oil on spark pluggs

the other day i was changing my spark pluggs and the first thing i noticed was there was a lot of oil on my spark plugg. i was just wondering if i might have to change the head gaskit.

Could be valve guides, rings, etc.
Did you do a compression test on the motor?
How many miles are on the motor?

KimMG is probably right but I wonder if a bad PCV valve would do this?

KimMG is probably right but I wonder if a bad PCV valve would do this?

Az--you are exactly right. If the PCV valve is plugged up pressure will build up in the crankcase and will blow by the rings. Just my 2 cents.

is it on the electrodes or just the threads? if its on the electrodes disregard this. if its on the threads only then you should look for oil leaks. spark plug valleys like to collect a lot of debris and crap from all over and oil pools in there more often than not.

Could be valve guides, rings, etc.
Did you do a compression test on the motor?
How many miles are on the motor?

i didn't do a compression test on the motor.
there are 163,000 miles on the motor.
should i replace the rings and also get new springs and valves?

I'd try a new PCV valve first.

You still need to answer the question, was the oil on the threads or the tip (electrode) of the plug? If it's just on the threads then it's a bad valve cover gasket.

Is it fouling the plugs so bad it won't run? If not, I'd keep running it. I found that heavier oils don't get by rings as easy. When my stuff gets really old I use 20W50 oil.

Is the oil level correct? Over filling might do this too.

If there's not a lot of smoke coming out the exhaust then I say drive it :biggrin: