Oil in Spark Plug
Oil in Spark Plug Hey Everyone.
I've been getting a random misfires SES light. I've been reluctant to check anything but tonight I started by making sure all the plugs were snug. I pulled the coils off of the plugs and discovered what seems to be oil in the silver coil that overs the spark plug closest to the driver on the drivers side. I've never seen this before? Is this something major? The car is a 2000 T/A that just hit 70k. Any thoughts?
Matt
I've been getting a random misfires SES light. I've been reluctant to check anything but tonight I started by making sure all the plugs were snug. I pulled the coils off of the plugs and discovered what seems to be oil in the silver coil that overs the spark plug closest to the driver on the drivers side. I've never seen this before? Is this something major? The car is a 2000 T/A that just hit 70k. Any thoughts?
Matt
Yes there was oil on the spring inside the shield. I was talking with a friend and he thinks there may be possibly be a problem with the threads, maybe the spark plug was over tightened and stripped.
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Very strange. That oil had to come from somewhere. Good thing it is external(on heat shield). That little bit of oil on a heat shield doesn't appear to be enough to cause a misfire. P0300 is NOT cylinder specific. It means there are multiple misfires on random cylinders, but it is not consisten enough for the ECM to pinpoint a specific cylinder. You need to look for something common to all 8 cylinders or to Bank 1 or 2. I wouldn't be real concerned about that little bit of oil unless you can see oil leaking for that area.
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Pull the spark plug that goes to the coil and see if you have oil on the threads. Besides, this will give you the opurtunity to check your plugs. They could possibly be fouled.
Hey guys I finally got around to pulling the plugs on the driver side. Everything was great except for the plug from that coil pack. Here are some photos of it. Sorry for the blurriness but they are from my camera phone. I bought a new spark plug and threw that in there. Cleared the DTCs with HPtuners and the P0300 came back within 2 minutes. I didn't pull the new plug out to compare it as it was hot but I should have a chance in the next day or two.
What is involved in changing the valve cover gasket. I've never dove that far in.
I don't see any oil leaking on the outside of the motor.
What is involved in changing the valve cover gasket. I've never dove that far in.
I don't see any oil leaking on the outside of the motor.
With that much oil there has to be a trail of oil leading to the plug. The question is(if the cover gasket is leaking)why is it leaking? It shouldn't leak. Do you have PCV problems causing the pressure to look for the next easiest way out of your engine? It looks like you do. As far as the P0300 that's a different problem altogether. Those misfires are ramdom multiple misfires not associated with any particular cylinder. Are your misfires common to Bank1 or Bank2 or to both banks? Since the ECM won't tell you which cylinders are having a problem how are you going to find out which ones they are? You can use process of elimination and parts swapping for starts. If you had a misfire that was stood out from the rest you would get P030X instead of P0300. It's unusual for the MIL to be illuminated in less than two minutes as you say. That means the misfires have to be pretty severe for the DTC to go set that fast. The electrode on that plug is is clean so the oil is not making its' way to the combustion chambers causing your misfires. Your misfires are caused by something else. You have multiple problems.
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I don't know the specifics of HP Tuners, but he should be able to see all of his PIDs with it. That's a start. Modis is big bucks(above the average car owners pocket book). Maybe HP Tuners has bi-directional controls like Modis. He really needs to look at secondary output and injector pulses. A big aftermarket cam can also set P0300 DTC, but not usually in 2 minutes. The ECMs adaptive stategy can do a lot to adjust, but it doesn't perform miracles. When you go past the limits of the adaptive strategy a DTC gets set and the SES comes "ON". That's what's happening here. The oil leak is the least of his problems.
OK, so I've got 2 separate, hopefully unrelated problems:
1) P0300 Misfires
2) Oil leaking from somewhere onto the spark plug
1) Suggestions here are to start by replacing parts until we find the culprit. What do you guys suggest I start with. Plugs and wires? Should I try and get new coil packs? I'm not familiar with the PCV system. What should I be looking for? Since the misfires are random should there be something more overarching to look to than individual plugs and coil packs? Seems like plugs and packs are too simple of a solution, what are the chances that two or more of them go at the same time?
2) Check for oil coming from valve cover gasket. Does this make sense that it would ONLY be on one spark plug. To do this the coil packs need to come off giving access to the valve covers. Then replace the gasket.
As to the dielectric grease, I'm assuming that goes on the spark plug? How much do you put on and what are the advantages of using this?
Does anyone have HPTuners that would want to help me look at a scanner log(Not sure what i would be looking for). If so, what should we start with, just run the car for a few minutes and a few blips to the throttle? I don't know how safe it is to run the car with these problems.
1) P0300 Misfires
2) Oil leaking from somewhere onto the spark plug
1) Suggestions here are to start by replacing parts until we find the culprit. What do you guys suggest I start with. Plugs and wires? Should I try and get new coil packs? I'm not familiar with the PCV system. What should I be looking for? Since the misfires are random should there be something more overarching to look to than individual plugs and coil packs? Seems like plugs and packs are too simple of a solution, what are the chances that two or more of them go at the same time?
2) Check for oil coming from valve cover gasket. Does this make sense that it would ONLY be on one spark plug. To do this the coil packs need to come off giving access to the valve covers. Then replace the gasket.
As to the dielectric grease, I'm assuming that goes on the spark plug? How much do you put on and what are the advantages of using this?
Does anyone have HPTuners that would want to help me look at a scanner log(Not sure what i would be looking for). If so, what should we start with, just run the car for a few minutes and a few blips to the throttle? I don't know how safe it is to run the car with these problems.
Hmm, a little on the crazy, not very likely side, but is it possible that its oil from INSIDE the coil running down the plug wire and pooling at the plug?? Maybe pull that coil off and check it for oil coming out. And maybe weigh it and weigh another one.