Ignition Module Grease. What Type?
 

Hi all, I am putting a new ignition module in my 93. I know it will come with the heat blocking grease you put on the back, but I'd also like to get some extra to put between the head and the bracket. My question is does anybody know what type of grease this is? I was told it was dilectic grease, but I thought that was just for connectors?
Before you flame me, I did try using serch, but this computer at work is really slow.

Yes it is dialectric grease.

A new ignition module will come with some grease but I keep a can of the stuff handy - it's not that cheap but last a long time - you buy a can at Advance, etc.

Not sure if it is dramatically different, but there is
"heat sink compound" available at radio shack or electronics parts store:

http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/produ...265179w345.jpg

http://www.radioshack.com/sm-buy-the...i-2102858.html

You want the heat sink paste. The purpose of that whole bracket is to keep that part cool, you don't need electrical conductivity or water resistance, which is what dialectric grease is used for.

It's a silicone-based heat sink compound. The Radio Shack part number is 276-1372.

This stuff is like Brylcream, A LITTLE DAB WILL DO YA.

Thoroughly clean the module and mounting spot with alcohol, electrical circuit cleaner or NON-FLAMMABLE brake cleaner.

Then, put a small dab on the module and spread it smoothly, covering the metal bottom of the module ONLY. Next, mount the module.

If you apply too much, it'll just squeeze out any way when you tighten it down.

Autozone also has the Heatsink Gel and its Wells part number is SL203.

dialectric grease
 

By the way, dialectic grease is also the best stuff you can use to protect all of the rubber moldings on the car. Keeps them soft and protects them from cracking & rotting. Also helps keep them watertight.

...use a HEAT SINK PASTE obtainable at any parts store...also, the paste is NOT a "heat blocker" but a "HEAT CONDUCTOR"..there are microscopic holes not visible to the eye that the grease fills in on both the module and the distributor base that it mounts on...the grease TRANSMITS the heat so that in the end you'll have more surface area between the part and the mounting base to DISSAPATE heat...

It is called "Heat Sink Paste" and has been used in electronics for years especially on transistors' which is what causes the heat in the ICM. DO NOT use dielectric grease the people who suggest that don't know what they are talking about. Dielectric grease is pretty much all silicone and use to keep moisture out not as a heat sink.

Something else you might want to do, put a couple of washers per side between the ICM bracket and head.

yep keep the module cool as possible by using heat sink paste or compound. I hear talk about dialectric grease and they say use it since it keeps out moisture which is good, but its not really the right stuff to use since heat is more important and you probly will never get moisure in the engine bay anyway. i dont know why module manufacturers supply that stuff with the product, they should include heat sink paste of some sort

edit: dont get heat sink compound that solidifies... makes it hard to remove the module if that happens :)

The factory service manual also specifies dialectric grease but this is a mistake. As all the others have said above the proper compound to place between the module and the heat sink is thermally conductive grease commonly referred to as heat sink paste. Maybe someone has some engineering data to confirm dialectric grease conducts some heat but I bet it's not as efficient as heat sink paste. The idea is to conduct the heat the ignition module generates into the heat sink and the heat sink paste improves the heat transfer

...oops...he (r-e-sport) is correct and a mistype on my part!...we refer to it as dielectric grease but indeed it is "HEAT SINK COMPOUND''....i should know better having majored in school on the subject but, do know what i am talking about!...i am looking at a tube now..."radio shack heat sink compound #276-1372 ,provides heattransfer from semiconductors to heat sink"......

Thanks guys, This is what I bought going out to the garage and putting it togther now. My parts store guy told me dielectic grease, but as I said in my first post I didn't think that was right.

:iagree: here's a nice write-up with pics. Always seemed silly to me that they would mount the heat sink to the head...

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#ICM_cooling

:cheers:

For those of you that have been following this. I'm not having a good day. Put washers behind bracket, put on new ICM, new MSD coil, car started right up and ran great. Took it out for a ride, ran perfect. Happy with a job well done. Except as I pulled in my shop I noticed coolant pouring out from under the car, opened the hood and there was coolant all over the front of the motor and my nice new module, coil and I'm sure the opti.:willy: So after a little investigation, I found the screw on the coolant bleeder on top of the thermo housing had backed out. No idea how or why, I've never touched it. So I dried everything off as much as I could, closed up the shop and am having a beer. had enough of the Vette for today.:rofl: