[Shotimes] Sparkplugs covered in oil?

[Donald Mallinson]

Joe,

As mentioned you can replace the seals or clean and reuse 
the old seals after applying a thin coat of silicone sealant.

But I suspect you are asking what can you do RIGHT NOW to 
help the problem.

Facts are that the oil builds up over a long period.

You can help things and prevent problems (the oil will 
eventually, if it hasn't already, lead to a misfire as the 
spark takes the easier path through the oil to the head) by 
just cleaning the oil out.

Start by taking a long thin screwdriver and some rags, and 
poke the rags down in the plug well as deep as you can. 
Take care not to break the plugs.

Then remove the plugs.  There will still be some oil there, 
but it will run into the cyl and after a puff of blue smoke 
at startup, things will be fine.

Then again, take rags and shove them down there to get the 
rest of the oil.  Spray a little carb cleaner on the rags to 
get it really clean.

Then clean the plugs, or put new ones in.  Be sure to gap 
the plugs.  The talk of ruining platinum plugs by gapping is 
hogwash.  Just go easy with the wire gauge and it will be 
fine.  Be sure you got out the old gasket before you put the 
new plugs in.  Double gaskets are asking for trouble.

Put a little anti-seize on the plug threads and tighten 
normally, don't overtighten, you are going into aluminum!

Clean the spark plug boot, put a little dielectric grease on 
the opening of the boot and re-install.

NOTE: if you find dark jagged marks on either the plug or 
the boot, you must replace the plug and boot because carbon 
tracking has happened.  Electricity takes the easy path to 
ground, causing a misfire, and leave carbon in its wake. 
This can't be properly cleaned off and if left on can allow 
the misfire to continue and you can cook your cat converters 
if it gets bad enough.

Check the plugs every couple of months.  I little oil isn't 
a problem, but when it gets onto the spark plug boot, it 
needs to be addressed.

After cleaning you should be good for maybe a year or more, 
depending on how many miles you drive.

Next time you can, remove the valve covers, clean the intake 
and use silicone on BOTH sides of the plug well gaskets. 
New gaskets don't really solve the problem so if your old 
ones are OK, just silicone them and expect to see oil there 
again sometime in the future.

Don Mallinson



> Miethos <miethos@cox.net> wrote:I've known that my car was burning oil cause I keep having to add every
> little while but today I took off my spark plug wires and pulled out one
> of the plugs itself and it had oil all over it. I looked down inside
> the hole and I could see oil all over the place. What do I need to
> replace/fix to remedy this? I'm guessing one of my seals is shot to
> hell.
> 
> ~Joe