LOTS of OIL in SPARK PLUG WELL-HELP!

[93_blk_blk_mtx]

All I wanted to do was to change out new spark plugs and plug wires, when I noticed a lot of oil in the spark plug wells. There is so much oil, that I afraid if I pull out the old spark plug, the oil will enter into the combustion chamber. What should I do?

This is the first time I've taken a job on my SHO this far, and now I'm really nervous about going further. Please help with any and all suggestions.

In fact, I would like to talk to someone who has experience this situation. Thank you all, and I hope to get a response very soon.

I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE INFO I HAVE GOTTEN OVER THE YEARS.

Kwan S. Kim
Springfield, Missouri
email: [email protected]

 

[PROPHET]

You already have spark plugs, spark plug wires, all you need valve cover gasket set and lower intake gasket set, and the labor. Click on this link http://www.shophoenixproject.com how to info.

www.autozone.com would be the cheapest for the gasket sets and also has very good how to pages.

Here are some numbers for the lower intake gaskets...
ValueCraft lower set VMS4311G $13.99
Head gaskets...Felpro VS50378R $71.99 if these don't come with the oil plug well seals but i think they do, then you could check part ROL rubber VS366 $197.90

But since you have the intake and valve covers off this would be an excellent time to do your upper 60k maintenance if money and time permits, would save you money on purchasing gaskets in future and youd have a better running SHO for a much longer period of time, even better would be to get the lower 60k as well and rest asured of having a healthy SHO for years to come.

Also you may want to check on our club sections find a club or member that will help you do the job if you can't do it yourself and cheaper than going to a dealer or going to a mechanic that's not experienced with these cars.

Good luck and make sure everything is torqued down to proper specs on install.

 

[greenbeanmtx]

If your just looking to get the oil out to change your plugs then all you need to do is create some form of a suction device to get it out. I took one of those things doctors use to suck babys ears and nose out and put a long straw on the end and sucked them out..... There willl still be a little left in the very bottom but its so miniscule that when u start the car up it doesnt even hardly puff any smoke. Mine does the same thing and actually once a month i just suck the oil out, i dont know why i waste my time though cuz like 2 days later its back again. the guy i bought it from just had the 60k done so i dont feel like taking them off to replace the gaskets yet, figure ill wait till the next 60k. Ford really should come up with a better plan on these gaskets because my moms 01 lincoln ls with only 30k on it had oil in the valleys. Crazy stuff. Good luck, Karson

 

[NoFlipping]

To get my oil out, I sprayed in some throttle body cleaner to thin the oil up a bit, and then used an old Windex bottle sprayer to spray it out into a wad of paper towling. Only took about 5-6 pumps per cylinder. The "straw" on the sprayer is also small enough to get right down right next to the base of the plug. I tried the turkey baster idea and it left too much remaining in the bottom of the plug well. Good luck.

 

[puebloSHO]

Granted, I'm a newbie, but, I just finished doing this job and I just let the oil drain into the cylinder. What's the harm? The spark plug boot keeps most dust and dirt out of the oil and it probably ends up down the cylinder anyway over time. Yes, it will smoke upon re-start, but not for long. If you have a way to extract it, go for it. Otherwise, I think too much is put into not letting the oil drain into the cylinder. More potential cylinder scaring by far comes from the intake tract I would think.

As far as replacing the gaskets, I just cleaned everything up very well with acetone and applied some high-temp RTV, worked fine, no leaks.

Again, I qualify my remarks as a newbie!

 

[PROPHET]

Please don't put band-aid on a problem that may leave you and the car stranded far away from home, please go back to my original response and get the car fixed properly.

Here's the problem with not fixing it properly, you clean out the oil and install the new wires and plugs and go your merry way, the oil builds up again to the point that it will ruin your spark plug wires along with the plugs, youve just lost money as you have to again purchase new wires and new plugs and may even need a tow, most likely in a short amount of time.

 

[puebloSHO]

Do we trust SHOTIMES???

http://www.shotimes.com/php-bin/mod...le=article&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0&sid=71

Again, if you have the extra cash, go for it, replace the gaskets. But, you may not have to, and you may be able to pocket the money or spend it elsewhere.

 

[SHOtimer]

Granted, I'm a newbie, but, I just finished doing this job and I just let the oil drain into the cylinder. What's the harm? The spark plug boot keeps most dust and dirt out of the oil and it probably ends up down the cylinder anyway over time (Uhm no it doesn't ). Yes, it will smoke upon re-start, but not for long. If you have a way to extract it, go for it. Otherwise, I think too much is put into not letting the oil drain into the cylinder. More potential cylinder scaring by far comes from the intake tract I would think.

As far as replacing the gaskets, I just cleaned everything up very well with acetone and applied some high-temp RTV, worked fine, no leaks.

Again, I qualify my remarks as a newbie!

You can spend a few minutes and clean the wells out and save the cylinder walls and rings of your motor the scaring that you will incur by draining the oil into them. The sparkplug boots don't hold out all the dirt, grit and the such. So when you drain it you are just putting all of that stuff into your motor..... These motors will last a long time if you take care of them...but if you want to trash yours and cause it premature wear and tear by all means ... ..go ahead.

Doug

 

[greenbeanmtx]

Good idea with thinning the oil out and spraying it out. That would get rid of what little was left over. plus clean it nicely inside there. Im not trying to hide or ignore problems with the oil collecting. But im 19 and limited on cash so i cant spend tons of money tearing the top end apart to replace gaskets. So for the time being, i just suck the oil out and go on my way. Its got 125k on it so i understand if i have to love it a little, and cleaning oil out of the valleys regulary to me is like changing a babys diaper. Just do it.... Whether you want to dump all that money into it or not at least do it until you get ready to tear it apart. I think we will all agree that its not good to just let it sit there. And as long as the oil doesnt have a long enough time to really sit and bake in there, then its fine. Sucking mine out weekly hasnt hurt my sparkplugs or my wires. But i agree, if you change ur plugs DO NOT let the oil go into it, suck them out as good as possible.

 

[NoFlipping]

The financial reality of oil in the wells is that, eventually, the wires WILL break down. They don't take kindly to sitting in pools of oil. If you start getting some low-RPM hestiation or bucking, they've probably **** the bed.

So, if you've got new(er) wires, you might scape up the money to get the new gasket set. Otherwise, when your wires do finally crap out, you'll probably decide to replace the gaskets with wire set #2 (an additional $129 bucks).

But, if you want to be really thrifty, you might try the RTV trick on just the plug well gaskets. $3.00 and a little labor. It is the CHEAPEST action to take that might acutally do some good for while. My valve cover gaskets were fine when I replaced them - only the plug well gaskets took a crap hardening up.

Your choices are many. Good luck.

 

[Rockledge]

Granted, I'm a newbie, but, I just finished doing this job and I just let the oil drain into the cylinder. What's the harm? The spark plug boot keeps most dust and dirt out of the oil and it probably ends up down the cylinder anyway over time. Yes, it will smoke upon re-start, but not for long. If you have a way to extract it, go for it. Otherwise, I think too much is put into not letting the oil drain into the cylinder....

It's the dirt and other particles in the oil that I would worry about, not the oil itself. If the oil in the wells is dirty at all (and it always is, from what I read and hear) then you are essentially directly introducing dirt into the cylinders, dirt that is embedded in oil and therefore likely to remain in the cylinder for more than a few strokes. And it is not dirt that would normally end up in the cylinder, since there would be no way for it to get in there unless the plugs are pulled.

Taking some time to clean the plug wells before changing out the plugs is sound practice, IMO.

 

[SHOZ123]

The gaskets leak because of age and excessive pressure in the crankcase. The PCV system on the V6 is rather anemic due to the fact it uses TB vortex ports to create the vacuum necessary to pull the blowby out of the crankcase and into the intake manifold. These ports create a very low amount of vacuum to ventilate the fumes.

One thing you can try is to plug the 3/8" line that comes from the radiator side of the TB and goes to the front valve cover. This will create a low vacuum on the crankcase when the engine is running at anytime other than WOT. The vacuum will help seal the valve cover spark plug gaskets. This, along with the lack of positive pressure in the valve cover area, should reduce the oil that gets into the plug wells.

 

[puebloSHO]

You can spend a few minutes and clean the wells out and save the cylinder walls and rings of your motor the scaring that you will incur by draining the oil into them. The sparkplug boots don't hold out all the dirt, grit and the such. So when you drain it you are just putting all of that stuff into your motor..... These motors will last a long time if you take care of them...but if you want to trash yours and cause it premature wear and tear by all means ... ..go ahead.

Doug

95 ATX-164k / Purchased-123k / Upper 60k-134k / Rebuilt ATX-142k / New Motor Mounts-142k / Rod bearings-144k...

Hum, lets see, my sho, 188,000+ miles, heads or bottom end never been opened. Your sho, rod bearings at 144k???

Actions speak louder than words...

 

[SHOtimer]

Hum, lets see, my sho, 188,000+ miles, heads or bottom end never been opened. Your sho, rod bearings at 144k???

Actions speak louder than words...

Yes...it is called preventative maintainence, as the rod bearings are just about the one weakness of the internal workings of this motor. If you speak to the majority of high mileage SHO owners or those looking to prolong their motors they would say that replacing the rod bearing is the one of the best things you can do to prolong your motor. I'm not sure about you but, i'm into preserving my motor, not destroying it. Hum, lets see I would bet that my SHO has higher oil pressure than yours as a result of my fresh bearings. If your not aware engines enjoy higher oil pressure and tend to last longer since they are better lubricated. But, oil pressure probably won't bother you too much because you will be burning enough oil from your destroyed cylinder walls that pressure won't bother you a bit.

So, yes you are right actions do speak louder than words...I have a motor that burns no oil has very healthy pressure and will last me a long time... :burn_out:. As for the condition of your SHO I cannot speak.... :corn:

As a side not: You might want to wait untill you have at least 10 posts before you start making accusations about actions and words... :thumbs_u:

Doug

 

[puebloSHO]

ok, you win!

 

[puebloSHO]

by the way, doesnt my baby look good, probably comparable to the condition of the cylinder walls, huh? HaHa

 

[93_blk_blk_mtx]

Standing by for parts

Thanks everyone for all your imput. I have ordered all gaskets and should be ready install soon.

Is there anyone near Springfield Missouri that could help me with the actual valve adjustment? This is the only area that I'm sure I will mess up.

If you are interested please respond. I would pay for all expensives including gas, travel time and labor.

Thanks again to everyone that responded to my posting, and I wil update as soon as everything together back in my SHO.

Kwan S. Kim
Springfield, MO
email: [email protected]

 

[SHOtimer]

....probably. But, has potential.

 

[puebloSHO]

and now for the after picture, freshly painted about 10 days ago... still working her back into shape.

 

[Dr. Tweak]

and now for the after picture, freshly painted about 10 days ago... still working her back into shape.

MUCH nicer!

You need some corners?