red_baron 0 Posted June 7, 2008 Hi everyone... after a number of months of trouble free driving (apart from a couple of incidents with a knackered coil pack!) I decided to treat the beast to a new set of plugs today as the old ones have been in for a couple of years now. On removing the old ones, there's a significant amount of oil knocking around on the body of the plugs and onto the insulators. The "business" end of the plugs are all fine. 2, 4 & 6 are the worst (the front three), number 1 is dry, but 3 & 5 have a small amount of oil on them but nowhere near as much as the front three. Does this sound major? Otherwise at almost 120,000 miles she's running fine and not using too much oil. I'm just off on a 200 mile round trip so will check the new plugs on Monday when I'm back. Cheers, Ian Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roger Blassberg 0 Posted June 10, 2008 Sounds as though the cam cover gasket has sprung a leak at the back, or maybe you spilt some oil when you last topped it up. Best wishes RB Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
red_baron 0 Posted June 11, 2008 Definitely didn't spill any oil, so perhaps it is the cam cover gasket. I think I also have a misfire and lack of power at highish revs - got absolutely pasted the other day by a Golf VR6 and she really seems to labour at speed :( I get the feeling there's some money to be spent soon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted June 11, 2008 Oil on the electrodes means it's burning it.... Sorry. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
red_baron 0 Posted June 11, 2008 The threads and electrodes are all dry as snuff... its just the top half of the plugs that have the oil on them. I'm worried that the head gasket may be on the way out :( although oil usage is minimal and there's no water in the oil & vice versa Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidwort 0 Posted June 11, 2008 Is the centre part of the plug cracked across? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
red_baron 0 Posted June 11, 2008 No, apart from the oil the plugs looked as they should for 2 years old... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidwort 0 Posted June 11, 2008 No, apart from the oil the plugs looked as they should for 2 years old... Oh, it's just I saw this:plug.GIF[/attachment:3bsw99u1] Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
red_baron 0 Posted June 11, 2008 Well in that case its cracked... Didn't notice that myself as I was too busy worrying about the oil! ... but it still feels like its misfiring even with the new plugs in. I'll check the new ones for oil tomorrow when I get a chance. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
red_baron 0 Posted June 14, 2008 Right. I've had a look at the new plugs today (one week old) and there's a tiny bit of oil knocking around. I think this is as a result of a leaking cam cover gasket which I'm in the process of changing at the moment. All the plugs look reasonably ok apart from number 6 - this one seems to be a bit blacker on the electrode than all the others and there's also some gritty deposits building up. The photo shows number 6... I think the cracked plug from my previous photo was number 6 too, as it had similar deposits. Anyone any thoughts to make me feel slightly happier about the car?! Cheers, Ian Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supercharged 2 Posted June 14, 2008 Compression test? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
red_baron 0 Posted June 14, 2008 On the way methinks... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted June 16, 2008 As I said before, if there's any oil on the business end of the plug, it's burning it, and that includes the bottom of the threads. Get someone to follow you and check for smoke after an extended period of over-run, then putting your foot down. That will give you an idea of how bad the situation is. Quite a few VR owners have "got away with it" by switching to a thicker oil just at the point of noticing the odd puff of blue smoke. Silkolene Pro S 10W/50 works well and the better quality lubricant reduces the rate of subsequent wear. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
red_baron 0 Posted June 18, 2008 I had a blast through Scotland last summer being followed by a mate in a Caterham 7. The only smoke was a "puff" when dropping down a gear to overtake slower moving plebs. I've just had everything off down to the cam cover and there was a fair bit of oil around on the top of the cover (haven't a clue where from other than leftovers from when Dubsport were let loose on her a couple of years ago :mad: ). There seemed to be a fair bit escaping from the cam cover gasket at the front right of the engine. Everythings been cleaned up and the garkets have been replaced so I suppose I'll just see how things go for the time being. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
