Oil all over spark plugs

crazysk8er1010

New Member
Nov 16, 2008
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Hey guys, I have an 87 N/A. The car runs fine but recently I've been smelling a lot of burning engine oil. I pulled out a couple spark plugs and they had oil all over them. Could that be indicating a BHG? The engine almost sounds like a lawn mower. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the oil in the spark plugs. Any ideas as to what's wrong. I'll post pictures of the spark plugs tomorrow. Thanks!
 

tlo86

Ninja Editor 'Since 05'
Jul 24, 2005
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oil could be preventing spark and running on less cylinders. usually oil on the spark plug is some seal letting it leak.

http://www.cygnusx1.net/Supra/Library/TSRM/MK3/manual.aspx?S=EM&P=32

check cyl head covers and the PCV. (cheap parts to replace but kind of a PITA to get to )

there is a way to test for a BHG if it has not been fixed you should probably do some preventative maintenance heh. unless you blew your engine already. such as

p1384462_1.jpg

and
p1384462_2.jpg


and my favorite
p1384462_3.jpg
 
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87tomanymods

87tomanymods
Oct 25, 2008
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i had this problem years ago on mine it was the valve covers leaking into the plug galley. toyota in their infinite wisdom used those stupid philips head bolts to secure them. i suggest to all to purchase the allen head bolts to replace them they are much better good luck.
 

iwannadie

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Jul 28, 2006
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87tomanymods;1386732 said:
i had this problem years ago on mine it was the valve covers leaking into the plug galley. toyota in their infinite wisdom used those stupid philips head bolts to secure them. i suggest to all to purchase the allen head bolts to replace them they are much better good luck.

They used philips head screws to prevent over tightening. The specs are very low, in inch pounds. They also used rubber washers to allow the head to expand differently than the valve covers. If you crank them down extremely tight with no rubber washers you asking for something to crack down the line.

Use the screws and rubber washer(buy new ones from the dealer or driftmotion) and torque them correctly with new gaskets and you should have no leaks.
 

iwannadie

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Jul 28, 2006
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gilbert, az
87tomanymods;1386886 said:
these are the screws i spoke of http://www.suprasport.com/Valve-Cover-Cap-Screw-Kit_p_295.html ad like crazyskater said def use new oem rubber washers and tourque specs provided by toyota not just pft : )

I was just making sure that you weren't suggesting people get those type of bolts so they could tighten them more. I've herd people doing that before and using metal lock washers.
 

crazysk8er1010

New Member
Nov 16, 2008
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So I replaced the valve cover gasket, the y-pipe gasket, got the new hex bolts with the oem washers. I cleaned out spark plug gallery of all the oil. I didn't replace the spark plugs but just cleaned them off. Would that be a problem?

Everything looks good. Thanks guys!
 

AJ'S 88NA

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Jul 26, 2007
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crazysk8er1010;1389199 said:
So I replaced the valve cover gasket, the y-pipe gasket, got the new hex bolts with the oem washers. I cleaned out spark plug gallery of all the oil. I didn't replace the spark plugs but just cleaned them off. Would that be a problem?

Everything looks good. Thanks guys!

Maybe yes maybe no :) How old were the plugs? I think I would have replaced them while I was that far. Did you clean the inside of the plug wires good?
 

Illusive MA70

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Sep 4, 2005
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Las Vegas
as far as the engine sounding like a lawnmower, I had a similar problem where the engine had a miss and it sounded really bad. What my issue was and still is, the distributor shaft has an internal seal and it is leaking a bit, so slowly but surely the oil doesnt allow for the spark to transfer completly to some of my plugs and over time the lack of spark to the plugs fouls them. I replace the fouled plugs and move on for a while until it repeats. don't know if this helps but I would check for a miss.