found good amount of oil in my spark plug holes?

[drake3988]

i recently posted that 4runner was running rough and had a misfire on cylinder 3, i just had coil replaced and Toyota looked at it for 2 hours and couldn't give me a definite answer. No loss of compression and they said all fuel injectors checked out good, so they told me head gasket but not really getting those symptoms. I finally got a chance to work on it tonight and got the spark plug wires out and found that the hole had a good amount of oil in them, i am wondering if this is bad or just normal stuff to happen to a 97 4runner with 179k miles?

 

[theizzardking]

Oil or grease?
Grease yes
Oil no

When was the last plug change?

Either they didn't put them right or the crush washers failed which is very very rare , starting to sound more like that gasket though

 

[Duhockey]

Interesting, if you are getting oil in your spark plug tube its (most likely) coming from a failed spark plug gasket,

I just replaced my valve cover gasket and the only way for oil to get in that tube from the cylinder head is thru the spark plug gasket or "tube filler" Sn0wrunner knows those things well too, we had a 2 hour delay cuz of those things...

I cant see any other way that oil could get into the spark plug tube.

 

[49Runner]

You getting any smoke out of the exhaust? Could be ring... blow by.

 

[98Base4R]

... and the only way for oil to get in that tube from the cylinder head is thru the spark plug gasket or "tube filler"

Rock Auto lists a BECK/ARNLEY Part # 0396377 ($2 each) for the gasket that goes on the bottom of the spark plug tube. Oil from under the valve cover is leaking into the spark plug tube and working its way into the plug boot, causing misfires. Replace the affected gaskets, carefully clean the spark plug boots and put everything back together.

If you're not sure what the tube looks like, Eric the Honda Guy points to the tube in a valve adjustment video: YouTube - Honda Accord Valve Adjustment

I think he removes the tube with a pipe wrench

 

[drake3988]

Thanks a lot with the info., i'm getting into right now and going to see if any of the plugs are bad and wires. i will need to probably do the valve gasket though.

 

[Duhockey]

Thanks a lot with the info., i'm getting into right now and going to see if any of the plugs are bad and wires. i will need to probably do the valve gasket though.

I got a felpro valve cover set from Advance for like 30 something each and it came with the spark plug gaskets/tube fillers,

The 2 intake plenum gaskets I got from Toyota for about the same each, and then I got the bolt gaskets (16 per vehicle) from Toyota, those were like 2$ a piece,

the only place Ive found the full kit is if you do a Head Gasket kit (like 400$) or ACC down in Atlanta has a kit with everything you need for the valve cover job...

ACC Toyota Truck & Land Cruiser I think the ACC kit is like 120 shipped or something but dont quote me on it.

 

[etc.]

If its on only the wires and not the plug tips, you have no reason to worry.

The spark plug gaskets get old and brittle. Once the valve cover is removed, they take maybe 10 minutes to replace

I use a screwdriver and a hammer and work bang my way around the edge. There will be a metal rim under the plastic

Be sure whe you reinstall, you seat the gaskets around the spark plug tube.

Good luck!

 

[etc.]

Thanks a lot with the info., i'm getting into right now and going to see if any of the plugs are bad and wires. i will need to probably do the valve gasket though.

Be sure to R&R the rear of the heads. The half moons and the thing under the piece that looks like it would support the cam <<<<< still dont know the name of this :S

 

[quicksilvr]

Hey duhockey, is there a good write-up for the valve cover job somewhere?