Oil & spark plug holes
Oil & spark plug holes I had my car on the lift at work today and on each side of the motor, there was oil that looked to be seeping out of a couple spark plug holes. What do you all think is up with that. I KNOW is not from the valve covers, but its coming out of the hole. Obviously I know that oil is not supposed to be on the other side of the spark plug, and even if there was I don't thing it could get through all of those threads. Anybody have an idea on this or how the oil get even get in there? I sprayed the back 2 out with carb cleaner and I will see if the oil reappears in a week or so.
I guess when I do my cam/heads swap in couple weeks, I can really get a good look at things.
I guess when I do my cam/heads swap in couple weeks, I can really get a good look at things.
engine will just be turning over 80K on my way to class tomorrow. It seems to run fine, and when I put those plugs in and did my header install a few thousand miles ago I sure didn't notice any oil... I don't remember now, but I think I saw this on 2 plug holes on the passenger side and 3 on the driver side.
Well seeing as how I can change all 8 plugs in my LS1 in 15 minutes in a 3rd gen, I went outside and took a few pics. As you can see there is some light staining on the side of the block. It appears to be comng from the spark plug areas.
Turns out it was nothing more than a previous owner doing their job by pasting the plug threads with antisieze.
The antisieze must get warm and some of the residual must seep down the side of the block.
Here are some pics....
http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrow...der_id=1916492
Turns out it was nothing more than a previous owner doing their job by pasting the plug threads with antisieze.
The antisieze must get warm and some of the residual must seep down the side of the block. Here are some pics....
http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrow...der_id=1916492
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When I did my plugs, one of the taylor wires that was on the car broke, so I just went and bought some cheap-o's at the part store real quick. I thought maybe it was antisieze that got hot and ran down, but i don't think thats it. It's just too dark and looks like oil. I will lift it back up in a few days and see if its back on the holes that I cleaned. On the bright side, I have a different set of ported heads for it. I guess I'll be doing a compression check though before I waste my time doing a heads/cam swap.
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TECH Veteran
Joined: Dec 2001
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From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA
Originally Posted by 97MysticZ
I had my car on the lift at work today and on each side of the motor, there was oil that looked to be seeping out of a couple spark plug holes. What do you all think is up with that. I KNOW is not from the valve covers, but its coming out of the hole. Obviously I know that oil is not supposed to be on the other side of the spark plug, and even if there was I don't thing it could get through all of those threads. Anybody have an idea on this or how the oil get even get in there? I sprayed the back 2 out with carb cleaner and I will see if the oil reappears in a week or so.
I guess when I do my cam/heads swap in couple weeks, I can really get a good look at things.
I guess when I do my cam/heads swap in couple weeks, I can really get a good look at things.
Oil cannot come from bad rings in an amount enough to soak a spark plug thread. Oil can't travel upward after the engine is turned off to get ot the plug holes, and while the engine is running the oil is being burned and blown out the exhaust. If it was the rings you would be burning so much oil that you'd be leaving a trail of white/blue smoke that could be seen from space and you would be running so rich from the PCM trying to compensate that you would get 5 mpg.
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Originally Posted by Quickin
Why do you think it isn't bad valve seals? Oil on spark plug threads is the #1 visual symptom of bad valve seals. Where else can oil possibly come from where they will soak the threads?
Oil cannot come from bad rings in an amount enough to soak a spark plug thread. Oil can't travel upward after the engine is turned off to get ot the plug holes, and while the engine is running the oil is being burned and blown out the exhaust. If it was the rings you would be burning so much oil that you'd be leaving a trail of white/blue smoke that could be seen from space and you would be running so rich from the PCM trying to compensate that you would get 5 mpg.
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Oil cannot come from bad rings in an amount enough to soak a spark plug thread. Oil can't travel upward after the engine is turned off to get ot the plug holes, and while the engine is running the oil is being burned and blown out the exhaust. If it was the rings you would be burning so much oil that you'd be leaving a trail of white/blue smoke that could be seen from space and you would be running so rich from the PCM trying to compensate that you would get 5 mpg.
.
TECH Veteran
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 4,117
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From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA
Originally Posted by 97MysticZ
I didn't say valve seals, I said I know its not the valve covers. But thank you for your input. I never really thought about it like that and it gives me a little relief to realize that its probably just valve seals and not the rings. It's just weird because I didn't see any oil when I did my headers and spark plugs and that was only about 4k miles ago. And I don't hardly ever drive the car hard and its never been to the track.
Do you mean the oil is dripping down the outside of the heads and onto the spark plugs from the outside of the engine?
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No, its actually just seeping from the spark plug holes. Thats why I said I knew it wasn't the valve covers leaking, because its not coming from there and leaking onto the spark plugs. The heads are dry above the spark plug holes.
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after your car sits for the night or for a long time, see if it smokes on startup. this can this can be indicative of worn valve seals(leaks past the seals while the car sits, then gets burned up on startup)
Last edited by 88blackgt; Oct 2, 2007 at 10:34 PM.
