Hey there - I think I know what the problem is - bad rings of course - but this one is weird...

Cylendar #3 is FILLED with oil... I pulled out the plug, and oil is dripping off it...

Anybody have any ideas ?

Thanks,
Ken

'88 Civic CRX SI - STOCK motor - 193K

 

Are you sure it just isn't oil leaking into the plug hole covering the plug as you remove it? If there was enough oil in your cylinder to coat the plug then you would have some serious problems with your engine... Unless this is in fact the case (ie. you run on 3 cylinders). My friend's EF has a bad problem with oil leaking past the VC seals onto the plug. Even new seals didn't help much. When I removed the plugs they were all covered in oil.

 

Crank the engine to blow all of that oil out with all your spark plugs removed, spray some cleaner down the plug wells, and crank/blow all that out. Change the valve cover gasket SET with the orings for the spark plug well areas included. Clean the spark plug wires very good also. If #3 has been down in oil for a long time, then it may be bad and will leak spark, even after you clean it but a test drive will show something of a misfire if its bad.