Ring Job?

[jimez1]

I am tuning up my wife"s car today. it is a Chevy 4 cyl. 3 of the four plugs looked great. not black or full of soot. one of them however was completly covered in oil. not just a little but enough that it was dripping off of the base of the plug when i removed it. car accelerates well. a little sluggish every so oftenfrom a light when it is cold. Does this mean I need a ring job on that cylinder? Is there something less time consuming and costly that can fix this? engine has 81 thousand on it btw.

[spooln30]

Do your valve cover gaskets leak at all. If they do the leaking oil may drip down toward the plugs and when you take it out it gets oil on it. This is just something that I've seen from being a Mech. This happens more often on engines with spark plug tubes. Like a Honda. But it could happen on your engine. If no valve cover leaks you may have bad rings or worn valve stem seals. Good luck. BTW which engine is this. The Quad 4 (2.4) or the 2.2 (sohc) or the 2.2 ecotech

Keith

[BAD LS1]

^^^^ to reiterate whats said above and add to it just a bit.

what "4 cyl" engine exactly? valve guide seal could be the likely issue. Doing a leakdown test on that cylinder will tell you its rough condition and give you an idea if its something simple like the guide seal or worse.

[jimez1]

It is in a 1990 caviler. so I am guessing it is the 2.2 with the single overhead cam. I do not see any leaking from the valve cover though. Maybe it might be leaking from there. I have no smoke from the exhaust. And if the plug was fouling, and, or the cylinder was missing, I sure would notice that.

[WI_Dave]

I have had vehicles that the plug was resessed down into the valve cover and would fill up with oil but never leaked on outside of valve cover. When you pull plug oil rushes down into cylinder and covers plug as you pull it up. Did it puff smoke when you started it?

[jimez1]

That is the thing, no smoke in the exhuast. No acceration problems. I am guessing that the oil must have come from the out side in like is being described. The plugs are recessed in deep holes. So that being said the hole may have filled with oil and then i pulled the plug out through it. I just wish Iknew where the oil came from in the first place. The valve cover seat is dry. no signs of any leaks what so ever. I guess I will just wait and see what happens.

[WI_Dave]

Yeah mine leaked around all 6 plugs and had alot of standing oil, so maybe thats why mine smoked on start up. it went away but it smoked good on start-up the very first time after tune-up. It was an 89 sho.