I have a 1989 Acura Integra as my dd. Yesterday I went out in the morning to go somewhere, I started the car and it ran for a couple seconds and then shut off. When I tried to start it again it would turn over but not start. After trying to start it for awhile the car started making grinding noise while trying to start it then went back to just turning over and not starting. So I pulled the plugs to replace them and the wires and the last plug I pulled came out completely covered in oil.
The car never smoked or anything before this so I don’t think it’s the rings.

What do you guys think could have happened? How should I go about trying to find out what went wrong and fix it.

 

there's a lot of posibilties here's the list:
Distributor cap or coil
some of ur fuel system maybe pump
or maybe ur battery
or ur starter
or ur alternator (it doesnt suppy enough electricity)
as of now thats wut i can think of... hehehe hope this helps...

 

u may have some blown piston rings. oil on the spark plug, if on threads, its ur valve cover gommets, if on electroid, blown piston ring. try using starting fluid. and stick a flat head in one of ur spark plug wire. if u dont get spark and cant start on starting fluid, it could be serious....

 

Just read the entire story and its probably your valve cover seals, their are O ring type seals that come along with the valve cover seals that go bad, once they go bad oil sneaks through and ends up on your spark plugs. Read the rest if you want but that might be your problem. Order new valve cover gasket kit and change them (cheap).
Its probably just a bad sensor or something if not a bad distributer. Dont jump straight to the blown engine theory, its usually something simple with these older cars. Check little things like your fuel system might be dirty, check spark plugs, dizzy cap and wires. Check your oil too (it could be low, sensor sees its too low and shuts car off to protect it). Spray some starter spray in the intake and try starting it, if it starts than its a sensor detecting something wrong or just one gone bad or even a relay gone bad, if the car doesnt start after a couple of tries with the fluid and doesnt stay on than you might have a bad fuel pump. If all fails check a manual (go buy a repair manual if you dont already have one) they help alot. Good theory to go by is start off with the easy, simple cheaper possible problems, dont start with expensive tries if your not sure what the problem is, you'll only end up broke.
Distributers and O2 sensors are the problems cars that old usually deal with. Good luck.

 

Try your ignitor unit in the dist. Usually the problem!