, with tight/clean connections, the answer is neither.
A film of it between tight clean connections gets out of the way resulting in no loss of voltage nor added resistance, while providing corrosion prevention.
Let it be known that I have no scientific basis regarding this topic, just real world experience, anecdotal as it may well be.
Carl

Di-electric grease is an insulator that is particularly useful on integrated circuit boards when a component is slid-onto a contact-surface or placed-on/in a contact-connector slot.

As 52Carl posted : "A film of it between tight clean connections gets out of the way resulting in no loss of voltage nor added resistance, while providing corrosion prevention." It not only gets out of the way, it allows a metal-to-metal connection and keeps corrosion/oxidation out-side-of the connection/contact point.

At high voltages anything will most likely conduct?

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-dielectric-grease.htm

So, if that author is correct, di-electric grease should not be used between modern-engine spark plugs and ignition-wire ends, especially if it is silicone rubber?

The added "conductance" of supposedly conductive metal-containing anti-oxidant greases is also questionable/marginal. They are, however, anti-oxidizing compounds. I use them on all my 6v battery leads connections.

I have a feeling that many of these "different" greases are very much the same stuff with different labels for marketing purposes. Given the example of the high voltage leakage posted above just illustrates that nearly everything will conduct electricity given enough voltage/amperage behind it.
So the question is, does dielectric grease act as a conductor or an insulator?
I would say that in a 6 or 12 volt world, with tight/clean connections, the answer is neither.
A film of it between tight clean connections gets out of the way resulting in no loss of voltage nor added resistance, while providing corrosion prevention.
Let it be known that I have no scientific basis regarding this topic, just real world experience, anecdotal as it may well be.
Carl

I just used wd 40 for ever thing and if I really want to make
something slick, I grease it... is that wrong..

some things as they get older just need a little more grease
to make them last longer or work better.. am I wrong

Carl, are you ok? you just repeated your self..I am worried about you..

joker, My wife's Granny used to spray WD 40 on her irritated granny skin. She said it worked miracles. Her pet name for me was "Stupid", a nickname well-deserved.
As far as repeating oneself, when one is so right, it just begs to be repeated.
That, or I am just one more misstep from suddenly finding myself in a "fabulous, almost-resort-like place that smells funny, and is full of guys which I don't think should be in there either".
Carl

Carl

ok, I buy that.. I am really getting close to the place you speak of.. I almost backed out wife's car out of garage today with out hitting the remote door opener, I was just quick enough to stop when I heard the back up warning device.. never come close to do that but my mind was full of stuff.. crazy.. yrs ago her mom did that and I could never understand how that could happen

Not sure that author is that wise. He also wrote:
"Dielectric grease is widely used as a sealant for spark plugs in gasoline or diesel engines, as well as on the gaskets of multi-pin connectors in the electrical systems of vehicles and boats."
I've yet to see a diesel engine with a spark plug. I have seen an old diesel tractor with a gasoline starter engine that did have a spark plug, though.

In my example, I'm thinking that the dielectric grease I gooped on the connector bridged between the pins and conducted that high voltage. When I cleaned off the face of the connector, that bridge was removed.

But I do use dielectric grease on low voltage connectors. I have used dielectric grease on spark plug BOOTS as a sealant, but never saw the need for it on the actual connection. I don't think it would matter if it conducted the 20,000+V of a typical gas ignition system though, because of the short distance between the connector and the spark plug terminal, even if "fully insulated" by the dielectric.