My father in-law has a 1997 Honda Accord SE. I recently changed the spark plugs for him and notice when I pulled the old ones out that they were soaked in oil. I am not terribly familiar with Honda engines but this does not seem right to me. Does he have a head gasket problem or is it something else. He does not burn oil, the plugs looked good and the coolant looked perfect. I am concerned that he has or will have a larger problem.

Thank you for your help!


Jason

 

Oil down the sparkplug holes is sorta common, it's a valvecover gasket problem.

I think your valve cover is on the left? Anyway what you need is the sparkplug tube seals #7 (4 of them). Sometimes they're all together in a valve cover gasket set along with #5 & the grommets #15. Ask when you buy to make sure what you're getting...

If the plug tubes are dry but the sparkplug firing tip is oily, that's completely different. Maybe valve guides/seals? Piston rings? Headgasket?

 

Only cyclinder #4 is dry, the plug and the tube. The other three have it on the tubes and the plugs. How long until he has a major problem?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JaySR20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How long until he has a major problem?</TD></TR></TABLE>As long as it takes to make a puddle of oil deep enough to short the spark...

It's actually a pretty easy job to replace those seals. Just don't overtighten those hold-down nuts. It doesn't take much to break the studs.

 

[QUOTE=JimBlake]Oil down the sparkplug holes is sorta common, it's a valvecover gasket problem.


my thoughts exactly..
simple fix

 

Mine still leaks on one cylinder and i replaced my seals!! Getting annoying.

 

You're right! After looking at the diagram, it does look pretty easy. Any guesses on what the parts will cost?

Thank you very much for your help!





Jason

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JaySR20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Any guesses on what the parts will cost?</TD></TR></TABLE>Check hondaautomotiveparts.com & put in the details for your car. This stuff might be cheap enough at dealer so maybe not worthwhile to mailorder?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDM_Ej &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Mine still leaks on one cylinder and i replaced my seals!! Getting annoying. </TD></TR></TABLE>Look for scratches across the smooth face where those gaskets seat.

Some cars (year/model?) have another seal down about an inch lower. That one's like an O-ring, underneath the camshaft bearing caps. That's a bigger job to replace those...

In fact, I'm not really sure whether Jay's has those? Look at the cylinder head parts drawing, instead of the camshaft cover like I posted above.

 

Are the hold down nuts supposed to be torqued to any certain specification?

 

It's pretty low, maybe 8 lbf*ft? I'd have to look it up but I don't have a '97 anyway.

 

Thank you, I will find out someway.


You have been a great help and I appreciate it very much!

Jason