Rep Power: 812

this is on the 92 accord, im home and playing with moms car, i noticed its making a rapid ticking while pressing the gas only, so i pulled the plug wires and on the coil 1 there was oil dripping out as i pulled it off. its all over the top of the plug and in the coil. so,,,what does this mean. im changing plugs soon, but is it just a bad seal or something worse. its going to san fran 4hrs + so i dont want trouble. the trans is already on thin ice (leaky axle). and history, the distributor blew up a while back causing timing to get thrown off 25 degrees, car wouldnt move, but they fixed it and said it drives fine as of last year. this is a neglected car, it basically gets maintenance only when i do it (every 6 mos). so any ideas would be nice. also the car shakes alot at idle which last time i fixed by cleaning throttle body../.

 
Rep Power: 0

burnt oil on the top of the plug or on the internal part(combustion chamber)?

This car doesn't have coil packs. Just a plug and wire off the dizzy.

Pull the valve cover, check the spark plug seals, hell just replace them while you have it off.

It a compression check also. if its even you are good to go.

Good luck

 
Rep Power: 812

thanks for great advice. ya i know it has wires, i was talking about the coil part that goes onto the plug. when i pulled that out, there was oil all over the top and in the coil thing. when i pulled it out, there was oil all over the electrode too but maybe it just dripped down when i pulled it out. i mopped the oil and it seems to me like the valve cover gasket (spark plug seal) was bad and leaking. i really hope not, but i went ahead and replaced all the plugs, cleaned the TB, new air filter, and filled up the oil to max (it was at min, thanks firestone). the ticking and crazy rough idle disappeared and the car runs like new. so tomorrow im opening the plug again hoping there's not a pool of oil. im a lazy man, and i forgot to bring my compression gauge, but i dont think thats a problem cause the car feels like all 4 cyl are working.

well after driving and pulling off the wire, sure enough theres oil around the gasket seal. crap. is it easy to replace that cover gasket? on the civic its a pain cause very little room and tons of junk to unbolt.

 
Rep Power: 0

If you did a search, there are other threads about this topic That part that goes on the plug(it is a long hollow plastic tube) has nothing to do with the coil, so stop saying that. Takes about five minutes to get the valve cover off. Just put the gasket on right,or you will be doing it again. While you have it off check the valve clearance.

 
Rep Power: 313

blown head gaskett??

 
Rep Power: 300

without reading what everyone else said...

my friend had the same problem with his civic when we changed his pulggs. he got all worked up about it and i didnt know what was wrong either. the next day he drove it to a local shop and whatever was wrong with it was fixed within a hour. the oil was everywhere and i had never seen oil pile up on a plugg like that before without something major being wrong.
sorry i cant remeber what it was but if the car runs fine, it might be a easy fix
have a real mechanic look at it before you self diagnoise(no offense)

sorry this is no real help but just trying to make you feel better!

 
Rep Power: 812

okay so far i tightened down the valve cover and drove the car around. there is no oil that i can see when i take off the thing that goes over the plug. there was a tiny bit but maybe leftover from last time. it looks dry down where the plug is so maybe its a slow leak or something. but yea i looked and it seems easy to take off the cover.

oh yea one other problem im having is the shaking. after cleaning up the tb, it doesnt shake at all until you turn the ac on, then for some reason the rpm drops lower to like 800 and then the shake starts. im guessing cause the idle is too low, i always thought the rpm should go up when using ac. any ideas? all i did was clean the throttle body and plate, i dont really know where (if any) the idle sensors are and how to clean it.

 
Rep Power: 0

The reason why the car's idle lowers when you turn on the a/c is two fold. One, the compressor clutch locks up and creates draw on the A/C belt. This will turn on and off as you have the A/C on. The second is the draw on the alternator. The fans for the condensor/radiator will kick on and suck up a good bit of juice. The additional load on the electrical will make the alternator increase its physical resistance on the belt, there by slowing down the engine. = less HP at the flywheel.

The car is supposed to idle higher to compensate for the additional draw but sometimes doesn't

When replacing the valve cover put a little bit of honda-bond around the "cam-humps". do not over torque the valve cover nuts.

its easy to do. good luck

 
Rep Power: 0

The engine mount by the exhaust header(stand over the radiator and look down) has a tendancy to rip, I don't know if this is it though. Do you have a manual? Has the battery been disconnected lately?

This can be a little misleading. You don't put the gasket sealer around the whole "hump" just at the bottom where it makes a 90 degree angle with the head( in the nook and crannies), so there will be four spots to put it. I don't know if that was any clearer If you over torque, you crush the gasket and it leaks.