Kaptnkaspy

Hey guys, my car started recently to backfire during idle, and when i accelerate up to 3000 rpm then it seems fine, i took the intake manifold to change the spark plugs i unscrewed them and discovered that there is oil on them. I heard this means that the valve cover is leaking? i changed the cap and rotor and fuel filter and put in new iridium spark plugs. put some lucas injector cleaner and the problem went away for a day or so, now its backfiring again!! i didnt change the spark plug wires stupid me, so now i have to take everything apart again and change those. But would like to know why there is oil on the spark plugs in the first place!? also after doign a oil change i have to add oil after a couple of months, I dont think its burning oil since ive had this oil problem for awhile and my car just recently passed emissions. any help would be greatly appreaciated! LOVE this car!

CTgs300

where in ct are you? How many miles are on you car ?

Kaptnkaspy

im in newington got just over 180000 but i changed engine so the engine has only around 50k, where are you?

CTgs300

I'm in wallingford. I'm actually on my way to newington right now for an interview. Is the engine rebuilt of just swapped out of another car? I wonder if your rings are getting blow by? hopefully its coming from somewhere else. You can try using seafoam. you can add it to the oil and also use it to clean injectors. do a search for "seafoam" on this site. Its been talked about alot. It may help you pinpoint the casue of your problem. got any pics of your car?

turbogs300

If the oil is on the tip of the plugs, bad news!! Rings are leaking. If the oil is on or above the threads, valve cover gasket is leaking.

Kaptnkaspy

luckly the oil is on the threads, but im not going to get too excited about it till its fixed. the engine is acutally swapped from another car. and the previos engine was replaced because of the oil rings on the pistons so hopefully i wont get screwed this time. but im picking up the cover gaskets this thursday so ill see how it goes.

Lexizm

iTrader: (2)

I'm having the same problem. Also, my exhaust tips are black (burning oil) and this did not happen before I put on the Carson Tune Exhaust with OBX headers that don't have cats, but I have the emulators (2) installed.

I had my mechanic look at the valve covers for this very problem and he said that it didn't look like it was leaking. Granted they/he did not go into the motor (remove the valve cover) to really see. I saw the oil on the threads of a few (three) of the spark plugs. I really don't have 110% confidence in their finding.

Is this a very consistant/common problem with the oil being on the thread of the spark plugs?

turbogs300

Depending on which threads it's on, it may just be from the last time you filled up with oil, maybe you missed the oil fill hole and some went down the valley and into the plug wells. You'd have to pull the front cover off (4 allen screws) and see if the whole area from the oil fill hole to the plugs is oily. If not then it's more than likely the valve cover gaskets leaking. Usually being on the threads won't cause the exhaust to be black, it may cause the spark to short to ground and cause spark related issues. I use synthetic oil in my GS3 and when I first started using it, I got alittle black soot in the tips of the exhaust and a tuff a smoke when accelerating. Now that I've been using it for awhile and have done a few flushes with seafoam, it has stopped doing that. So, your black exhaust tips could be from worn rings, carbon buildup, gunked up oil rings. Or it may just be nothing. I'd flush the motor every oil change and see if it helps any and change to a synthetic oil if you haven't already. Pull the plugs and check the tips to see if any show oil burning.

Lexizm

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the info and the recommendations. I'll try the flushes (seafoam) and switch to synthetic consistantly. If it still loses oil and blacken the tips, then I'll just change the valve cover gaskets and see what happens. That is the most expensive remedy out of everything mentioned , it can wait. I've waited this long.

JPGS300

Dont seafoam your car, Ive had customers come in with that crap all over the inside of their engines, its bad news, it sticks to everything inside which seals everything causing great compresion but in the long run it will just keep adding up and then your engine is screwed. All you half to do is take the valve cover off and replace the rubber seals where the spark plugs go and then you ll have no more oil on the plugs.

turbogs300

Use it as a flush only, the instructions say to leave it in. I'd never do that, just let it run about 20 minutes and then change your oil.! I'd recommend replacing the gaskets if you know they're leaking.