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Re: leak from spark plug holes

To: John Hobson <goalie_john@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Re: leak from spark plug holes
From: "T. .R. Dafforn" <td214@cam.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2001 12:15:24 +0100
Hi John,
This rings a bell, I thought i had oil coming from the plugs, took the car
for its MOT last week, and found it was running with a 11% CO, ie V. Rich.
checked the plugs, black. Re-did the colour tune, and now bown. I will keep
and eye on the oil-like stains!
cheers
Tim
John Hobson wrote:

> Thanks everyone who replied to my original e-mail.  Anyway I just pulled
> all the plugs to see if I could find out any more about the problem.
> Anyway it looks like they are all being carbon fouled, so that suggests a
> mixture problem, they are not sticky black like they would be if being
> oil fouled.  Also what I thought was oil, I now think is petrol.  The
> threads on the plugs on No.2 and No.3 are wet and both smell of petrol.
> I now think that it is petrol that I can see coming out of the plug
> holes.  Would this be at all consistent with a mixture problem?  Any
> thoughts?
>
> cheers
> John & Saskia the Spit 1500
> http://www.spit1500.co.uk
>
> --- Terry Thompson <firespiter@yahoo.com> wrote: > Is it possible that
> you're just having oil come from
> > between the valve cover (gasket) and the head and the
> > oil is just accumulating near the plug holes?
> >
> > If oil is leaking into the combustion chambers then
> > you should have some fouling and misfiring of the
> > engine. And there should be some blue-ish gray smoke
> > from the exhaust either all the time or when shifting
> > gears. Any other symptoms, pinking? more than usual
> > valve clatter? any drop or rise in revs when you push
> > the clutch pedal in?
> >
> > Pull the spark plugs (you should pull all of them and
> > keep them in order) and look for black goo on the
> > plugs. If so you're either blowing oil into the
> > combustion chambers past the piston rings or from the
> > valve seats.
> >
> > You should also invest ~$20 (here in the US) for a
> > compression tester, it threads into where the spark
> > plugs go, and you disconnect the dizzy and crank the
> > engine and it tells you how much compression is in the
> > cylinder that you're on. What you want to check for is
> > that all of the cylinders are within a 10 psi
> > variance, preferably they're all identical. (I believe
> > that with the 9:1 compression head, I use to get
> > 165-170 psi). Any large variance indicates a leak.
> >
> > Sooty/dusty black on your plug ends is carbon from
> > running too rich, but gooey, shiney or tacky black is
> > from oil. If your plugs are getting oil fouled, it's
> > probably time for rings or a valve job.
> >
> > If it's a bad valve cover seal, replace it and use
> > some blue permatex (or whatever the British use as a
> > gasket sealer), and if it's oil coming from the
> > valves/piston rings, then it's time to think about
> > engine work. Tightening the spark plugs won't help
> > (except to keep the oil inside the combustion chamber,
> > where it doesn't belong).
> >
> > If it were oil coming in from a cracked head, you'd
> > almost assuredly be losing water at a noticable rate.
> > So it's probably time for the ring job or new valves
> > and seats.
> >
> > -Terry
> >
> >
> > --- John Hobson <goalie_john@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> > >
> > > Saskia, my 1977 Spit 1500 is leaking oil from No.2
> > > and No.3 spark plug
> > > holes (and probably elsewhere that I'm not aware
> > > of!).  Has anyone else
> > > had this problem?  Could it be that the plugs need
> > > tightening up?  Could
> > > it be a problem with the cylinder head?
> > >
> > > Another slightly odd thing happened a week or so
> > > ago.  I got a pair of
> > > new tyres (Pirelli P1000, 155-80-13) on the rear for
> > > a week or so after
> > > having them fitted they seemed to rub when going
> > > over bumps or round
> > > corners.  At first I thought it was the exhaust box
> > > scraping on the
> > > ground, but I now think that it's the tyres rubbing
> > > on the wheel arches.
> > > Anyway whatever this problem was/is it has now fixed
> > > itself, and I'm none
> > > the wiser exactly what the original problem was...
> > > anyone else had this
> > > problem, any thoughts on it?
> > >
> > > Any help, as always, very much appreciated!
> > >
> > > cheers
> > > John
> > > http://www.spit1500.co.uk/
> > Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail.
> > http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/

--
Tim Dafforn
University of Cambridge
Structural Medicine Unit
Cambridge Institute for Medical Research
Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Mechanisms of Disease
Hills Rd, Cambridge CB2 2XY.
UK
Tel. (01223) 336829
Fax. (01223) 336827
http://smokeroom.cimr.cam.ac.uk/

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