I have a 1990 Civic Si with a D15B8 bottom and a D16A6 cylinder head and the timing belt broke a couple of weeks ago while on the highway. I went ahead and replaced the timing belt and the car started and ran fine for about 20 seconds and then just seemed to quit. I pulled the plugs and noticed they were covered with oil on the bottom part of them. I cleaned the plugs up and put them back in and started the car up and it ran fine for about 10 minutes until I turned it off.

Today I adjusted the valves and tried starting the car again and it ran fine for about 15 second and started to sound really bad and quit running, I pulled the plugs and noticed that the bottom of the plug was black and had some oil on like last time.

I see a lot of post about people having oil on their plugs but I’m assuming that’s when the oil is on the top and replacing the spark plug gasket on the valve cover fixes this. I was wondering what would cause oil to get on the bottom of the plug and would be the best way to fix it.

I did a compression check on the car and it came back 170, 170, 170 and 165 not in that order. The only things I can think of would be a problem would be:

Bent valve

Bad valve guide or gasket

Rocker arm seal

 

sounds like a bad head gasket or piston rings are bad but i would say head gasket

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by madmanmulligan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">sounds like a bad head gasket or piston rings are bad but i would say head gasket</TD></TR></TABLE>

Could the head gasket have gone bad even though I just replaced it a few weeks ago?

I have another A6 head I was thinking of putting on there just to see if that helps it and would let me know if any part of the head was bad.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alupso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I see a lot of post about people having oil on their plugs but I’m assuming that’s when the oil is on the top and replacing the spark plug gasket on the valve cover fixes this. </TD></TR></TABLE>

That can also be the cause for oil on the bottom, I have came across it before.

 

if theres no oil on the plug hole walls then id guess its the rocker arm assembly gaskets , im pretty sure thats my problem.

 

had the same problem just needed to replace the valve cover and spark plug gaskets after that no more oil on the spark plugs. i would try that before i replace the head gasket.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by janz3n &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if theres no oil on the plug hole walls then id guess its the rocker arm assembly gaskets , im pretty sure thats my problem.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes there's no oil on the plug hole walls except maybe a little bit on one of them, all the rest of the plugs have oil on them with no oil in the holes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SLR ef9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">had the same problem just needed to replace the valve cover and spark plug gaskets after that no more oil on the spark plugs. i would try that before i replace the head gasket.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'll probably replace the valve cover and spark plug gaskets along with the plugs before I decide to take the head off.

I'm just trying to narrow down where the oil is coming from right now.

if I got good compression numbers on all the cylinders does that mean I can rule out that it's the rings?

 

(got good compression numbers on all the cylinders does that mean I can rule out that it's the rings?)

remember u have oil ring if they are pushing the oil instead of

scraping the oil off the wall , that can cause problems

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tealjdmcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
remember u have oil ring if they are pushing the oil instead of

scraping the oil off the wall , that can cause problems </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm sorry, English please?

 

just replace your valve cover gaskets first if that doesnt work.. its your rocker arems for sure.. just to clear it up. your oil is on the threads of the spark plug right? like drenched? and a little on the metal nut part of the spark plug? and you dont have to take the whole head off to replace the rocker arm gaskets, im pretty sure. just the valve cover.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by janz3n &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just replace your valve cover gaskets first if that doesnt work.. its your rocker arems for sure.. just to clear it up. your oil is on the threads of the spark plug right? like drenched? and a little on the metal nut part of the spark plug? and you dont have to take the whole head off to replace the rocker arm gaskets, im pretty sure. just the valve cover.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think the mojority of the oil is on the actual electrode on the very bottom of the plug with very littel on the thread.

I'll probably just try and replace the gaskets and plugs before I go and take the head off.

 

the oil is on the part thats actually in the cylinder????? sounds like your rings are gone then, does your car blow blue smoke at all?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by janz3n &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the oil is on the part thats actually in the cylinder????? sounds like your rings are gone then, does your car blow blue smoke at all?</TD></TR></TABLE>

When I can get the car started and let it run before the plugs get fouled up I do not see any smoke at all. If there's no smoke does that still mean the rings coul be bad?

Also, when the car was running before this happen it was using about a 1/4 of a quart of oil if I drove it about 30 miles.

 

pour a small spoonful of oil down the spark plug hole in each cylinder and do another compression check
if the numbers are higher after the spoonful of oil then your problem is rings
if the numbers are the same then the problem is head gasket or valves
also, i assume you checked fo water in the oil which would be head gasket

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by d16vtecx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">pour a small spoonful of oil down the spark plug hole in each cylinder and do another compression check
if the numbers are higher after the spoonful of oil then your problem is rings
if the numbers are the same then the problem is head gasket or valves
also, i assume you checked fo water in the oil which would be head gasket</TD></TR></TABLE>

Oh yeah I've heard about doing that but completely forgot about it, thanks for reminding me.

I haven't really checked for any coolant in the oil but will definately have to check that out later this week.