Hey guys. I have an 88 Civic DX. Over 200,000 and still going. I changed my spark plugs yesterday, and was wondering if you could help me. If you're looking down at the valve cover, the spark plug furthest to the left was very oil soaked when I replaced it. The part of the plug where the actual spark is created had oil on it. What could that be?
Thanks guys..
DGPlaya

 

I have an 88 sitting in my driveway with the same problem but on a different cylinder. Mine is burning oil because it was not well maintained. It will drive and run hard - but it can't pass emissions because it burns oil. Your issue may be related to the valve cover gasket or to the actual cylinder being worn and allowing oil into the area above it. (Blow By). At 200k miles this is a definate possibility if regular oil changes did not happen.

:Edit:

If you want to buy it - $300 bux and it's yours!

 

Thanks. It bums me out. Car is awesome, but this one cylinder not running as well as I thought.
So maybe I'll replace the valve cover gasket..
Danny G.

 

Piston ring.

 

Valve cover gasket wont fix the problem. All that will do is keep oil from leaking out from under it to the outside word. You have problem inside your engine, not outside of it.

 

^^^

 

Piston ring? How expensive is that and can I do it myself? Thx. guys.
DG

 

I wouldnt reccomend doing it yourself, and its gonna cost quite a bit, unless you have a hook up. I would estimate $200 for labor, and maybe $50 parts, but I could be WAYYY off on that.

 

A leaky valve stem seal is another very likely cause. Esp. if the car was cold when you inspected the plug. A couple of other symptoms to look for with leaky valve stem seals is some smoke on startup (after a night of sitting) and smoke after prolonged idling. -scott

 

Yep... Valve stem seal or piston ring... Either way, if u have oil in the cylinder itself, its gonna be expensive to fix...