Im wondering what would cause oil to appear above one of my cylinders in and around the spark plug hole on the rear bank. Its the one on the far left, I want to say its #1, but I cant remember the numbering.

Anyway, I was changing spark plugs, and as I pulled out that plug, it was covered in oil, as was my spark plug socket, etc. There was also some on the coils, but it seemed to be concentrated in that one cylinder.

What would cause that? A leaky cam cover gasket or something of that nature? This would explain why I lose oil, I know the Shortstar loses some oil to begin with, but when I have oil seeping out there, that could have something to do with it.

That one plug also seemed fouled from oil.

Input?

I know my old ford was bad for that. it had the mazda ZTECH engine (2.0L)...usually on first sign of leaking you could just tighten down the cam cover and it would stop. I guess the vibration would eventually loosen the bolts.

I wonder if a leaky valve cover gasket could somehow do that. Shortstars have been known to have bad ones.

Im wondering what would cause oil to appear above one of my cylinders in and around the spark plug hole on the rear bank. Its the one on the far left, I want to say its #1, but I cant remember the numbering.

Anyway, I was changing spark plugs, and as I pulled out that plug, it was covered in oil, as was my spark plug socket, etc. There was also some on the coils, but it seemed to be concentrated in that one cylinder.

What would cause that? A leaky cam cover gasket or something of that nature? This would explain why I lose oil, I know the Shortstar loses some oil to begin with, but when I have oil seeping out there, that could have something to do with it.

That one plug also seemed fouled from oil.

Input?

I had that happen when I changed plugs in my car too, however mine plugs in the front three had some. I had been thinking of tightening them down, just didn't know if I should risk it, if it is a o ring seal it migh work.

I keep meaning to tighten them down, I just havent had the time to mess with the thing, plus its been cold here lately, or at least until today.

From what ive seen it looks like theres only like 4 bolts maybe? I was looking at the front one and only saw 4, but I just scanned it quick.

Ill do it one of these days, but I dont know how id monitor my progress really.

Well here is a picture of the replacement Valve cover gasket set from Fel-Pro:
http://members.localnet.com/~jester87/Intrigue%20Cam%20Cover%20gasket.jpg

Apparently there is also a seal around each spark plug, my guess is that one of these probably has a leak.

I dont know what all those other little o-rings and such are for, not sure I want to know. I skimmed the procedure in the Chilton's and it didnt sound hard at all, except that clearances and room to work would be a pain, since its on the back side.

The worst part is that the gasket set is close to 70 bucks from O'reillys and 43 plus shipping, call it 50, from RockAuto. Either way Im not sure I want to spend the extra cash that I dont really have at the moment.

I changed the spark plugs the first time because the car wasnt performing well, and had a decent miss from time to time. My theory is that the oil was causing some grounding or other electrical issues.

Oh I'm so excited! I have the exact same problem at the exact same cylinder!When looking at the motor its the top left one next to the firewall? Let me know what you decide to do and if the gasket set fixes the cure. Can't wait if you have found anything. I was thinking maybe the valve guides for the oil or whatever the technical name is called.

Can't wait to not have to put in a quart every week!

The top right spark plug in the picture would be the top left cylinder when facing the motor from the front of the car. You can see all the burnt gunk on the ceramic part compared to the other normal plugs.

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For some reason none of the linking of this forum is working as expected...works fine on my Q forum...Hmm.

http://URL=http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1014705zd1.jpg%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp://img152.imageshack.us/img152/9065/1014705zd1.th.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D

I havent done any work too it yet, I plan on it though, just tryin to get this semester finished up, plus its cold:) that midwestern ice storm youre hearing about on the news? Im in it:)

Ill let you know what I find out though, whenever I do it. Or better yet, you go first!