Spark plug oiling up
Discussion
Just when I thought I would have the car back after its new gear box, (thanks to the AA warranty services team), another problem occurs.
In the past one of the spark plugs has become oiled up and the right bank of the engine has in the past been more smokey than the left. A blast of the excellerator or a bit of time has normally geared the oiled plug and the smmoth running engine continued. Well this time it has become oiled up and didn't clear, car ran very rough!
Any thoughts? If it is a worn ring that is letting oil seep, any thoughts on realistically how much a rebuild will cost!
In the past one of the spark plugs has become oiled up and the right bank of the engine has in the past been more smokey than the left. A blast of the excellerator or a bit of time has normally geared the oiled plug and the smmoth running engine continued. Well this time it has become oiled up and didn't clear, car ran very rough!
Any thoughts? If it is a worn ring that is letting oil seep, any thoughts on realistically how much a rebuild will cost!
gazzab said:
had same symptomns on my last cerb.
Cost me about £5K.
Don't beat around the bush!!!
I would suspect that this is seious and you really should get it to someone to take a look. Compression and leak down test would be a good start.
Do you have a claim limit on your warranty?
Take it to an expert.
Get them to drain the oil and to check for shards of metal in the old oil.
Myabe take off rockers etc and take a look at the cams.
Try one of the garages that are supposed to do their own rebuilds?
I wouldnt drive the car anymore.
When I had this problem I also had a bodged pressure relief spring and so the oil pressure was still high and so we thought it was a minor issue. In fact it was serious and the extra miles helped to destroy the complete engine bar the crank.
Get them to drain the oil and to check for shards of metal in the old oil.
Myabe take off rockers etc and take a look at the cams.
Try one of the garages that are supposed to do their own rebuilds?
I wouldnt drive the car anymore.
When I had this problem I also had a bodged pressure relief spring and so the oil pressure was still high and so we thought it was a minor issue. In fact it was serious and the extra miles helped to destroy the complete engine bar the crank.
Strange... I noticed exactly the same on my 4.2 last friday when I changed the plugs - one was very blackened with a shiny/wet look - it was the one nearest the driver on the right bank. I ran the car over the weekend, and checked it on Sunday and the plug had already started to blacken. However, the car is running absolutely fine with no rough running at all, however the oil consumption is on the high side. I am a bit concerned as it does give out a fair puff of smoke at high revs/fully load which is noticable at night with someone close behind. This is a shame as the other seven plugs were absolutely perfect, and the engine had a full factory rebuild approximately 12k miles ago. The quote of 5k is to be fair quite accurate, however there is no way I will ever pay that to replace a single piston ring, if the engine fails its going to have a 450hp LS1 conversion (hopefully it will be available soon 
)regardless of the costs involved.... the AJP is a wonderful unit but 5k to replace a piston ring?!?!?!?!?
)regardless of the costs involved.... the AJP is a wonderful unit but 5k to replace a piston ring?!?!?!?!?Longbow, this sounds exactly like mine and how it started. Claim limit on my warrenty is £975! the car is with the garage at the moment and has been for about a week. I drove it for one day after the new gearbox was fitted and thought I would get this problem sorted out as well! Bread and water for me for the next few months then. Fingers crossed it it something less drastic but aleast I am prepared the for the worse now.
Thanks for the help.
Thanks for the help.
Xsnowman, you could try what I'm going to do and replace the oil with a 10w60 synthetic - this may be sufficient to limit the seepage past the offending piston ring to stop it fouling the plug..... worth a try at least huh!?!? Also, running a fuel system cleaner through once a month will help keep the cylinders free from excessive deposits.....
As Gazzab said, how are you getting on with the problem xsnowman?
When you refer to and oiled up plug, there is a difference between a wetted plug and an oiled up plug. As a very anorak request, would it be possible for you to put up a picture of your oiled plug please?
Where oil has been burnt for a while, the plug is usually quite crusty. If the quantity of oil is quite small, this may only appear as what looks like flakes of dandruff (but blacker) sprinkled over the nose of the plug.
If the plug is just wet then you may have an injector problem. I can't see from your profile which Cerbie yo have, but the 4.5 motors have the horrible Lucas disk-type injectors. Note that 4.2s have a proper Bosch pintle-type injector.
The Lucas injectors suffer terrible spray pattern and flow rate problems. In particular they are very vulnerable to wear or dirt under the disk seat.
Where you have an injector that is overfuelling, this can cause an apparent oil-burning problem by washing the bore on that cylinder. Hence the smoke from the affected cylinder, although the plug won't usually be too crusty because it is washed by the fuel.
Should you think that this is the cause of the problem, then it is a good thing to have the injectors checked and cleaned.
Hope this is helpful - but please keep us posted. Good Luck!
When you refer to and oiled up plug, there is a difference between a wetted plug and an oiled up plug. As a very anorak request, would it be possible for you to put up a picture of your oiled plug please?
Where oil has been burnt for a while, the plug is usually quite crusty. If the quantity of oil is quite small, this may only appear as what looks like flakes of dandruff (but blacker) sprinkled over the nose of the plug.
If the plug is just wet then you may have an injector problem. I can't see from your profile which Cerbie yo have, but the 4.5 motors have the horrible Lucas disk-type injectors. Note that 4.2s have a proper Bosch pintle-type injector.
The Lucas injectors suffer terrible spray pattern and flow rate problems. In particular they are very vulnerable to wear or dirt under the disk seat.
Where you have an injector that is overfuelling, this can cause an apparent oil-burning problem by washing the bore on that cylinder. Hence the smoke from the affected cylinder, although the plug won't usually be too crusty because it is washed by the fuel.
Should you think that this is the cause of the problem, then it is a good thing to have the injectors checked and cleaned.
Hope this is helpful - but please keep us posted. Good Luck!
Thankyou for your interest and advice.
Turns out my car didn't got to Topcats but after speaking with TVRPower the general concensus that it is an engine out issue before investigations can progress.
With regards to the actual meaning of the description of plugs oiling up, I will check with Perry@ the V8 Centre tomorrow and will certainly request a check on the injectors. My car is a 97 4.2.
I just think I have been really unlucky, what with the new gearbox and now this! 680 odd miles use since September isn't that bad surely........ who am I trying to kid. I just want to get it sorted so I can get out and enjoy the car in the sun.
Any tips for upgrades to get done while the engine is out? RR upgrade, is it worth it? alternative suggestions very much welcome. If it is going to come out I might as well get the engine sorted and tweaked!
Turns out my car didn't got to Topcats but after speaking with TVRPower the general concensus that it is an engine out issue before investigations can progress.
With regards to the actual meaning of the description of plugs oiling up, I will check with Perry@ the V8 Centre tomorrow and will certainly request a check on the injectors. My car is a 97 4.2.
I just think I have been really unlucky, what with the new gearbox and now this! 680 odd miles use since September isn't that bad surely........ who am I trying to kid. I just want to get it sorted so I can get out and enjoy the car in the sun.
Any tips for upgrades to get done while the engine is out? RR upgrade, is it worth it? alternative suggestions very much welcome. If it is going to come out I might as well get the engine sorted and tweaked!
Mark Adams said:
I was searching around for a site with good plug piccies on, but don't seem to have found any.
Is this something we need here anyway? Should it be in engines? What do you think?
Try towards the bottom of this page for a range of pictures and conditions of plugs http://dodgeram.info/Engine-Gas/SparkPlugs/spkplghnbook.html
Harry
Well the car does need a rebuild apparently but TVR Power have a backlog of work so can't fit it in for a month!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhh and as highlighted before the ball park price I'm getting is around 4K! No holiday for us this year.
Feeling gutted as the summer will be over by the time I get to drive it again! oh well there is always the autumn............
Feeling gutted as the summer will be over by the time I get to drive it again! oh well there is always the autumn............
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