oil on spark plugs [Merged 11-7] oily wire wires cover valley well wells

[gsxAWDdsm692]

It looks like it comes up from the bottom plug cover bolts but I'm not sure.

 

[OwninFools]

I had to get a new valve cover gasket and it fixed my problem on my n/a

 

[lostsenerio]

looks like the valve cover gasket fixed it thanks!!

 

[gsxAWDdsm692]

looks like the valve cover gasket fixed it thanks!!

Beware. I got my valve cover powdercoated and put on a new gasket set and it is starting to get oil in the well. I need to investigate it more. I guess don't tighten them down that much.

 

[MASMORE]

on top of the valve cover, i notice a small puddle of oil their, what could this be?

<a href="http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa7/masmore/?action=view&current=DSM-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa7/masmore/DSM-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[silver bullit]

Valve cover gasket leaking, spark plug gasket leaking, valve cover cracked cause its only supposed to be torqued down to 4 ft-lbs of torque, or your oil cap gasket is leaking.

Crappy pic.

 

[hypnoticpimp]

Most likely it's the gasket around the oil cap.

 

[spyder97gs]

x2 on the oil cap. I got a replacement for $6 or so from the local parts store.

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

Got me too. Damn oil cap gasket. Pulled my COP and an entire sparkplug well filled up with so much oil I couldn't see the spark plug. $15 brand new replacement oem cap.

 

[mindset]

Yesterday I went to go look at this car and it's a 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX.
It has 160k, and it's super clean inside and out. It has a hard upperintercooler pipe and guages. According to the dealer, the wastegate is bad. The guy told me when he drove it it spooled to 18psi (stock t25 turbo). Then when I decided to pull the plugs, there was oil inside/on the plug. The dealer said that the only reason why there is oil there is because it has a bad wastegate. I am unsure if the wastegate is stuck open or closed but do you guys think I'm wasting my time on this car? What kind of damage do you think 18 psi has done?

If I plan on buying it, I'm already looking at just replacing the whole turbo and putting on a 16g with a MBC and running it at 11 or 12 psi.

What do you guys think?


EDIT: The guy did start it up for me and it idled @1200RPM's

 

[LKWTSI]

Sounds dodgy to me.
How bad was the oil on the plugs?
As far as the wastegate causing it, that's bogus. There's not oil transfer from the wastegate, unless something is broken in the oil lines and letting oil blow back into the exhaust side of the turbo and getting sucked up to the plugs. All sounds too iffy.
DO a compression test and see what the results are.
I'd also check to see if there's oil in the coolant and vice versa, leading towards a possible head gasket problem.

 

[mindset]

Sounds dodgy to me.
How bad was the oil on the plugs?
As far as the wastegate causing it, that's bogus. There's not oil transfer from the wastegate, unless something is broken in the oil lines and letting oil blow back into the exhaust side of the turbo and getting sucked up to the plugs. All sounds too iffy.
DO a compression test and see what the results are.
I'd also check to see if there's oil in the coolant and vice versa, leading towards a possible head gasket problem.

Yea, I dont know what to consider bad, but there was enough on them to see that there was oil without touching it. I knew the wastegate would not cause oil to go onto the plugs, so I figured it's either a head gasket, valve cover gasket (seals), or a cracked head, which I really do not want to risk if I buy it. The car is being sold at a dealership so I doubt they're going to let me take off the valve cover, or do a compression check. But I might have to call them and get them to do one. I remember I went in there and they didn't know 2 things about DSM's. I'll have to check if they have some kind of deal I can get with them.
Do you think 18psi did much damage?
I talked to my one buddy whos got a 400whp and he said that I'm just wasting time with it and the risk of a cracked head is too high. But he said to do tests.... so I'm gonna give that place a call.

 

[Backinajiffy12]

How much?

 

[mindset]

List price $5500
I got him down to $4000 cash
But I guarantee I could get him down to $3500 because of the problems.

EDIT: This is one of the most cleanest eclipse's I've ever seen.
Beautiful Exterior and Interior
It's Silver

 

[MichaelSuch]

$3500 isn't bad at all for an extremely clean car like you are saying, it just needs a little tlc. Replacing a head isn't too hard of a job, if that's even what is needed to be done. Definately start off with a compression test and see what comes up...

 

[mindset]

So if a compression test comes up good, the head does NOT have a crack, but I will probably have to replace a couple gaskets, correct?

 

[JEFFREYCASTGSX]

Oil in the spark plugs is bad, but if its the oil on the plug wires thats not a bad problem, more than likely just a valve cover seal which can be fixed with 20 dollars. I dont get how the wastegate being bad have any relation with the plugs, but if its bad then it probably wouldnt hold 18psi, and also 18psi for a t25 is bad, not for the motor but for the turbo.... Do other checks if you can , drive it and see if it smokes or check to see if theres oil in the antifreeze or vice versa, you know basic stuff. Try to do a compression test also. Cracked heads are probably not an issue, and as for the high idle its probably just idle surge which is easy to fix, let the dealer know everything about it and you will probably be able to bring the price down to 3000.

 

[mindset]

Oil in the spark plugs is bad, but if its the oil on the plug wires thats not a bad problem, more than likely just a valve cover seal which can be fixed with 20 dollars. I dont get how the wastegate being bad have any relation with the plugs, but if its bad then it probably wouldnt hold 18psi, and also 18psi for a t25 is bad, not for the motor but for the turbo.... Do other checks if you can , drive it and see if it smokes or check to see if theres oil in the antifreeze or vice versa, you know basic stuff. Try to do a compression test also. Cracked heads are probably not an issue, and as for the high idle its probably just idle surge which is easy to fix, let the dealer know everything about it and you will probably be able to bring the price down to 3000.

Good call chief. He did start it up, and there was light amounts of smoke coming out. It sounded fine.

 

[tkelly27]

That's a terrible price for not knowing what's wrong with it. It can be getting oil from any of those sources, or a bad turbo can sometimes do that. If it's been running at 18psi for a long period of time the turbo is at best unhappy, and likely shot. I wouldn't buy it unless I had done a leak down test or seen someone do it and seen the results. That or had it in writing that the leak down test was good and that if it wasn't they would fix it. Without any of that you could easily be stepping into a head or short block rebuild, which isn't bad on a $500 or $1000 car, but for $3500 or $4k, I'd want something more.

Leak down test. You can get good compression results and still have blowby from the rings.

 

[talonDSMerr]

You should definitely test drive it yourself before you buy it, instead of having him just start it up.

 

[mindset]

That's a terrible price for not knowing what's wrong with it. It can be getting oil from any of those sources, or a bad turbo can sometimes do that. If it's been running at 18psi for a long period of time the turbo is at best unhappy, and likely shot. I wouldn't buy it unless I had done a leak down test or seen someone do it and seen the results. That or had it in writing that the leak down test was good and that if it wasn't they would fix it. Without any of that you could easily be stepping into a head or short block rebuild, which isn't bad on a $500 or $1000 car, but for $3500 or $4k, I'd want something more.

Leak down test. You can get good compression results and still have blowby from the rings.

Never heard of a leak down test. I'll do some research on that. I think I'm going up there tomorrow and I will get some more information on the whole car. I'm going to tell them whats wrong and try to break'em down to $3000, if a compression test goes well.

 

[mindset]

You should definitely test drive it yourself before you buy it, instead of having him just start it up.

Considering I'm too young, I doubt they'll let me drive it. A good buddy of mine said if he needs to, he'll go test drive it for me.


EDIT***: How do you guys feel about 160k miles on the engine?
If the engine is releasing blue smoke, the piston rings are shot, correct?

 

[BkzProblem]

Blue smoke is oil so its either the piston rings are bad, OR its burning off the oil on the plugs, OR the head has bad valve seals in it letting oil down into the cylinder OR you could have a bad turbo because its a stock turbo running WAYYYY to much lbs.. OR, there is a possibility that the head is cracked... But the guy trying to sell you the car is full of $h**.... He should have said that it is leaking oil into the plugs AND it has a bad wastegate.... Not it is leaking oil because of the wastegate.... The wastegate not working has absolutely nohing to do oil on the plugs....

 

[Colt4G63 also]

Blue smoke is oil so its either the piston rings are bad, OR its burning off the oil on the plugs, OR the head has bad valve seals in it letting oil down into the cylinder OR you could have a bad turbo because its a stock turbo running WAYYYY to much lbs.. OR, there is a possibility that the head is cracked... But the guy trying to sell you the car is full of $h**.... He should have said that it is leaking oil into the plugs AND it has a bad wastegate.... Not it is leaking oil because of the wastegate.... The wastegate not working has absolutely nohing to do oil on the plugs....

That dude is absolutely right, I wouldn't trust the seller. It sounds like he's trying to pull one over on you because you're young, and he probably figures you'll f**k the car all up before you even start driving, and he'll be off the hook. If this car has been running 18 Psi without any supporting mods, there's a good possibility that the pistons are melted.

I would offer no more than $1000 for it without seeing the tops of the pistons.

 

[mindset]

That dude is absolutely right, I wouldn't trust the seller. It sounds like he's trying to pull one over on you because you're young, and he probably figures you'll f**k the car all up before you even start driving, and he'll be off the hook. If this car has been running 18 Psi without any supporting mods, there's a good possibility that the pistons are melted.

I would offer no more than $1000 for it without seeing the tops of the pistons.

Yea me and my buddy, who owns 2 dsms, as of yesterday, went in there and they didn't know what a dsm was, we kind of "ran" that place. The guy even admitted that we knew more about the car than he did. I'm calling there today to see if they can do a compression check, while I'm present. I should be going up there today after school and telling the guy what the deal is.