[Focus112]

Hey guys, changed my plugs tonight and when i took the old plugs out i found that the thread portion of the plug was covered in oil. 2 of the 4 were like this ( 1 and 3). This is on my Mazdaspeed 6 btw. What could this be? The car does consume a lot of oil, but this is typical with these cars and i assumed it was through the turbo. Any suggestions...hopefully not rings

 

[megax36]

If you have ever seen a duratec with the cylinder head off, you will see that there are water passageways that surrounds each cylinder, the oil passageways are the rectangular holes that are near the outside edge of the block/cylinder head . So with that being said, I would doubt that any oil was able to leak into cylinders without also mixing with your water, so count out a bad head gasket as the cause for the oil on the spark plugs. About the only other way oil can get into the cylinders is from either bad rings or a bad pcv valve that is spitting up too much oil into the intake.

EDIT: Actually I just noticed you said it was only on 2 out of the 4 spark plugs, so it has to be bad rings, as the pcv would have allowed the oil to get into all the cylinders.

 

[jetrinka]

Your valve cover gasket is bad. It seeps down past the gasket into the spark plug tubes. When you break the spark plug loose, oil seeps down into its threads and gives the illusion of an oily plug. See the ring of oil on your spark plug socket? Its from the bath of oil it got before it broke the spark plug loose and the oil went down past the spark plug and into the cylinder.

A cylinder that has an oil consumption problem would have a plug that has burnt on oil deposits. Not fresh oil.

 

[Focus112]

Well these are two drastically different answers. As for oil in my intake i have a ton of it, and all of these mazdaspeeds do. As for valve cover gasket, i did have some warranty work done a few months back that required the valve cover to be removed. Its also important to note that im going through about a quart of oil every thousand miles.

 

[J-Town_2006ZX3]

I.had the same issue with my 06 when going to change plugs. It was the valve cover gasket. Its a $20-30 part. I'd go head and do it. Especially if you have a decent amount of miles on it. Can't hurt, and at worst, it's preventative maintenance.
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[benkap]

Sounds like a valve cover. Especially if it is pooling in the spark plug area.

 

[warneej]

Your valve cover gasket is bad. It seeps down past the gasket into the spark plug tubes. When you break the spark plug loose, oil seeps down into its threads and gives the illusion of an oily plug. See the ring of oil on your spark plug socket? Its from the bath of oil it got before it broke the spark plug loose and the oil went down past the spark plug and into the cylinder.

A cylinder that has an oil consumption problem would have a plug that has burnt on oil deposits. Not fresh oil.

This. Common problem. Cylinders two and three share a spark plug "tube" and if their rectangular inner tube seal fails or doesn't have enough touque it will seep down and slowly fill with oil.

 

[Focus112]

This. Common problem. Cylinders two and three share a spark plug "tube" and if their rectangular inner tube seal fails or doesn't have enough touque it will seep down and slowly fill with oil.

When looking from the front of the car what is the order of the cylinders. When going from left to right, the plugs with oil were 1 and 3.

 

[jetrinka]

Doesn't matter. Its the valve cover gasket. Very common on most all cars.

 

[carbasics.co.uk]

I would suggest changing the valve cover gasket, cleaning the plugs and checking them again after a short while.

 

[jezter2000]

oil on spark plugs...

Yes it was the valve cover gasket, the oil line was visible on my spark plug boots, it also fouled the plugs, got new valve cover gasket,plugs and wires, runs purrrrfect!!! thanks!![headbang]

 

[sleepyboy]

Well these are two drastically different answers. As for oil in my intake i have a ton of it, and all of these mazdaspeeds do. As for valve cover gasket, i did have some warranty work done a few months back that required the valve cover to be removed. Its also important to note that im going through about a quart of oil every thousand miles.

Holy cow a quart every 1000 mi's [:0] that's excessive IMO. I would do a compression and leak down test.

 

[felixthecat]

I 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th = the cam cover gasket set!