i have an oil puddle where the wires meet the spark plugs. i changed the rubber o-rings under the valve gasket and they're still leaking. i know they're installed correctly because there is only one way the o-ring will stay on the valve cover. each valve cover bolt on top is tightened down. did a compression test and 2 cylinders are at 190 and the other 2 are at 200. i can't figure out why else would it leak. any ideas? btw, its only one that's leaking.

 

Maybe you overtightend the bolts and pinched the gasket??,,or maybe part of the gaskt isnt in right?? Also did you put some hondabond on the corners of the gasket..?

 

i hand tightened them, i know not too tight. if i tightened them too hard, wouldn't the other cylinders leak as well?

i didn't put hondabond on the corners...was told it was unnecessary. i guess it wouldn't hurt to try...thx

could it be anything else?

 

Well I'm just going by the helms manual..It says to put hondabond at the corners of the vavlecover gasket..

 

I had/have the same problem of oil in one of the plug tubes. I also replaced the gaskets on the valve cover, but have not gone back to check if its leaking or not. I guess I'll know when I change my spark plugs next time.
My next step (if there is still oil) would be to replace the o-rings that are under the rocker arm assembly. If you look at the Helms Cylinder Head/Valve Train illustrated index 6-4,6-5), you will see the o-rings that go between the rocker arm assembly and the head.
Good luck, let me know how it goes - I might need to do this soon.

 

if it was the o-ring under the rocker arm, wouldn't that just be leaking into the combustion chamber? not sure tho, but i am leaking only above the thread of my spark plug...

 

So when I checked my spark plugs there wasn't a puddle in there, but there was some oil. How bad is that? I pulled th spark plugs out and the ceramic piece of it had some oil over it. And if you look down there there is just a minimal amount. I am curious if that is bad, or is it only bad if there is a huge amount.

 

Maybe your valve cover has a crack somewhere that opens up when it gets hot? Is it in one or all the plug holes?

 

I'm almost for sure it's your valve seals, you should change them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fireant &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Maybe your valve cover has a crack somewhere that opens up when it gets hot? Is it in one or all the plug holes?</TD></TR></TABLE>

its just in one plug hole...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 88CRsXy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if it was the o-ring under the rocker arm, wouldn't that just be leaking into the combustion chamber?</TD></TR></TABLE>

No,It would leak into where the the wire meets the plug..

 

thx for all the help guys...now the fun part, taking the head apart.

 

exact same problem with my beater.

i didnt use hondabond when i changed the gaskets, but when i checked they were clean.