Vehicles of Guru3D

No, there's oil on the top of the plugs, from leaking o-rings around the valve cover. Or, there are no o-rings, previous owner has used some kind of POS "gasket in a tube" stuff. Oil is leaking into the plug tubes like the river Volga itself, which leads to the plugs shorting. I have bought all the seals I need to replace it, but I can't do it until the rain stops. I have no access to a garage where I live now, so it must be done outside. Sucks ass.

 

Apologies, John. When I read your initial post on the problem, for some reason I read that you thought your head gasket was blown and that's what was causing the oil all over the place (it was late here... ) You're clearly not having head gasket issues.

It's looking like both of the issues were coincidental in their timing... which is a good thing for you.
Like you said, it's probable that the plug had been failing for some time, and now that it's replaced, it's running Pure-Smooth. (LOL)

Now just to replace the valve cover gaskets with REAL gaskets and you'll be golden!

As an added measure, I'd also double check the engine timing to ensure it's at whatever degrees it's supposed to be, and also make sure if you're hearing any ping at all, to run higher octane gas to remove all detonation altogether.


Good luck!
Psychlone

 

I doubt any knock or ping would be due to too low of an octane fuel. That's pretty uncommon these days, even if you use the lowest octane available. Then again it doesn't have computer control (And it uses a carb right?).

 

No it's an injection engine. I'll see if I can get the timing checked, my friend should have the tools for that.

As for octane... well, the standard stuff around here is 95%, and that's what it says on the tank lid on the car, too. There's 98% too, but it costs a bit more. From what I can understand the way this is calculated is differently in America so it might not make any sense to you.

 

You could also borrow a compression gauge from a friend or rent one from the parts store and check the compression. A bad head gasket will usually turn up during a compression check.

Do you mean that it is 98% gasonline? Our gas over here contains about 10% ethanol due to government intervention. We used to use MTBE which contains more chemical potential energy, but it wasn't "green" enough so now most stations in my area serve 87 (regular) 89 (plus) and 92 (premium). Most pumps have a sticker that says "contains 10% ethanol."

 

Leaky valve cover gasket is normal for those years.
If you replace it, you'll find more oil in the plug wells in 1-2 months.

Personally, I think the cover warps under heat ruins the seal.
note : it's not a big deal with the oil in there. I don't even bother with it anymore.

Typically, the roll-up antenna goes bad, and the CV shaft rubber boots go ($50 per) and allow sand into the joints (which makes for a clicking/grinding sound when you turn under power). Sometimes the ignition module ($80) goes bad too, which is just behind the distributor cover.

All in all, it's a really reliable car that's super cheap to keep on the road.
I can't recommend it enough.

-scheherazade

 

Yeah, but in my case the o-rings are leaking so much that it's shorting one of the plugs, so it has to be fixed. The plug is soaked in oil.

And yeah I know about the rubber boots. Already changed two of them, as well as a CV joint.

All in all it's been very good to me. It ALWAYS starts right away, no matter how cold it is, and I live in a very cold place. It has a lot of miles on it, but I think I should be able to keep it for still a while.

@BigBlockTownCar: I honestly don't know. From what I can understand the number is indicating the relative number of octane the fuel has by compression rating. Ie, if it's 95%, its compression rating is comparable to fuel with 95% octane. It doesn't actually say how much octane the fuel has. I think. All I know is that most stations serve 3 types of petrol: 95%, 98% and Shell V-Power (in Shell stations..). I fill mine with 95% as it's the cheapest.

 

IIRC
octane initially was some measure for what proportion of 8-long carbon chains were in the mixture.
But now it's mostly a knock-resistance rating that has no basis in chemistry.

Eg. Alcohol has a higher octane 'rating' than petrol - which is why you see some cars getting 'silly power' on E85 by turning up boost to levels that would detonate with pump petrol (granted that fuel pumps need to pump more fuel due to lower energy density).

-scheherazade

 

How do the plug wires look? Sometimes the oil can deteriorate the boots and cause the wire to arc to the valve cover, causing a misfire.

 

The wires themselves look fine, and are not touched by oil as they look like this:



But yeah, probably not a bad idea to change them too. They are kind of expensive though.

 

Ahh, from the way you described it, I thought you were talking about an inch or more of oil in the tubes (enough to touch the wires).

If your not getting a misfire, I would just leave them.

 

My Baby.



460 brake, Nuff said.

 

Bloody well knew it. *sigh* Timing belt will probably have to be replaced, along with the water pump. Additionally, it's definitely burning oil in one of the cylinders, which happens to be the cylinder where the spark plug went to hell. Probably the valve gaskets or something else that requires me to take the whole bloody engine apart.

 

So I just drove this
http://www.automotiveaddicts.com/magazine/2006audis4v8testdrive.html

Let me tell you that now my manly man balls are now 4.5x bigger.

 

Bad Ass! Nice Evo you've got there mate!

 

/drool. First person on the forum that has one?

 

this is how I get around



2011 KTM 350sxf



2007 CRF250

 

Wanny: not a bad car... but if i'ma have a V8... i'd still prefer something that looks awesome with that V8..... like my Jeep Wrangler with headers and pretty much no exhaust system.... or my parent's '01 Trans-Am.