Oil pooling up in spark plug holes

tacoboy · #1 03-19-2007, 03:28 AM

97 Strat 134k.

I have dealt with this once before - oil that is leaking from the crankcase past the o-rings in the valve head and into the spark plug tunnels - you pull out the wire and it's covered with oil. Back then (about 112k)I replaced the valve cover gasket (which comes with the new o-rings) with an aftermarket part. Seemed OK for a couple of years now the problem is back. I'm getting a misfiring as well and I also had that back then too but I replaced my wires and it seemed to fix it.

What's the deal with this? Do any of you have the same problem?

Can't wait to ditch this car and get a REAL mode of transportation. It's been nothing but a mechanical nightmare since I acquired it almost 3 years ago. I'm nervous to drive it thinking that it's going to strand me (again) in the middle of nowhere.

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dhvaughan · #2 03-19-2007, 04:05 AM

my son's honda accord does this. last year it began misfiring and we changed the plugs (and drained the oil out of the plug wells, and then ended up replacing the plug wires. i'm not sure if the oil caused one of the plug wires to short through the boot or not.

here's a cheap get by. pull the the wires off, roll up a paper towel and slide down in the well, all the way to the bottom. spray a big shot of carb cleaner down in the well. it will dilute the oil, and the paper towel will absorb it.

andym1999 · #3 03-22-2007, 05:45 PM

I noticed the oil in my plug holes as well. I have a 2000 with 139,000 on it. I just haven't changed the valve cover gasket yet. It looks kinda tough to do. Is it something that a person can do on their own???

tacoboy · #4 03-27-2007, 06:24 PM

Yes, but the grommets around the spark plug holes can be a bear. You basically have to ruin the existing ones to get them out.