The other day out of nowhere my van started acting up under load and the cel illuminated. I found p0306 Got home and checked for spark and it was good. Pulled the cylinder 6 plug out and found the plug to be damaged and has oil covering plug. I looked down into the plug hole and can see cylinder has oil in it. I dont have a compression tester but to me it seems that may be the case here. Is there a way to check it out without tearing the engine down? Im thinking its going to end up being rings...

 

If it were me, I'd install a new plug and start it up. See what happens.

 

That was the first thing i did. Still runs rough. I pulled out the new plug in cyl 6 and found it to be dripping with oil.

 

How do the other 5 plugs look? I think most Autozones have a loaner compression tester, and think that would be your next step. Very unusual for rings to go on these engines, but of course it can happen. Most folks pull an engine from a yard, rather than rebuild the one in the van.

 

the other plugs looked like worn plugs but no oil. I changed the set out. looks like ill be borrowing a compression tester. If rings are not common could it be a valve seal?

 

With only one cylinder having oil, IMO a leak down test would be much better than a compression test. The compression test will tell you what you already know, but the leak down should be able to pinpoint the specific problem. And that will give you a much better handle on the cost of the repair. If you can't borrow or rent a leak down tester, a shop might charge a reasonable amount of $ to test only #6. With one of the front cylinders, it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, in and out.