This is going to be a longish post with lots of edits as I'm doing this in real time.

2002 Maxima SE Auto 102500 miles. Purchased Feb 07 with 79.5K miles.

The car has being running perfectly until a few weeks ago when a slight loss of power became apparent. Then a couple of missfires at idle made me buy a set of plugs.
On replacing the plugs this morning, the front three where a bear to remove and I was scared of breaking them. Got them out, the electrode point is worn to a nub and they are covered in a grey ash. Lean running probably due to the maf that blew on me two months ago.


(picture holding space)

Replaced no problem. On to removing the intake manifold which was an easy job.
Removed the far right plug when facing the engine and a pressurized fluid squirted out. It looks like oil/atf and smells weird. It has a slight red tinge and feels gritty. I checked the oil and I'm down over a quart in 2200 miles since the last oil/filter change. The plug hole is filled with this fluid so I havent taken the plug out yet as I dont want to fill the chamber with this crap.

(picture holding space)

Ok, just went out and used compressed air to blow out the fuid from the plug hole. There is a ton of it. It looks like the hole is being filled by fluid, I guess oil?, from inside the valve cover. I cant take the cover off yet as I'm waiting to find someone that has a gasket in stock before I remove. I absolutly have to have the car running for work on Monday. Mrs is out shopping and she is hunting one down for me.


This is where I'm at right now. Will update as I progress. Give me a few minutes to re size pics and host them.

I am concerned that the oil change place put atf in when they changed the oil becasue the car was running fine until I had the oil changed. I hadnt realized this until just now.

 

wow... atf in the engine? that's definitely not good.. i really hope that no oil change place would be so careless... thats why its always good to change your own oil.. but anyway, onto your issue at hand.. if it actually is OIL in the spark plug holes, then thats pretty common among the 3.5 engines.. as well as oil burning between changes.. the problem is that the piston rings are bad in these engines, and that somehow allows oil to escape where it's supposed to be.. as far as a pressurized fluid squirting out of the spark plug hole... i've never heard of that before.. maybe another 3.5 owner would have experience with that

this is the most recent thread on the issue, but do a search and you can find others:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=534204

 

get a 04-06 (6th gen) rear cover AND gasket...this is very common....and the 6TH gen cover is the fix for it ( the oil in the spark plug hole at least)

 

Actually, a half quart of ATF fluid in the oil isn't always bad. I wouldn't run a long time with it, but in the short term it'll have the same effect as doing an engine flush. The ATF fluid contains lanoline which cleans the inside of the engine as it runs through it. It's a common trick done by old school gear heads.


Oh and ditto on the gaskets. I had the same problem twice in mine before I traded it in.

 

how about start a thread when you have all the info and pics

 

ATF in the engine block wont hurt the engine...but he still needs to correct the problem that allowed the ATF to enter the engine

 

how would you get ATF into the oil? i cant think of anywhere that the ATF and oil would be near each other even.

 

hmmmm...how you don get that red fluid up in there?

O wait...comon sence would mean some one put it there....(if its actually in the oil), or you just think its red ....and its realy just oil...

 

What color coolent are you running? I have seen DOHC heads crack and fill the head with coolent and push out the plug wire. I didn't see this happen on a Maxima.

 

I used to work at a gas station that used Tipersol oil. (I think thats what they called it). It was not cheap, and they said that it was bought for diesel engines and heavy equipment. It was red. Maybe they put that in?

 

learn something new everyday.. thats interesting.. so why dont we do it as a routine maintenence to clean out the engine? i've never seen it on this website

 

input anybody?