I have a 2001 dodge neon. I replaced the cam cover gasket and all four of the spark plug gaskets because sparkplugs #2 and #4 were leaking oil. Today I went to check on them and all of them seem to have stopped leaking except #2. The problem is that when I pulled the spark plug wire the spark plug well also came out (the hallow metal tube). Any idea why the metal piece came out as well and what I have to do to fix it? I pushed it back in and it went back in partially, but it is sticking out more than the others. Any help would be appreciated.

Also, does anybody know if the coolant on a dodge neon is suppose to be orange?

 

not sure how to fix the spark plug, but yes we have orange. its a special mopar one it thing, just go to an auto store and search the book

 

Lol, I just fixed this exact same problem on my 2001, except it was cylinder 1. Those "wells" are the plug tubes. On the valve cover they are sealed with rubber gaskets, which you replaced. On the cylinder head side they are pressed into the head and sealed with some type of epoxy-like sealant. When I took mine apart, I saw chips of the old sealant laying around and the tube was loose, I just pulled it right out - the others were pretty tight. To fix it I just cleaned up the area really good - I taped the plastic cylinder from a pen to a shop vac hose to get in there, the bottom doesn't need to be spotless, just so nothing falls into the cylinder. The surface that the tube gets pressed into needs to be cleaned good, brake parts cleaner worked pretty well for me. Note that there is a little lip partway down - the tube doesn't get pressed all the way in, so you don't have to clean the whole thing, just down to that lip. Buy some sort of high temperature sealant, I'm not sure if anything is better than others, but I grabbed some high temp thread sealant from autozone. Clean the bottom of the spark plug tube and apply the sealant around the bottom - as you push it in it will cover the whole surface.Put the tube in, if it doesn't want to go in at first, look around at the back of the tube, there is a black plastic thingy (lol pardon my lack of terminology)that can rotate somewhat, andit might move when you pull the tube out, so turn itback and forth - find the spot that is flat thatgivesenough space for the tube to go in. Then put the tube in try to get it aligned and use ablock of wood& hammer,or softmallot etc, to pound it into place. Check it's heightagainst the other ones, it might seem like its in when it isn't, your not doneuntil its the sameheight (assuming the other ones are still in place). You can also look down the tube with aflashlight to see if the bottom is up against that lip.Your gonna have to take the valve cover off to do this obviously so you might need a new gasket,I'm not sure if you need to. The rubber tube seals should be fine though. When you put it back together you can put some of the sealant on the top of the tubes also if you liketo help seal the rubberseals, butit's probably not necessary. Put it back together and give her a try.Mine runs great now, no leaks yet. (~3 weeks ago). Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the response. I posted this before going on a long vacation so I forgot to thank you. I pressed in the tube today. I just knocked it in there with a piece of wood and a hammer. We'll see what happens. This is the quick and cheap just to see what will happen. Hopefully it won't come out again and hopefully it won't leak. The other cylinders are still holding up well without any problems. I have saved your post if I should need it in the future though. That was some great advice.

I also changed the coolant today and I am a little stumped. I flushed it about 3 times and the coolant is still muddy. That doesn't seem right to me.