Just like the title of this post says, cylinder 3 is not firing and I found oil on the electrode of the spark plug. What is the cause of this, and how do I fix it. All other cylinders are fine though. Could this be caused by using synthetic oil? Maybe oil seepage?

 

no synthetic whont do that.
cheke your compretion, if it comes out ok u might have a leeking intake valve gide, and that wear your oil will be comeing from.
if your compertion feals will have blone piston ring, and oil can kreep thrugh ther
but i dout its the the piston rings. just chek and post back on your findings.

 

Alright, first thing to check...is there noticeable oil consumption? 2nd, have you tested spark on the plug? You said oil is on the electrode, have you tested compression in the cylinder?

S

 

How do I perform compression test? When I changed the plugs earlier in the week, there was no oil on any of them and the engine idled and ran far smoother. It seemed to happen the night I changed the oil, the engine ran rough.

 

hmmm, you'll need a compression gauge to test it. You basically need to relieve the car of fuel pressure by disconnecting the fuel pump, and letting the car idle until it dies out and won't start anymore. Then you remove the spark plugs, put in the compression tester, and crank the car over a few times to get a compression rating. And you do this for each cylinder.

Have you check the connection for all your plugs. Did you replace the plug wires when you did the plug?

S

 

All the other plugs are fine. I relpaced the plugs and oil on Tuesday, wires on Wednesday. Wednesday night is when the car started running poorly.

When I replaced the oil, what was in the engine previously was like grey water, not like oil at all. This wouldn't be a cracked engine block would it? I have not checked the oil, however I will when I get off work.

 

grey water? sounds like your coolant is mixing with oil. If so, the likely culprit is a blown head gasket.

 

Actually....that sounds more like fuel might be getting in the oil. If you had water in the oil, it would look like the consistency of chocolate milk/milkshake. I would do a compression test ASAP. It could be the number 5 cylinder has a bad ring or something. Have you tried replugging in the wire? Also..I suggest that you do not run synthetic oil. That might do more harm to the car than good considering it's age and condition. What oil are you running right now? I think 10w30 or 10w40 will be good, unless your using a lot of oil...then you might consider a heavier weight, like 15w30 or 15w40.

S

 

grey water sounds like water oil and fuel are mixing.

and if its not firing mabe its not getting any fuel?

do you notice any gas smell when it runs?

 

I do notice a gas smell when it runs, but it is mixed with exhaust fumes

 

does it seem wet arround any of the spark plugs?

i'm thinking leaking injector mabe

 

I tested the compression, and it was around 150 for cylinder 3. How do I check if the plug is firing? Just take it out and put it on the wire and start the engine? I would think that would not be good for the car.

I changed the tranny fluid, and it was also like grey water. The car sat for about 3 years. I do not know how to perform a tranny flush, so how far should I drive before draining and re-filling the tranny fluid again?

I am going to see the mechanic I purchased the vehicle from, he changed the engine, so maybe he should have a better idea on what to do.

 

how bout the compression numbers from the other cylinders?

there's 1 way to test if you have spark on the plug or not.. first off, relieve the fuel system of pressure. next, pull the plug out and put it close to the valve cover. have someone crank the engine... if the ignition is good, you should see spark jumping from the plug to the valve cover(ground)..

and then there's a safer way, a spark test lead you can get for some 10-12 bucks off the auto parts store. it plugs between the spark plug and plug wire, it has a tiny bulb that will light up whenever there's a current passing from the wire to the plug.

an engine, left sitting still for 3 years... might has lose all the oil from the rings...try some thicker oil and see if that helps.