Rep Power: 296

I was changing my sparks the other day, and one of the spark plugs was COVERED in engine oil, the whole chamber was soaked in oil, is this a major concern? and what could be the problem?

I cleaned it all out and put in the new spark for now, will bring it to mechanic when I can, but anyone know if this is something serious?

 
Rep Power: 302

yes its serious it means you have bad piston rings in that cylinder. do you regularly check the oil because if there is that much oil in the cyl its obciously burning it and may be low. this can be caused by a bad injector in that cyl. honda and acura are kind of notorious for that. what happens is that the cyl isnt getting enough fuel and fry's the rings eventually burning a whole in the piston. you should be able to keep an eye on the oil level and keep it full and drive for quite some time as long as the injector is fixed, if that is the problem. i have seen it alot in older year hondas

 
Rep Power: 296

Thanks for the reply.

Damn that kinda ruined my day... Was planning on running this car a little while longer, but if theres going to be engine issues... that's gonna suck =|

 
Rep Power: 298

I would bet more money on the spark plug seal in the valve cover. I just had to replace a set in my GF's vic when I took off the valve cover.

It would be #6 on this page. http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...DER+HEAD+COVER

 
Rep Power: 302

that is a good point as well! it all depends on if the oil was on the electrode or not. if the oil was on the part that sparks (electrode) then i would put money on it being bad rings.

 
Rep Power: 250

Ya I had this problem too. I had a bad seal around the valve cover. Although this was on my B16a in my CRX. Just had to pull the valve cover off and replace those little round seals that go around where the spark plugs go.

 
Rep Power: 298

its always good to try the cheap stuff first

 
Rep Power: 250

i had this problem on my 91 civic.
Car ran fin, but it was freaky.
Mechanic said not to worry about it - I didn't, and it never gave me a problem.
You should replace the valvecover seals and gramunts* every so often, and gramunts everytime you remove them (supposed to)
Anyways, if it bothers you, do the cheap stuff first...

 
Rep Power: 302

even if it is the piston rings you can just continue to add oil and it will be fine for a lont time if your not hard on it

 
Rep Power: 0

There is also a small possibility of a clogged intake/air filter causing air intake vacuum to suck more air through the PCV valve. Check to see if your air filter is soaked with oil. If it is then this is a possibility. Most common cause of this is running into road debri (especially plastic bags) and having it sucked into the intake passage, causing a partial to almost full clog.