Oh NOOOOO!!!!!

kidneybrah · Mar 2, 2011

So after installing my new fan, and since I'm getting my new tuner tomorrow; I decided to change my spark plugs. Unfortunately there was a good build up of oil on the ones in the right bank.... Is it time for a rebuild? Or is there a simpler solution?

The car burns about 2 quarts of oil in between changes. I figured it was a 15 year old car, and it was semi-normal. But this was just a terrifying find...

trinity_gt · Mar 2, 2011

Show us some pics of the plugs.

How many miles are on the car? How does it run? Do you notice smoke behind you? Does it smoke under acceleration? Deceleration?

Do you have a compression tester?

mrvax · Mar 2, 2011

Yep. A compression test will tell you what you need. But... is your oil fill on the right side too? Maybe...

kidneybrah · Mar 2, 2011

Yes it is. And no smoke up accel or decel, just when it idles for a while. sometimes right after start up.

trombonedemon · Mar 2, 2011

Your spark-plugs will tell the tale, make sure your not leaking oil in the rear main seal, valve covers and so on and so forth.
Have you notice misfires?
Oil brings down the octane level, almost like your burning deisel fuel. Ashing over on your spark plugs would indicate burning oil or using additives in your fuel. *Cough, Cough* Sea Foam.

kidneybrah · Mar 3, 2011

trombonedemon said:
Your spark-plugs will tell the tale, make sure your not leaking oil in the rear main seal, valve covers and so on and so forth.
Have you notice misfires?
Oil brings down the octane level, almost like your burning deisel fuel. Ashing over on your spark plugs would indicate burning oil or using additives in your fuel. *Cough, Cough* Sea Foam.

Yeah the tip of the plugs were a bit ashed over. And two or three plugs came out with oil on the threads.

I used sea foam on this set of plugs, but months ago. The rear main seal, is between the tranny and motor, correct? If so I'll give a look that way tomorrow.

I do burn a bit of oil, but like I said I never thought too much of it. I'll get a plume of white smoke here and there, usually when the car is cold, or has been idling for a few minutes.

johnnyt03gt · Mar 3, 2011

kidneybrah · Mar 3, 2011

Unfortunately my sister threw away the plugs before I could snap any.

But a quick search on google came up with this. It is as close to what my plugs looked like as I could find.

trinity_gt · Mar 3, 2011

kidneybrah said:
Unfortunately my sister threw away the plugs before I could snap any.

But a quick search on google came up with this. It is as close to what my plugs looked like as I could find.

That looks fine. A bit of oil on the threads might indicate you've got oil down in the plug wells from a leaking valve cover gasket or PCV system. But the firing tip -- the part that goes into the chamber -- looks fine.

If your plug looked like this:

or this:

you'd have reason to be worried. If yours really did look like the pic you posted, you've got no internal engine worries...

kidneybrah · Mar 3, 2011

Yeah that's exactly what they looked like! Thank you for the ease of mind. Now I know this isn't normal though; so what can I do to fix it?

trombonedemon · Mar 3, 2011

kidneybrah said:
Yeah that's exactly what they looked like! Thank you for the ease of mind. Now I know this isn't normal though; so what can I do to fix it?

The first one or the last two?

twogts4us · Mar 3, 2011

Regardless of any age factors, burning / losing 2 quarts of oil between oil changes (which, I trust you are doing on a regular basis, 3 month, 3K miles) is EXCESSIVE. It is either leaking badly (which you'd find a puddle under your car) or you have some seriously worn rings or other issue(s). How many miles are on the car?

kidneybrah · Mar 3, 2011

twogts4us said:
Regardless of any age factors, burning / losing 2 quarts of oil between oil changes (which, I trust you are doing on a regular basis, 3 month, 3K miles) is EXCESSIVE. It is either leaking badly (which you'd find a puddle under your car) or you have some seriously worn rings or other issue(s). How many miles are on the car?

The car has about 74,000 miles. What sucks is the car was given to me as a gift. I don't know much history on the car.

What all is needed to do a compression test? Can I do it myself?

kidneybrah · Mar 3, 2011

trombonedemon said:
The first one or the last two?

The first one that I posted. I had some ashing on the conductor itself, and oil in the threads. No oil on the conductor though.

kidneybrah · Mar 3, 2011

The things I do for my stang. These are the plugs, I dug through the garbage for them. Let me know the verdict please.

View attachment 194955

Obviously they're not in the order in which they were pulled.

trombonedemon · Mar 3, 2011

Actually, those plugs don't look that bad. My spark plugs looked worst then those before my engine rebuild and the engine wasn't losing much oil at all.
Clean all of the places oil could leak and drive the car a few days and then take a look.
I'm hoping your rear main seal isn't leaking, getting oil on that clutch means you need a new clutch disk.

kidneybrah · Mar 4, 2011

trombonedemon said:
Actually, those plugs don't look that bad. My spark plugs looked worst then those before my engine rebuild and the engine wasn't losing much oil at all.
Clean all of the places oil could leak and drive the car a few days and then take a look.
I'm hoping your rear main seal isn't leaking, getting oil on that clutch means you need a new clutch disk.

Auto tranny ftw... kind of...

But besides that, the smoke that I get comes out of the exhaust tips.

1987stangman · Mar 4, 2011

I kinda skimmed over the responses, but this sounds like good old case of the bad valve seal. My old NPI motor has the exact same symptoms and the #8 cyl was the issue. I replaced the seals in it before I sold the motor.

kidneybrah · Mar 5, 2011

1987stangman said:
I kinda skimmed over the responses, but this sounds like good old case of the bad valve seal. My old NPI motor has the exact same symptoms and the #8 cyl was the issue. I replaced the seals in it before I sold the motor.

How hard would valve seals be to do? Can a weekend mechanic handle it?

1987stangman · Mar 6, 2011

kidneybrah said:
How hard would valve seals be to do? Can a weekend mechanic handle it?

Once you get the hang of it it's not a hard job, however, I have only done it with the engine out of the car and by doing it that way it was easier. I personally would not want to do it with the engine in the car.

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