I got a cylinder 1 misfire code from the ECU, and looked at the coilpack and sparkplug in cylinder 1. I pulled out the coilpack and it was covered in oil, as well as the top of the sparkplug. The entier coilpack chamber it sits in was covered in oil. I checked out the other cylinder sparkplugs and theyre all bone dry, just cylinder 1.
This seems bad, and soudns like something that could cost ALOT of money to fix. Any thoughts or experiences with this?

 

bump - sorry but I'll be taking the car in tomorow, and I'd like to have an idea of whats going on. Has anyone ever had a problem similar to this?

 

I had this same problem. All it is, is the o-ring that seals off the sparkplug well. Mine did this for over a year.

 

It could also be a piston ring that has gone bad. Before you do anything drastic, check the compression in that cylinder first.

 

it that were the case the oil would not be on the coil pack.

 

What I'm saying is that it could be both the spark plug O-ring and the piston ring. Isn't the piston ring's job to keep oil out of the combustion chamber in the first place?? Oil shouldn't have been in the combustion chamber, let alone the spark plug hole.

 

Plurco, did having that problem affect your car's performance? I only got my new max a month ago, so I can't tell if its any slower or faster (right now it feels about as fast as my old 90' max)

 

did not hurt a bit

 

don't worry too much. should be easily fixed.

 

Definitely those o-rings underneath your valve cover. The OEM seals should be less than $40 for both valve cover gaskets, and 6 o-rings. I dunno about labor cost tho, but it took me about 3 hours to do both valve covers. I also had to go buy a rubber breather hose ($1.50), because one of mine cracked as i removed one of the valve covers.

 

I have the same exact problem - #1 cylinder. Oil is not very severe at all (just a little in the plug well).

Is the 3 hour estimate a pretty good estimate for changing all the seals? I was wondering how difficult it was to remove the 1-3-5 valve cover, considering the intake manifold and all that other stuff. What level of experience would you recommend?

 

I had a haynes manual available..which is good to help and understand what you're doing. You also need the haynes to understand how to apply some rtv sealant to the corners of your new OEM valve cover seals. Also the haynes lets you know how to torque down the valve cover bolts properly.

No RTV is required for the o-rings.

Anyways...3-3.5 hours is about proper. Maybe someone can correct me. It may take longer if you don't have all the proper socket sizes and what not. the socket sizes are pretty common...but if you don't have 'em...then add extra time and cost to go buy em. If the hose breaks...add 30 minutes to pickup a new one...etc..etc...etc.

I believe i did cut a few corners in regards to the haynes manual...but that comes down to common sense. I guess you could say Im somewhat mechanically inclined...but by no means a pro. I took some comedy college engine rebuild classes in middle school, but don't even remember every exact procedure now. jguillory: If its leaking just a few drops...then "forgettaboutit".

The longest valve cover to replace is the #1,3,5 one...meaning you have to remove intake and stuff. The front one (2,4,6) takes, I'd guess 30 minutes or so.