I just installed a 2000 ITR header, cat and exhaust on my friends 98 GSR. its ran great (no leaks) as expected. He had some new spark plugs he wanted to put in, so i put those in for him. Bosch Platnum Plus 4 (he had stock NGK R's before).
I was a little concerned when pulling the number 1 cylinder plug because it was dripping with oil. Even the spark plug wrench was dripping with oil. I thought... hmm bad rings? i pulled 2,3 and 4 for and they didnt have a drop of oil on them.


I put the new plus in and took it for a test drive. Drove great. he went on his way and about 2 hours later he calls me saying his car is not idling right and its hard to drive. I told him to re-set the ECU and see if it helped. That didnt help...

Whats wrong????
1. Could the plugs not work will with his car?
2. Could the number 1 cylinder rings be worn?

I need some help here.. what should we do?

Graham

 

well
1. did you check to see the if spark plugs came pre-gapped?
2. did you take out the #1 spark plug to see if oil is all over it? it could be a bad seal.

 

IMO, bosch +4's suck *****. No one really likes those plugs from what I've read on the internet, and I found out after I bought them. I switched back to my platinum ngk's. Do a search on those plugs, they are more for european cars from what I gathered..

As for oil on the plug, that's not good. Was the ngk tight before you pulled it? Have him pull the bosch plug and see if there is oil on it too...

 

thanks for the help. im gonna put some NGK's in it tomorrow.

 

Dude your problem is simple, your valve cover gasket around the plug is leaking, and that would explain the oil on the wrench and on the bottom of the plug.

 

Yeah, oil on the spark plug indicates a leak at the valve cover spark plug hole seal.The ignition wires can become oil saturated and start breaking down if the leak has been present for an extended period of time.Bosch platinums suck in my opinion, I have seen them cause high rpm misfires in B18c engines. Some people still swear by them though.

 

Clean out the ignition wire with some brake parts cleaner so that it'll connect properly with the plug.