Dr.Fixit

I have a 93 civic DX with an LS swap in it. Haven't had any major issuses with it until now. I was driving it and when i hit 2n'd gear it sound like 2 of the cyliners either stopped firing or has low compression. Not sure which ones it could be. the last 2 spark plug holes next to the cam gears have alittle oil in it, and i believe that some of the spark plug wire may have came off, but i snapped them all back on and nothing changed. still runs like it has low compression or not firing. its all stock. Noticed who ever did the valve cover gasket just used some tube style gasket sealer, was woundering if bad valve cover gasket seal could cause oil leak and bad compression(or such symptoms)?? need to get this fixed asap as i use it for delivery for work. Haven't checked the spark plugs. maybe the spark plugs could have a bad seal? they are brand new along with the dizzy, and the wires. Please Help asap! Thanks! please direct me to the right place to post if this is not the right place.

*Just pulled the last 2 spark plugs next to the cam gears, they are both dripping oil.

fcm

If the spark plug tube O rings are bad the oil will leak into the tubes and the plugs, oil is conductive so it can short out the spark plugs.

Try using compressed air to blow any oil out of the spark plug tubes and off the plugs and spark plug leads, blow excess oil out of tubes. pull and clean the oil off the plugs and leads, reinstall and start the engine, any difference?

If not, [and either way] pull the VC so you cab install a new VC gasket, at the same time do a valve lash adjustment, you may just have some "tight" valves.

Oh yea, a bad VC gasket will cause a leak but not low compression.


#7 is what is gone or gone bad, a VC gasket kit will get you all you need. 94

Dr.Fixit

thanks for the reply. Ill for sure get a new gasket kit. It just seems as if its running like a cylinder is missing cause it for sure not running right. kinda sounds like a wrx almost lol. i looked down the spark plug tubes and it seems that 2 of the top O rings are more then likely not sealing or the gasket is peeling off. It currently doesn't have an OEM gasket kit, someone used some sort of gasket sealer the you squirt out of a tube. but could that be the reason for the "miss fire" or what ever its doing and the oil on the side of the spark plug that goes into the cylinder?

Fliptard

while its running pull a plug wire off the plug a little and see if any of them change the way it runs, doing it one at a time, Just make sure not too pull the plug wire up more than a couple inches or you'll get shocked, if one or more don't make a difference, see if that/those wires are getting spark, possily replace wires and plugs, hopefully it's not the dizzy.

Dr.Fixit

yeah, hopefully not. the distributor is new and so are the wires/spark plugs. but ill for sure try that. I'm gonna get a new vc gasket kit tomorrow and replace that and see what happens. just hoping its not something serious. At first i thought that the spark plug wires weren't on all the way so i pushed them down till they clicked and locked on but nothing changed.

JuicedUpRice

i would NOT recommend doing this.i blew my distributor to **** using this method.no pun intended fliptard.i know it works,im just saying that i blew my distributor to hell like this.

instead,simply check your compression.if there is oil under the spark plug,i can tell you now,you will most likely have a piston ring or valve stem seal problem.
if the oil is on top of the spark plug,you need to spark plug gaskets/seals.

fcm

Oil on the spark plugs, [in spark plug tubes, not in combustion chamber] due to no or bad O rings will not get into the cylinders, it will sit in the spark plug tube and can "short out" the spark plug leading to the misfire, exactly the same as when you get water down the spark plug tubes when washing your engine/engine bay.

As I mentioned, pull the VC, so you can replace the gasket(s), while the VC is off you should check the valve lash, [do a valve adjustment], clean everything up, making sure to clean the spark plug tubes, spark plugs and the ends of the spark plug leads, [clean off all the oil].

Also as mentioned, you may be able to confirm the problem is shorting spark plugs, by using compressed air to blow out the excess oil in the tubes, pulling and cleaning off the spark plugs and spark plug lead ends, reinstalling the plugs and starting the engine, if the engine runs properly, you have confirmed the problem was shorting plugs, however, as you need to replace the gasket/O rings anyway, you may as well go ahead and pull the VC. 94

Dr.Fixit

Thanks for all the replys, figured out it was an injector unplugged. but I still plan doing a VC gasket. didn't notice it unplugged yesterday cause it was dark.

fcm

Glad you got it fixed so fast and your not out your car because it's down.94