oily spark plugs

I checked my spark plugs today. They look ok except for oil all over two
of them. Not on the top where the spark is, but on the treads. The two
with oil on them also have a brown stain on the bottom of the ceramic
area(spark side). And the print that says "NGK R" is faded on only those
two plugs. Does anybody know what would cause all this oil? It is not
leaking from the top of the Valve Cover (O gaskets).

Also both front struts are leaking at the top inside the engine
conpartment. Does this mean they need replacing?

Thank for any help.

Doug

 

Are you certain? That's the most common source of the leak.

Is the engine using oil?

 

How do you there's no leaking from the spark plug tube gaskets?

When was the last time these were replaced? And did you use OEM?

Could you also post your model of Honda, year, and miles on it? This is
often helpful to those trying to help the original poster, and also is good
info for the archives.

I have a 1991 Civic and a couple of my plugs are getting oil on the thread
end (like you describe), but I think it's because I used non-OEM spark plug
tube gaskets a year or so ago.

You can google on that one, or of course keep checking back. I have only
limited experience on this. I'd replace them.

 

True, however, there are usually o-rings between the cam towers and the head
and these can also leak oil into the spark plug tubes. I needed to replace
these on my '88 Civic. They weren't too difficult but it's not a project
for beginners.

Eric

 

Eric,
The same thing happened on my 1993 accord about 4 years ago. I had to pay
about $300.00 to have a mechanic repair the problem. The cost would
probably much higher today.
Jason

 

which two? the inner ones? have you checked the valve lash? do you
have clean injectors?

 

(Jason) wrote in

 

When looking at the engine from the front, the one on the far right is
the most oily. And the other one is the second from the left. I know its
not leaking from the valve cover gasket because I can feel around with
my finger and the top area is dry as a bone.

My car is a 95 Civic Hatchback. With 353000kms or 218000mi on it.

The engine is not lose any oil at all. The only thing thats ever been
replaced in that area are the plugs and the valve cover gasket(which is
not leaking) since I've had the car(purchased at 288000kms, 177000mi). I
do not know the condition of the injectors. Never serviced them. Plugs
were not oily at the tip where the gap is.

Thanks

 

do the valve lash and run some injector cleaner through it. if it's not
burning oil, has no ecu codes and runs ok, don't worry about it.

 

<snip>

The #1 plug.

Did you remove the valve cover so you can see inside the spark plug well
better? Or have you tried peering down the well with a strong flashlight?

I stil think you've got a gasket leak.

 

I'll have a good deep look with a flashlight. It must be leaking down
there if no oil is resident on the electrodes. What is the gasket called
in that area?

 

It's called by a few names, but for my 1991 Civic, it's listed as "Gasket B"
under "Cylinder head cover" at
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5
&catcgry1=Civic&catcgry2=1991&catcgry3=4DR+LX&catcgry4=KA5MT&catcgry5=CYLIND
ER+HEAD+COVER .

 

Let's unbreak that URL, shall we?

<http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5&catcgry1=Civic&catcgry2=1991&catcgry3=4DR+LX&catcgry4=KA5MT&catcgry5=CYLINDER+HEAD+COVER>

 

That gasket is towards the top of where you put the spark plug is not
leaking. I looked down and there is a crease I can see about four inches
down and it is leaking. What is that gasket called? I assume there is is
gasket there. Gasket B is the top one I think.

 

Those are the o-rings that I referred to in my earlier post. They are the
parts labeled #16 & #17 in this diagram http://tinyurl.com/aby5j. The
diagram only shows two of the o-rings but there are a total of three #16s
and one of #17 that are needed. As I noted in my earlier post, they're not
a project for beginners.

Eric

 

Is this somthing I should get fixed asap? The electrodes on the spark
plug seem to not have any oil on them.

 

It's not a panic, but if you leave it, the spark plug tube will eventually
get pretty goopy and gungy inside, and may interfere with proper tightening
of new plugs.

If you like, you can just swab out the spark plug tube (plug in place!)
each time you do a valve adjustment (once a year is a good idea). Or more
often than that if you leave the valve cover on, and just unplug the spark
plug wires. You can get a piece of wire inside the tube with some terry
cloth taped to the end like a big Q-Tip, and swab out the oil.

If any gets on them, it will get burned off. It takes quite a bit of oil
entering the combustion chamber for the electrodes to stay wet with oil.

 

If the oil level in the spark plug tubes gets high enough for an extended
period of time, then you run the risk of damaging the spark plug wires. Oil
has a tendency to turn some rubber into mush. There is also a risk of
causing a misfire which would cause rough running and likely send partially
unburned gas to the catalytic converter. This in turn would cause it to
overheat and shorten its life span. Of course, you can avoid these risks by
following one of two paths. Either get the o-rings replaced, which might
cost around $300, or periodically remove the oil from the affected spark
plug tubes. I would remove the oil by swabbing it out with one of those
heavy duty blue paper towels (without removing the spark plugs). Then drive
the car for a week or two and recheck it. Depending on the status of the
o-rings, you might find that you need to remove the oil once a month or so.

If you do decide to get the o-rings replaced, then wait until you can
combine the labor with other services. For example, I would recommend
waiting until you need to get a major service with a valve adjustment. In
addition, you may also want to wait until you need to get the timing belt
and water pump replaced. Combining all three of these repair jobs would be
ideal since the valves will need to be adjusted and the timing belt will
likely need to be detensioned before the cam towers are removed. It would
also be a good idea to replace the cam seal and this is usually pretty
standard on a timing belt job. A reputable shop will discount the labor on
each of these tasks somewhat since there is overlapping work that needs to
be performed.

Eric

 

Eric,

Can you outline what has to be removed to get to these gaskets? Should I use
some sort of modified, manual procedure for removing the camshaft? Also, I
am not quite clear on what the "cam tower" is, even after looking at the
drawings.

It seems to me these (failed, lower gaskets) are more than likely why I am
getting oil in my 91 Civic's spark plug tubes, as well.

I replaced the camshaft seal (and crankshaft seal, which included taking off
the timing belt) last year, so I have that experience under my belt.

 

Alright, thanks for all the good info guys. I'll just keep and eye on it
for a while until I can warrant spending the money on it.