Oil and coolant on spark plugs?

Tiny
JAMESG14
  • MEMBER
  • 1992 ACURA LEGEND
  • V6
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 400,000 MILES
Let me start off by saying that I recently purchased this car. Prior to that it’s been sitting for the past 5-6 years. The only thing I’ve done so far is put a thermostat in, change the oil and put an alternator in. I also did a radiator flush, and the coolant had a little brown in it.

I did a compression test on my engine after white smoke was intermittently coming out of exhaust. I’ve also been losing coolant, so I wanted to do this test to see if there is a head gasket leak. My car doesn’t overheat or lose power. But it does have a rough idle only when the engine is cold. It will rev up and down for approximately a few minutes, or until you start driving. After that it doesn’t do it again until engine goes back cold... I just recently changed the oil. The oil wasn’t milky like if coolant was mixing into it, but it was very black.

I did the compression test and found out quickly that oil is on almost all the spark plugs. Then there’s one cylinder which I believe coolant is getting into. Because the ignition coil smells like coolant, and it’s the only coil that’s brownish.

I did some research on head gasket leaks and was thinking about trying blue devil gasket repair. I see a lot of mixed reviews but it’s a 30-year-old car, so I figured I’m not losing much if it clogs up something. But if that works that would only solve my coolant leaking issue I believe? I’d still need to figure out why oil is getting into the spark plugs. So, I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction.

Any help is appreciated, I don’t have much experience with working on cars. I’ll include pictures of my compression test; spark plugs and ignition coils.
Saturday, November 12th, 2022 AT 11:31 AM

6 Replies

Tiny
JAMESG14
  • MEMBER
  • 38 POSTS
First pictures.
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Saturday, November 12th, 2022 AT 11:33 AM
Tiny
JAMESG14
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Compression test readings.
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Saturday, November 12th, 2022 AT 11:34 AM
Tiny
JAMESG14
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Additional pictures.
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Saturday, November 12th, 2022 AT 11:35 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,755 POSTS
Hi,

As far as the Blue Devil, I have had mixed reviews as well. I was told it is extremely important to follow the directions exactly.

Now, the oil on the spark plugs. Is the oil on the rubber spark plug boot off the coil pack? If that is the case, and it does appear that way in the pics, replace the valve cover gaskets. There is a separate O-ring for each spark plug opening. Chances are they have failed.

Take a look at the pic below.

Also, the idea that the threads on the spark plugs have oil on them is likely because when you removed them, the spark plug tower likely had oil in them. As you removed them, the threads got covered.

Let me know if this helps if you have other questions.

Take care,

Joe

See pic below.
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Saturday, November 12th, 2022 AT 10:28 PM
Tiny
JAMESG14
  • MEMBER
  • 38 POSTS
Okay, I’ll look and see how hard it is to do. It may be a few weeks before I post an update. Thanks
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Monday, November 14th, 2022 AT 4:30 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,755 POSTS
You are very welcome. I will watch for your reply and hope this takes care of the issue you are having.

Take care,

Joe
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Monday, November 14th, 2022 AT 8:26 PM

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