I have a 2.4L 4cyl 2002 caravan. The timing belt and water pump and seals were just replaced by my mechanic (no time to do it myself otherwise would have!). My wife calls me and states she has no heat in the van. The temp gauge was still in the normal range even though the water pump blew and she lost all of the coolant since it was 10 degrees that day. The van was immediately repaired with a new pump, and since it is internal we changed the timing belt and the seals since it was open. I do not know how long the van was driven with low coolant but it never over heated. The van has always run mint and still does. We have 175,000 miles on it. This model periodically needs the spark plugs to be tightened due to the heavy vibration of the 4cyl. I periodically do this however I am on vacation now and just went to check the plugs since we are on a 3,000 mile vacation. When I pulled the spark plug wire (it is the 6" tube type) the rubber tube had oil on it on the 1st and 4th plugs. The 2nd and 3rd were dry. I am confused with this flat head engine and cant figure out why there would be oil there in the first place on top of the plug. Also I can't remove them and am too frightened to try any harder since we are on vacation and do not need to get stuck here. The engine runs perfectly smooth and with quite a good amount of power. I changed the plugs last year to platnum tip plugs. What would cause oil to get into the flat head shaft where the spark plug gets screwed into the head? It is about 6" deep.
Thanks JRR

 

i'm not sure about yours, but on my son's overhead cam honda, it leaked past the seals inside the valve cover.

on his car, i'd occasionally use a paper towel to sop out the oil. roll up a piece just smaller than the plug well diameter and slide it over the plug and down in the well. let it sit for a moment and - presto, it soaks up the oil.

i found that on his a small amount of oil didn't hurt anything, but when it got overly deep, like an inch or more, it would start skipping.

on the honda, i eventually replaced the valve cover gasket, and it came with the plug well seals and only took 10 minutes to replace.

i know what you mean about not removing things that aren't broke. sop up the oil with a paper towel and leave the repairs for when you're at home.

 

When the seals leak at the valve cover, the oil will run down the spark plug tubes. The only way to fix the leak, is replace the valve cover gasket and the four seals.

 

spark plugs will never loosen due 'heavy vibration'. common spark plug torque is 10-20 ft lbs. Valve cover gasket/spark plug tubes will leak/seep over time, that's just what gaskets will do. We had this happen on my 426 Hemi and my 427 sohc Ford engines. Any engine with the spark plugs thru the valve cover has the potential for oil getting into this area. The water pump issue has NO bearing on the valve cover gasket leak. Based on the question about a simple oil leak, I don't think you would have be able to do the timing belt on this engine, it is quite difficult. BTW did you know, a vehicle without coolant will not show overheating. the coolant gauge/light sender is only accurate with is submerged in liquid. This sensor is not as effective/accurate with measuring air temps

 

Thanks all for the replys. How hard is replacing the valve cover gasket and 4 seals on the 2.4L Caravan? I have done a timing belt on a 6 cyl so I am fairly capable. Also thanks for the info on the coolant temp sensor. Should have realized no coolant no reading - makes perfect sense! When I replace the valve cover do the spark plugs need to be removed first?

 

Oh boy, if you can do a timing belt on a 3.0, then a valve cover... you should be able to do blind-folded and one arm tied behind your back. take out the plugs, take off the bolts, remove, new seals, install.