[jeffreyb4me]

hey Rich, while loose cap screws may be the cause of the leakage, the rubber gaskets them selves harden over time and no longer seal well. they seem to last about 80,000 miles.....as far as the cause of your running problem, try what you've done so far and see, were the plugs fairly well worn?.......the thing is I've seen these engines with oil covering the tops of the sparkplug wells and they ran fine ! !....the oil does deteriorate the rubber boots and I always replace damaged ones but I've only seen running problems on engines with BADLY worn plugs and coil boots that were falling apart......best to you and keep posted please, jeff.