A friend just bought a 2001 Prelude 5spd. Car looked to be bone stock, and had 77k on it. I did a compression check on the motor and it had 210 psi across the board. What concerned me though is that the spark plug threads were covered in oil. I didn't have the time or tools to do a leakdown test but am I correct in thinking that this is most likely due to leaky gaskets? Would a new valve cover gasket kit take care of this?

Also, the car was blowing blue smoke intermittently while driving. The oil is obviously seeping into the combustion chamber. There was no oil on the electrode or the ceramic, just the threads.

Any insight on this? I am hoping it's just a cheap/quick gasket replacement fix versus new valve seals or worse yet - rings.

 

Oil on plugs= valve cover plug gaskets.

Under what type of conditions did you see the smoke? Ie. after sitting at stop light, WOT, etc.

 

Smoke was coming out under load from what I could tell. I was driving behind the car and there was no smoke while idling or at a stop, but the car wasn't being driven at WOT either. Partial throttle cruising with some hilly terrain.

 

Does it smoke when you get on the gas after idling, or being off the throttle.

 

I can't say with 100% certainty but it seems like it smokes after being off the gas.

 

That's what it sounded like with the burning on hills. That's an indication of leaky valve seals. So you need:

-Valve cover plug seals
-Valve seals

 

are leaky valve seals common on the H22A? I'm surprised a Honda motor with 77k miles is showing these symptoms. Regardless, I'll change the valve cover plug seals and see how that affects it.