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| 1997 Saturn
1.8 L 4cy, dual cams, 4 valves/cylinder 90,000 miles Oil is leaking into the no. 1 spark plug hole. (The other 3 are dry and clean.) Was checking the car over and found that the no. 1 spark plug hole was half full of engine oil. All the valve cover bolts were tight, and as far as I know, the valve cover has never been removed. (It's my wife's car.) What's your opinion - where is the leak and what is required to fix it? I have an idea what I need to do, but would like to have the opinion of others who may have dealt with this problem. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| replace the valve cover gasket and pcv valve. |
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| I'm with geraldo. imo, there's an oil leak above that spark plug hole. Most likely the valve cover. I'm not a believer in the idea that oil can be pumped out of the cylinder and past the threads of a spark plug if that's what you're thinking. jmo |
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| Thank you all for your replies. I fixed the leak today by installing a new gasket set. When I took the old gaskets off, I found that the one around No. 1 sparkplug well had hardened and deteriorated, but the other were serviceable. It also had a weep along the front edge where the cover seats against the head. It's not leaking now, but the car hasn't been driven long enough for a true test. I found a possible contributor to this problem. When I tried to remove the oil filler cap, it was jammed. It had swelled to the point that to remove it required enough force to flex the valve cover a bit. Tomorrow, I'm getting a new filler cap. (Interesting what we find after the service contract runs out. This is my wife's car and her service contract expired this winter.) |
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| Be thankful the cover was not distorted and then not repairable due to people("mechanics") over tightening the screws.. One would think the oil filler cap gasket was replaceable; IMO, it should be. They were on the old VW air cooled engines.And they were made from actual metal... Nine years is a good life for a cam cover gasket.. |
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