Oil on the plugs?

[ctsho]

When I pull the boot off of the spark plug there is oil dripping off some of them. Although the motor runs great, no smoking or loss of power. I found this at SHOtimes.com

"Oil in the plug wells - a VERY common SHO problem. The cause is bad plug well seals. Signs will be rough running, and oil smoke out of the tail pipes. This problem is usually indicative of a SHO in need of a 60,000 mile tuneup."

I already had valve adjustments, timing belt and waterpump done, is it a matter of cleaning out the existing oil or and if it is still in need of new plug well seals (and should they have replaced these when I had the valve adjustments done?), how would I replace them?

Thanks

 

[smak]

yeah you would have saved yourself some time if they were replaced during valve adjustment.. but you live, and you learn

i dont know how oil in the plug wells would cause "oil smoke" out of the tailipipes.. maybe if the plugs arent screwed in tightly? rough running i can see though. definatly not condusive to a healthy spark anyways.

removing the oil from the wells is one thing, but how did it get there in the first place? chances are it will return before you know it. its a fairly easy job to replace plug well gaskets..

get a gasket kit for valve covers and plug well rings (about 70 on ebay for me) the rings fit onto the valve covers themselves.

you'll need t remove the intake, then valve covers.. clean mating surface, remove old gaskets and reinstall new.. great writup at www.shophoenixproject.com

good luck and take your time, have fun.

p.s. this is assuming the plug wells were cleaned during the valve adjustment.. if the person doing the work just checked the valve shims and didnt bother to clean out the wells after replacing o-rings that would mean you're doing the job twice for no reason.. but i cant see that happening. i'd get a hold of the valve adjuster in question to be sure though.

 

[ctsho]

Where?

I was looking for the article that described how to do the oil well gaskets but could not find it on your site... am I just missing it?

 

[Rob94]

When the oil level in the plug wells gets deep enough, it will foul the plug wires. When the plug wires foul, you will have a misfire situation, therefore the affected plug will not fire, and the unburned fuel will exit the exhaust, giving you dark smoke.

 

[stevemainian]

Faulty valve gaskets are usually the cause to this problem. You can easily get ahold of these. If its your first time, id say it would take about 5-6 hours to do.

 

[ctsho]

Well...

I did it, Gaskets (Valve Cover and Plug Wells) have been Done... Took me about 6.5 hours to do. Keep in mind I have never had the PLEASURE (Not... PAIN IN THE ***) of removing the intake manafold on a SHO untill today and what a job...

smak... the picture laiden tutorial was PHENOMINAL! Thank you so much, when I get the chance I will be sure to donate the the shopheonixproject. I had my laptop set up next to me in the garage and was running back and forth to make sure I was doing everything correctly!

Anyway, Thank You Very Much!

 

[smak]

although i'd love to take credit for it.. its not mine to take.. i myself have found the page invaluable in my ventures in upper 60, front 60 and front motor mount maintenance.

did mine over 3 days, 6 or 7 hours sounds about right for my first time also.

i hope to repay the site owner one day by renting the upper 60k kit and actually doing my valve shims this time. but until then (he's on the board btw) big thanks from both of us i guess.

congrats on the job well done, pretty darn rewarding aint it? now just think about how easy it would be to disassemble and paint the intake any tricked out colour of your choice!