Spark plugs are very important components of a vehicle because they are responsible for generating the spark that ignites the fuel and air mixture in the internal combustion chamber.
Oil is also important for lubricating engine components during operation. If you don’t have a good oil supply, your engine will overheat due to all the friction created by moving parts rubbing against each other.
However, you never want to have an oil leak in the spark plugs. This will create a huge problem with your engine’s functionality and performance. The cause of the oil leak in the spark plug wells must be investigated immediately. Below are the most common culprits.
Top 5 Reasons Why Oil is Leaking into a Spark Plug Hole
You’ll know when oil is leaking into the spark plugs because the signs will be there. Aside from weaker engine performance, you might see blue exhaust coming from the tailpipe or more frequent engine misfires.
You’ll then be forced to regularly add oil to your engine to keep it running. If you don’t, your engine will overheat to the point where internal damage occurs or even to the point of causing a fire.
To understand how to prevent this, you need to understand the causes of oil leaks in spark plugs. Here are five of the most common causes.
1) Worn Valve Cover Gasket
The engine has a metal part on top called a valve cover. A valve cover gasket sits between this cover and the top of the engine cylinder head. This keeps the engine sealed so that oil doesn’t escape from it.
However, all the engine heat will wear out the valve cover gasket over time. It will eventually crack and become hard or brittle, which will then allow oil to leak through the gasket.
You can simply replace the leaking valve cover gasket if you detect the problem quickly enough. Otherwise, your engine could suffer permanent damage due to insufficient oil.
2) Old Valve Guide Seals
Vehicles rely on valve guides to help manage air intake into the engine. Basically, valve guides secure the valves during engine operation. The only problem is that the valve guide seals eventually wear out as you continue to use your vehicle.
At some point, you’ll likely need to replace them because bad valve guide seals won’t be able to prevent oil from leaking into the spark plugs. Once this happens, you could have a lot of problems with your engine that will cost thousands of dollars to repair.
3) Bad O-Rings
Under the spark plug tubes, there are O-rings. Once an O-ring is worn or damaged, oil leaks and heads towards the spark plug tube. You’ll need to fix this problem quickly before the engine is too affected.
And since the oil saturates the spark plugs, you’ll also need to replace the spark plugs.
4) Bad Piston
A piston can crack if it’s exposed to too much heat. Then it will start making knocking sounds and rattling a bit. More importantly, a bad piston will allow oil to flow into the spark plugs and this will create all sorts of problems.
Your engine will misfire frequently and you’ll notice a drop in engine performance. These are all things that will ruin your engine if the piston isn’t replaced quickly.
5) Bad Piston Rings
Piston rings exist at the top and bottom of the pistons in an internal combustion engine. The purpose of the compression rings is to prevent oil from entering the combustion chamber and to remove excess oil that gets on the cylinder walls.
However, if you have worn piston rings, they won’t be able to prevent oil from flowing towards the spark plugs. You’ll also see blue exhaust and there might be a smell of burning engine oil consuming the cabin.