Changed plugs and found one of them taking a oil bath...help

ANIGAV Inc. · Post by **ANIGAV Inc.** » 03 Oct 2007, 09:55

I know this is a bad thing but I'm not sure exactly how bad. I took off my plug cover and saw oil all over the place. I started to trace the culprit and found that the #2 (from left to right) plug was filled with oil.
The boot on the wire was torn as well. I changed the plugs in the rest of the cylinders and left this one alone.

What is the problem? Valve cover gasket...or worse?

Post by **sseir39** » 03 Oct 2007, 13:36

Looks typical of oil spillage either from a leaking cap or when pouring oil into the engine. It gathers in the plug holes. Suggest you dry out the area and put a new cap gasket on the filler cap. Good time to clean up the entire area and check for other problems. May need to change wires if they are old.

dick

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 03 Oct 2007, 14:35

I agree with the filler cap gasket....you can even see the outside area of the fill area has oil on it. Do that as suggested and make sure the PCV hose to the top of the engine is cinched down...clean up and keep an eye on it for a few days without the plastic valve cover on.

Post by **JRL** » 03 Oct 2007, 14:57

ONE POST with all your problems would be fine

ANIGAV Inc. · Post by **ANIGAV Inc.** » 03 Oct 2007, 18:23

sorry sir. I figured with hte multiple threads would help others that have the same issues. When looking for help on a particular issue most will not look at a general "Help" thread, or maybe thats just me.

I tried to make it specific for the sake of others.

Sorry my bad.

Post by **Volvo_240_Atari_2600** » 07 Oct 2007, 22:01

Hey ANIGAV,

Thanks for the post.
I recently purchased a 98 v70 with a severe oil leak from the filler cap as quoted by "sseir39."

Looks typical of oil spillage either from a leaking cap or when pouring oil into the engine. It gathers in the plug holes. Suggest you dry out the area and put a new cap gasket on the filler cap. Good time to clean up the entire area and check for other problems. May need to change wires if they are old.

So I haven't been able to get to that this weekend but I will open mine up this coming Saturday. I am curious as to what your plug looks like now?

I figure I may find something similar on Saturday and I am just curious now.

Thanks
Eric

F18 · Post by **F18** » 08 Oct 2007, 13:01

ANIGAV......as stated its and easy fix. Just did my son's 97 850 PCV system about 4 weeks ago and encoutered the same oil bath under the spark plug cover.
Swab out the excess oil in that particular plug cavity the best you can with
a rag or absorbent paper towels....before you pull the spark plug. You can chase the little bit of oil thats is left in the cavity with carb cleaner back into the combustion chamber after you pull the plug.
On his vehicle the culprit was the clamp on the breather hose at the top. The oil filler cap gasket had already been replaced. So I replaced the crimped hose clamp with a screw type stainless clamp and no more leak.
Good luck!
Cheers

Koan · Post by **Koan** » 09 Oct 2007, 16:14

Hello -
I had a similar problem on my 94 850

Might be a good idea to clean/replace the flame trap. When this gets clogged, crankcase pressure builds and the engine is more apt to blow out oil from the cap. Another symptom of a clogged flame trap is oil accumulating around the dipstick tube - crankcase pressure will blow oil from there as well

Good Luck

Koan

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 09 Oct 2007, 17:53

Since this particular car is a turbo, what you mean is the PCV system....the flame trap is part of that on earlier non-turbo's.

Koan · Post by **Koan** » 09 Oct 2007, 22:07

Sorry - Made In Japan is correct - thought this was normally aspirated and missed the turbo designation

Koan