Pulled the plugs on my newly arrived JDM H22 tonight, and the middle two plugs were covered in oil (threads and electrode). I'm guessing this is a sign of something definitly not good doing on (bad piston rings, valve seals). What else could cause something like this to happen? Needles to say, I'm pretty peeved right now.

 

i am guessin that it would have to be valve cover seals.. clean real well and replace new ones.. i hadthe same prob with my hatchcrap.

 

its most likely the valve cover gasket.peace

 

well, 1st of all.... if all your oil is below the seal, inside the chamber, its your valve guide seals.. its dripping down onto your spark plug.. its its above the seal, like at the head of the 5/8ths size bolt and the ceramic top side of the plug, its your valve cover gromets.. thats the easy fix...

the valve guide seals are a pain, and the avereage mechanic can't do it, they usually send it out to the head shop.. you have to break down the valve train.. its just above the bottom retainer, and that means off with the keepers, upper retainer, spring, then the valve falls out. 1 valve guide seal goes for abour $8 at Honda last time i checked.. but please just don't do a few.. lol, do them all. Im sure at head shops they are cheaper.

 

probly not ab ig deal. Most JDM motors always have something in those spark plugs holes, whether it be water or oil. I'd just replace them and clean it up.. maybe check the spark plug hole seals too - then see what happens.

 

Probably the valve cover gasket and spark plug grommets. Cake to replace, just remove the valve cover and they're all right under there. Make sure you clean it out with a paper towel and apply the new gaskets correctly. Make sure the valve cover gasket seals right as you're laying it back onto the head. Simple $15-20 job. I had a pool of oil in mine (friend sucked it out with his mouth and a tube) when I got my teg...

Goldfingiz

 

you guys are avioding the diagnostics... if its under the seal.. on the electrode liek he said.. your looking at valve guide seals.

 

But if I had pools of oil at the bottom of the plug bores (above the 5/8's nut) wouldn't it get all over the electrodes as soon as I drew the plugs threw it to look at them? If you look at the pics, there is staining of the white ceramic on the 2 center plugs (the icky ones), and not the outer two. This would lead me to believe that they had oil pooling ABOVE them (quite a bit of it, from the amount of staining). Also, there was puddles of oil on the plugs (look at last pic). . .would that much oil be hanging out on the top of the combustion chambers (fighting gravity) from leaky valve seals? Oh yeah, there is small trickles of oil running down the sides of the plug boresas well.


[Modified by red92s, 7:48 AM 12/14/2002]

 

Piston rings...

 

Sounds to me like its your spark plug well gaskets. You will have to remove your valve cover, might as well replace your valve cover gasket at this time, and replace your four spark plug well gaskets. They look like fat o-rings. If your valve seals and or piston rings were leaking, there would be whiteish blue smote out of your exhaust. Especially at start up after the car has been sitting for awhile. Thats a giveaway sign for valve seals. Do a leak down test to know for sure if you have an oil leak from piston rings or valve seals. But like I said earlier sounds like spark plug well gaskets.