I am not extremely familiar with the internals of my engine so maybe this is an easy question for someone on these boards.
I have a head gasket leak. Its going to be fixed soon. When I bought my car, the dealer threw in two years warranty via a third party as incentive and head gasket repairs are covered.
A few months ago when I noticed I had oil in my engine bay I initially thought it was valve cover leaking and got that dealt with ( and took out one timing chain guide while I was at it )
The problem now is that on Saturday, I pulled up the plugs after running my enginge for a bit and my third spark plug was filled with oil. My question is: would that be a result of the head gasket leak? Or is there still a problem with my valve cover?
Yeah I have to get one of those done before the warranty fixes my engine. I am looking for a garage to work on my vehicle for off and on stuff like this in central Mississauga. Any suggestions?
cover the basics first…a bad rubber ring under the valve cover that is on the top of the cylinder that u put ure spark plug throug can also allow the leaks of oil into the spark plug area…check that, then do a comp test while cold, then do one while hot…that way u know if its the head gasket usually cuz on expansion with heat ure compression drops.
S13GG,
Third spark plug was swimming in oil. If I leave the engine running for a while and I pull that line out, its dripping with oil. What do you think?
slipperysilvia,
I pulled that third plug again todya to look at it. The rubber ring at the top of the spark plug, (where the plug joins the wires from the distributor) is cracked if that is what you meant. ( I just thought that was electircal insulation )
I will see if I can get compression tests done today.
there is a gasket as slipperysilvia mentioned, that seals the 4 spark plug holes from the valvetrain, and there is another gasket around the circumference of the valve cover.
If the ceramic side is swimming in oil, then I would look into the first gasket I mentioned.
SIDENOTE: go to the FAQ section and find a Factory Service Manual FSM and download it…it will have pictures, images always help
Yeah I have a FSM and looked at it today. I havent touched my car in a few days. I have been too busy. Hopefully its just that ring thats damaged. Spilner didnt reply to me about doing compression tests. I dont want to take it to any garage and pay an arm and a leg to get it done. I called up somewhere where my uncle takes his van to get work done and they told me two hours work minimum.
