does this mean i need a new valve cover gasket or new piston rings. or both

 

is the oil on the top of the plugs or the bottom????
if its on the top, then just get new spark plug tube seals

 

when i took the plug out there was wet oil on the threads of the plug and on the part where the plug arcs. so from the threads down

 

was the top of the plug stained at all???? the oil could of been sitting ontop of the plug and then as you unscrewed it, it might of ran down the plug...
even with bad rings, there shouldnt of been that much wet oil sitting on the end of the plug

 

well i might as well replace the valve cover gasket its really easy and cheapright? would that cause any oil on the plug?plus it would give me satisfaction.

 

i don't know anything much about neons, but its similar to my son's honda accord. underneath the valve cover are seals around the spark plug wells. when they leak, oil runs into the plug wells and if it gets deep enough, can cause shorting and skipping. you should be able to see it with a flashlight. on my son's, we're to lazy to change them, and just stick a rolled up paper towel down in there every couple of months to soak up about a tablespoon of oil. if you remove the plug w/o soaking up the oil, it will run into the cylinder and smoke a lot on that first startup. doesn't hurt anything.

 

thats the way to fix a civic!!!

YAH!!!

Haha just playing

 

that would be the spark plug tube seals