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

[turbotemper]

Print up a list of parts you will need to rebuild the head & or block if there is major issues, take it to them & talk them down on that price. Everyone is hurtin for money, if they really want to sell it they will let it go for cheap.

 

[mindset]

Yea the thing is, is that I'm not looking to do any big work right now. Such as swapping a head or doing a rebuild. I'm ok with changing a couple gaskets or swapping a turbo but I'll let you guys know in a little bit what's going on.

 

[GsXtC21]

Yea the thing is, is that I'm not looking to do any big work right now. Such as swapping a head or doing a rebuild. I'm ok with changing a couple gaskets or swapping a turbo but I'll let you guys know in a little bit what's going on.

Then it sounds like your not ready for this car, or any DSM period for that matter jk,

Ps, I wouldn't give my DSM up for anything...!!!!

 

[mindset]

Well, I'm ready for it. I just need the car to last a little bit before I do a rebuild. I have to save up some more cash. Little things aren't that big of a deal right now. I've been wanting one of these cars for about a year and a half now. Just this one car has really stumped me.

 

[tkelly27]

Haha, yeah, be ready to do serious work to the car. Some come happy and stay happy, others do not. Mine didn't but a lot of it was my fault for not going over everything on a car that had been abused.

If it's an oil problem, only leak down test will do.
http://www.geocities.com/dsmgrrrl/FAQs/leakdown.htm
It says when to do it, but if you are burning oil it's the only way to diagnose it properly.

The cylinder walls can have spots that are galled or out of round that allow oil past the rings, but only for a very small fraction of the compression stroke which will give you good compression ratings, but when you hit it with the leak down tester when the piston is BDC it will fail miserably. It will also show if the valves are bad. If all of that is good then you can move on to valve stem seals and external places for the oil to be coming from.

One other strange thing that can happen, there is oil behind the exhaust manifold threads. I was getting oil sprayed into the exhaust ports through the manifold gasket. I don't remember if it showed up on the plugs, but it smoked like you can't believe.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

This may not be a popular opinion, but, I wouldn't get involved with a turbo DSM with 160k miles.
Plus the dealership doesn't have a clue whats wrong with the car if they think that a malfunctioning wastegate (which is probably fine and the overboosting problem is likely a combination of messed up vac. lines and/or an MBC) is the sole cause for oil on the plugs.

 

[mindset]

Yea, I'm definitely agreeing. The mileage is way too high. But the only thing holding me back from moving on is the perfect exterior and interior. Personally, I think the guy that sold it to them knew what was up with the car and got rid of it before it completely blew. I appreciate the help though. Thanks.

 

[talon90awd]

hi, i just got this car from my brother inlaw 1997 gst convertable, it was running really bad.
i pulled out the plugs and found that the #3 (3rd from timebelt) was completely submerged in oil. ok so i thought that the valve cover gasket must be leaking, reaplaced it (checker brand Rubber style) but im still slowly getting oil back in the same cylinder over a period of few weeks or so, but just a little, maybe to almost cover the part of the plug that the socket uses . there are a coulple of stripped valve cover bolts, so im thinking that the might be helping the problem or is there some kind of trick(sealant) i was saposto do when installing the new valve cover gasket, i check compresson cause some people in other threads were sugesting bad rings, im getting 170-180 accross the board, the plugs all look normal, maybe a little to white on the tips, but there not wet or anything, also my o2 is throwing a code, dont think that has anythong to do with it but i just put it in there
thanks for any help

 

[Harriz801]

This could possibly be a cracked valve cover letting oil in from somewhere.

I just spent my past few weeks trying to hunt down an oil leak coming from my valve cover.

Turns out it was cracked and I couldn't even hardly tell.

The only way I realized it was be revving the car under the hood and looking at the valve cover.

Test around for cracks and see what you come up with. Im sure its not needed but I used RTV when I built my motor (A.K.A. Hondabond)

 

[banshee04]

Did you torque the valve cover bolts up properly?

 

[Pirrofab]

Did you also replace the o- ring gaskets for the spark plug wells? it could be possible that they were installed upside down or they might have been pinched while installing and not in the recess in the valve cover. Like the others have said, make sure the valve cover isn't cracked either.

 

[garrek11]

I just replaced the valve cover gasket (kit) on my 92 eagle talon tsi and everything sealed just fine it seemed until i drove it and i looked to see if everything was fine but it had oil around the spark plugs as if its leaking from the bolts around them? i checked to make sure everything was tight and they were. so what do i do now?

 

[ilco187]

how tight did you fasten it down to the head, if it still leaks could use a little permatex on it.

 

[Dsmj89]

I hope you didn't over-tighten the bolts, these valve covers are very fragile.
I would get some jb weld and apply a few dabs of it around the leaking area where the crack is and let it dry for at least 12 hours.

 

[garrek11]

wouldnt you hear a crack if you over tighten the bolts? ### i know i didnt do that. i put some seal on the bolts to see if that would do anything and that didnt help.

 

[live4my4g63]

make sure its not coming from under your oil cap, try to use a gasket sealant when you put all gaskets on also.

 

[garrek11]

i put it on the half moon and on the four coners by the timing belt. should i just put it all around it? and the spark plugs gaskets also? I thought sealant expands after a while?

 

[garrek11]

how can you test a valve cover for leaks? ### i can't tell where its coming from?

 

[Dsmj89]

Clean your valve cover all around and inside the spark plug well.
Then run the car and check back and see where the oil is coming from.
I'm pretty sure your oil cap's seal is gone, get it changed if this is so.

 

[garrek11]

i just got one but its still leaking from the corner bolt by the timing belt im pretty sure. on the inside by the spark plug.

 

[Dsmj89]

Are you re-using your old gaskets ? If so, are they in good condition ?
Also i forgot to mention you might want to look into getting your cam seals changed as well.

 

[garrek11]

i got a new seal just a week ago. im pretty sure its cracked somewhere. i just havent found it. when i do find it and if thats it. jb weld should work?

 

[tonyt_harris]

+1 on the oil cap.

 

[Pirrofab]

i got a new seal just a week ago. im pretty sure its cracked somewhere. i just havent found it. when i do find it and if thats it. jb weld should work?

Jb weld CAN work but you have to make sure its completly clean without any oil residue at all. Make sure that the jb wld can harden and cure before any oil gets near it or it can contaminte and not set up right. I've already used jb weld to patch a crack in my oil return line for the turbo to get the car back home and it worked very well at making the leak almost non existent. I wouldn't recommend doing what I did but I had to get home.

You can clean the surface with some sort of degreaser (ie: simplegreen, carb clean, brake cleaner)

 

[srpjosh]

So, my car sat for awhile, about 3 weeks. When I started it back up the idle was really rough, and I couldn't rev it without it stalling. I pulled the plug wires and cylinder 1 was FULL of oil. I pulled the valve cover off and the seals around the plug walls look fine. What do you guys think made this happen?