lordbenny
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| posted on 18/12/20 at 09:24 AM |
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Oil in Spark Plug wells....
I’ve got a 1.7 Zetec S from a Ford Puma and I’ve recently discovered after some difficult starts that there is oil in the spark plug wells and the
plugs are oily. I must admit that I have had a little too much oil in the engine after a recent check but I’ve now rectified and that and it’s at it
correct level.... Would that cause the issue? The cam cover seal is tight and there is no leakage from that. The engine was rebuilt to as new 3000
miles ago. It has been sitting for a while and I did a series of failed attempts to start it recently but now when it does start it is sweet and purrs
like a kitten. Cause for concern?
[Edited on 18/12/20 by lordbenny]
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nick205
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| posted on 18/12/20 at 10:17 AM |
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I've heard of engines over filled with oil trying to burn off oil and potentially the oil fiding the weakest seal point to leak through. If
your engine was re-built to "as new" 3,000 miles ago the seals should be new and in good shape. If the spark plugs were perhaps a little
loosely fitted some oil could sneak past, but IMHO I'd have expected the oil to get burn't off in the cylinders before that happened.
Fitting a new set of spark plugs (or some spare older ones if you have them) might tell you someting, but I doubt it.
I'd be inclined to give do an oil + filter change to make certain you have exactly the right amount of oil in the engine. That way you rule out
an oil over fill issue and potentially faulty/clogged oil filter.
Did you rebuild the engine yourself or was it done by a company for you?
If a company did it for you then speak to them and see what advice they have.
Did they provide any warranty with the rebuild work?
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lordbenny
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| posted on 18/12/20 at 10:51 AM |
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Thanks for your reply...the car in question is this one!
http://paulsj15.blogspot.com/2012/09/it-starts.html
Engine not rebuilt by myself.
When I first did an oil change I was surprised that when I put the recommended amount of oil in the reading was a lot over the dipstick amount so I
took some out, approx 0.5 of a litre. Would having that much over caused the oil in the wells?
If it is the cam cover gasket do you think there would be obvious signs of leakage? As I said it looks pretty dry all round the seal to me.
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obfripper
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| posted on 18/12/20 at 11:22 AM |
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Cam cover gasket is usually at fault, the later se plastic covers do also go out of shape but you should have an alloy one so shouldn't be an
issue.
You may find that the old one has been reused which is usually a 50/50 chance of being ok.
I've fitted patterned ones that have leaked from the off, best off with genuine or one from the oe supplier iirc which is elring.
Dave
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lordbenny
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| posted on 18/12/20 at 11:37 AM |
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Euro car parts sell the Elring ones. Will there be a sure sign of leakage...ie oil running down into the spark plug wells?
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RedAvon
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| posted on 18/12/20 at 01:06 PM |
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I don't know if your sump has been modified/ shortened but that might explain why the recommended amount for that engine overfilled the level to
the dipstick?
Ian
Bricoleur
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lordbenny
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| posted on 18/12/20 at 01:09 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by RedAvon
I don't know if your sump has been modified/ shortened but that might explain why the recommended amount for that engine overfilled the level to
the dipstick?
Ian
The engine is standard, sump is unmodified. Dipstick Standard length.
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obfripper
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| posted on 18/12/20 at 01:15 PM |
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There should be signs, the colour of the oil may also give it away as any oil you may have spilt will be clean, any from the engine itself will be the
same colour as the dipstick.
If you can, use some old plug leads with plain boots and run the engine while checking for leaks, if not the clean up the whole channel and run for
10-15 mins at varying rpms which should make the leak show up.
Dave
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lordbenny
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| posted on 18/12/20 at 01:37 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by obfripper
There should be signs, the colour of the oil may also give it away as any oil you may have spilt will be clean, any from the engine itself will be the
same colour as the dipstick.
If you can, use some old plug leads with plain boots and run the engine while checking for leaks, if not the clean up the whole channel and run for
10-15 mins at varying rpms which should make the leak show up.
Dave
Yes, that’s the plan....although I’m not going to just run the engine in the drive, I intend to drive it under load. It’s a fair weather car so I’ll
get back to you in....March! I think that’s all it can be.
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nick205
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| posted on 18/12/20 at 03:30 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by lordbenny
Thanks for your reply...the car in question is this one!
http://paulsj15.blogspot.com/2012/09/it-starts.html
Engine not rebuilt by myself.
When I first did an oil change I was surprised that when I put the recommended amount of oil in the reading was a lot over the dipstick amount so I
took some out, approx 0.5 of a litre. Would having that much over caused the oil in the wells?
If it is the cam cover gasket do you think there would be obvious signs of leakage? As I said it looks pretty dry all round the seal to me.
I don't know the engine's characteristics - others here seem to so may be more knowledgeable.
0.5 of a litre seems a quite a volume of extra oil in there. I know many tin top oil changes I've done where the oil capacity is around 4.5
litres so an extra 0.5 litre in there would seem IMHO to me to make the engine want to get rid of it somewhere.
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02GF74
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| posted on 18/12/20 at 08:24 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by nick205
I've done where the oil capacity is around 4.5 litres so an extra 0.5 litre in there would seem IMHO to me to make the engine want to get rid
of it somewhere.
From my experience the volume of oil required is tantalisingly more than what is inside the 5l containers, volvo 850, land rover v8 arrggghhhhhhhhh
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nickm
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| posted on 19/12/20 at 07:42 PM |
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Hi knackered c0mput0r keyb0ard s0me etters d0nt w0rk !
I have the 1600 zetec se in a J15 and the Haynes manua states 4,25 itres when i change the 0i 1 measure it 0ut and it hits the max mark exacty 0n the
dipstick it d0esnt qu0te the 1700 th0ugh
Nick M
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snapper
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| posted on 21/12/20 at 04:45 AM |
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Most likely it’s a nipped rubber cover gasket but more likely to be when you filled the engine with oil without a funnel and spilled some.
[Edited on 21/12/20 by snapper]
I eat to survive
I drink to forget
I breath to pi55 my ex wife off (and now my ex partner)
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