oil on spark plugs

[sue currin]

I have oil on sparke pluges ( another CRX i have) Can I put a hellycoil in there to stop this or is this something else I have to deal with. It was going to be a parts car for the one with the timming belt problem, The body is not as good as the other car but the motor may be now. The car is out of line and pulls to the left, with stering wheel at 180. Is this car all wheel line or just the front wheel line? Trying to get one of them runing. It slids in curves at low speed and sometimes the front drivers side tire looks croocket when I park it, I have jacked it up and everything looks okay and nothing shackes when I pull on it. Nothing is loose under there. Wish yall lived near me

[Ross]

The "oil" is likely from the plug not firing. Could be a wire to the plug could be the plug is no good could be anything in the ignition system, but start with a new plug. Not sure what you mean by all wheel line etc. Sounds as if the car was in an accident and the front end is seriously out of alignment, it's got issues for sure.

[Beeman]

Is the oil on the firing tip of the plug or the outer part that is outside the cylinder? Do the spark plugs on this motor screw in the top of the motor straight down thru the valve/cam cover? If they screw straight down and the oil is on the outside it's most likely the valve/cam cover seal/gasket leaking.

[ace admirer]

is engine running? if so, does it issue blue smoke?

the only reason for a helicoil is if you think the plug hole threads are stripped. the plug probably seals on a surface at the top of the head threads. sometimes with a washer, sometimes with a slight taper. always use a graphite based lubricant on alloy heads when installing plugs.

but then is oil from inside cylinder (probably worn rings) or from outside (leak as others have pointed out)

a compression check or even better, leak by check might give clues.

when ever i see an auto with steering wheel seriously out of alignment, i also susspect a front end wreck.

not sure of crx, but if you suspect a wreck, all four wheels should be checked for alignment. on four wheel independent syspension they should be checked and adjusted whenever tire wear is not consistant with normal wear or wear consistant with tire pressure issues.

toe in:
caster:
camber:

in the old days they were checked with straight edges, levels and rules.

[foxtrapper]

Since you're working on the cheap, lets stay there and do it for free.

Oily spark plug. Oil on the outside is just oil getting spilled onto it. Could be a leaking valve cover gasket, could be sloppy adding of oil. Easily ignored. Oily on the inside (spark side) generally indicates worn engine. Expensive to fix, so just ignore it.

Alignment. Do it yourself. Assuming the car isn't twisted wildly, you can adjust the tie rod ends enough to get the wheels pointed in the same direction. Go under it and you'll see what I'm talking about. A wrench and a pair of pliers is all you need for a CRX (had some myself). Eyeball close is pretty good. Tape measure close is even better. Two sewing pins and a tape measure is extremely accurate.

You don't need four wheel alignment. Though it's nice. In order of quality there's just front end alignment. It's aligned, who cares about the rear (just fine for solid axle pickup trucks). Then there's thrust angle. Same alignment, but it makes sure the front wheels point the same as the rear, preventing the cocked steering wheel. If the rear is out of spec, you're still driving crooked on the road. Then there's full four wheel alignment. Nice, and certainly important on independent rear cars. Pointless on solid axle rears. Early CRX's are solid axle rears. Can't remember the 2nd generation specs.