Help!! Oil in spark plug hole
08-01-2002, 05:25 PM
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Help!! Oil in spark plug hole
I was just changing out my spark plugs myself for the first time. The first three cylinders went fine, but on the fourth, I noticed a fair bit of oil on the end of the wire after I pulled it out of the hole. There seems to be a small pool of oil at the topside of the spark plug. The plug itself appears to be okay - as in there are no visible cracks etc. Is this normal? Does anyone have any idea what this means, or what could cause such a thing? The car seems to be running fairly well. Was the sparkplug just defective? Please help... The car is an 87 944S, with 142,000 miles on it.
08-01-2002, 05:30 PM
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Does it look like it was coming up out of the hole, or just sitting on top of it? if it doesn't look like it's coming from inside, my only guess would be someone spilling oil on it. Is it one of the the back plugs? it's not all that far from the oil fill tube.
08-01-2002, 05:43 PM
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The oil was not on the top of the cam cover. The was present after I pulled the spark plug wire. The end of the spark plug wire was in the oil. I just got out the flashlight, and it seems like there is about a teaspoon or oil at the bottom of the hole. However, there is not any on the threadsof the plug. The cylinder doesn't appear to have oil on it from what I can tell. The oil seems to be concentrated at the top of the spark plug, as if it was coming from above perhaps. Could the oil have leaked in from where the where the cam cover meets the head?
08-01-2002, 07:21 PM
#4
The reason you have oil there is because the gasket on the cam cover is leaking,allowing oil to leak down into the spark plug cavity.I had the same thing on my 1987-944S.I ordered a new cam cover gasket set from Zims and solved my problem.When you order this you get-1 main cover gasket,4 spark plug gaskets,and all the gaskets that go under the cam cover bolt cups.This is a easy fix if you are a average shadetree mechanic.Hope this helps. <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />
08-01-2002, 09:34 PM
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Thanks a lot rfuerst944s. I was starting to suspect that was the problem. I am just glad it is not anything extremely serious. Thanks again for the advice.
08-02-2002, 04:23 AM
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i'm not entirely sure i get it, but i suggest you check your coolant for oil.. siphon it into a cup and look at the top for oil spots. i just had that -exact- same thing happen to me, and i'm doing a top-end job.
