jkelley

So I will be doing a compression & leak down test this weekend as well as replacing any retainers, keeps, etc so I will need to take the plugs out.
BTW ahead of time, many thanks to Billman and others for the sweet DIY's, I'm sure they will help me out a LOT

My question is: I just installed 4 NEW NGK 7772's a few weeks ago (~1,000 miles or so?) and will obviously need to pull my plugs this weekend so will the coating NGK puts on the plugs that works as the anti-sieze be fine as-is for re-installing them? Or is the coating only applicaiton for the first time they are screwed in? Do I need to apply anti-sieze to the plugs now that I've already threaded them and torqued them down once?

Thanks in advance!

rrounds

I would use a good anti-seize on the plugs after the original install.

ROD

dedonderosa

yes

jkelley

Ok great, thanks.
That's what I figured, since I'm sure the coating would "scrape" off threading it and then unthreading it from the head. But just wanted to make sure.

Does anyone have a recommendation on which brand of anti-sieze works best with our cars, or is that silly? And also, I've never used the stuff so... how much do I put on each plug?

chino101

If it has anti corrosion plating, NGK recommends no anti seize per this recommendation: http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/pdf/tb-...1antisieze.pdf

That being said I use a very, very thin coat on my plugs.

dwight

"For spark plugs with special metal plating simply do not use anti-seize on initial Installation;"
The OP and title both state that this is a re-install. Having said that, I don't bother to use any when I do re-install of coated NGK plugs.

SpitfireS

That NGK tech bulletin would have been perfect if they would have mentioned what to do when you install the same plugs after a check.
This "initial install" comment makes me think they think you should just install plugs and forget about them for the duration of the OEM recommended change interval.
As if no one ever takes out their spark plugs to check them, do a compression test (or whatever work) or just to have a look.

They do mention this:
that IMO suggests the plating only works once.
Too bad they don't recommend what to do next.

I've never used anti seize on the sparkplugs.

zeroptzero

Since NGK's coating "breaks" away after initial installation I would use a tiny bit on reinstallation of the plugs.

Anti-seize is good for people that leave their plugs in for 100k miles or ridiculously long periods of time. I tend to check my plugs every 1-2 years, but still I put a small bit on my plugs after each check , a couple drops of oil isn't a bad alternative for short term intervals. I hate the sound of dry plugs being removed after a long service interval, I've seen it on engines I've worked on for others, but never mine. Dry rusty plugs being removed sound like nails being scratched down a chalkboard.