Oil in Spark plug Area

[Brendan H]

hey guys and girls,

:1zhelp:

i was doing a service on my 7mgte yeaterday and went to change the plugs and noticed there was alot of oil in the spark plug gallery. it wasnt there 10000km ago.

the oil is present when i remove all 6 leads and look in (not just isolated to on area)

as far as im aware this could be one of 2 problems - valve cover gaskets of valve stem seals. could it be any other possible issues? is there any way to tell which it is before opening it up?

im leaning towards valve cover gaskets but as the valve stem seals were replaced 10000kms ago when i have the top end rebuilt (BHG) but after reading Rennats (spelling?) post about his oiling issues im not so sure they are sweet as they were replaced by my mechanic........

engine is a stock 7m supra 110 000kms basic exhaust and intake mods , metal HG and ARP studs but thats about it.

it also blows a small puff of smoke when declerating after about 10- 15 mins of hard driving - i dont think it is connected to the oil in the plug area but please correct me if im wrong

i think the smoke may be from the turbo as it has not been rebuilt yet, any way i can tell for sure its a turbo seal? any giveawy tell tale signs?

any help much appreciated

Brendan

 

[jdub]

Very likely it's the cam cover gaskets...get some 6x1.0mm x 27-30mm long hex cap head bolts and internal star washers to secure the covers. Torque to 22 in/lbs (NOT Ft/lbs) or 25 kg/cm. Another source of oil is the large hex plugs that secure the center cover...if the center cover rubber seal around these plugs is bad, it will leak.

The valve seals will not cause oil to accumulate in the center valley, the usual sign is a bit of blue smoke on engine start. Rennat's problem is a severe case.

A puff of smoke on accel could be a couple of things...the turbo oil seal like you mentioned (blue smoke) or going excessively rich (black smoke). Smoke color is hard to distinguish unless you are behind the car in good day light.

 

[Brendan H]

ok thanks JDub, absolutly no smoke on start up at all so looks like the gaskets - which is a good easy fix. :icon_bigg

with the decelaration the smoke is blue-ish defenatly not a rich black grey, also smells like oil burning, its a bit intermitent as well, sometimes it will sometimes it wont, and it only when declerating after boosting for a few minutes

are you able to tell me a few tests/ or things i should check to confirm its a turbo leak? would there be oil in the first intercooler pipe off the exhaust housing?

i did check the shaft play and it is very minimal.... almost nothing at all.

no codes came up when i had it checked either

 

[jdub]

Sorry about that...I misread what you said.

During decel the motor is under vacuum...worn valve seals/guides can cause blue smoke in this case. Another thing to check is the PCV system for proper operation.