Outside of spark plug wire(s) is wet with oil....

[Svnla]

Honda Civic, early 2000s, was running rough <sputtering> so earlier tonight I checked the spark plugs and wires and one of the spark plug wire was wet with oil (outside the wire). I did not have time to check the spark plugs.

The dealer replace the valve cover gasket two weeks ago and now this problem. Before the valve cover gasket (it was leaking oil slowly on the side of the engine) replacement, this engine ran so smooth and no problem.

I am planning to replace all 4 spark plugs and 4 spark plug wires tomorrow. What could cause this? Anything I need to watch out for? Hopefully, nothing serious/expensive.

TIA.

 

[tortillasoup]

Honda Civic, early 2000s, was running rough <sputtering> so earlier tonight I checked the spark plugs and wires and one of the spark plug wire was wet with oil (outside the wire). I did not have time to check the spark plugs.

The dealer replace the valve cover gasket two weeks ago and now this problem. Before the valve cover gasket (it was leaking oil slowly on the side of the engine) replacement, this engine ran so smooth and no problem.

I am planning to replace all 4 spark plugs and 4 spark plug wires tomorrow. What could cause this? Anything I need to watch out for? Hopefully, nothing serious/expensive.

TIA.

If there is oil in the spark plug wells, then the dealer needs to go back and re-do that valve cover gasket job... However, if just the wire has residual oil on it and the spark plug wells are basically dry of oil, then what likely happened was that your spark plug seals WERE leaking but then after the valve cover gasket job, they were sealed up good, and the oil from the well was removed but there was still residual oil on the spark plug wires and so it's just left over oil, no big deal. However, eventually that oil will soften the boot up enough and the boot could leak electricity, causing it to arc in the wrong spot, causing a misfire. That will take a while though and probably will happen when you need to replace those wires anyway.

 

[pcgeek11]

Park the car in a dark location. Open the hood and then start the engine. Look under the hood to see if the wires are shorting to the engine block or a ground somewhere. If it is you should be able to see it.

 

[Mide]

Yeah take it back to the dealer...they may have done the gasket job wrong.

 

[RLGL]

Park the car in a dark location. Open the hood and then start the engine. Look under the hood to see if the wires are shorting to the engine block or a ground somewhere. If it is you should be able to see it.

spray wires with salt water

 

[Svnla]

Ok, I changed all 4 spark plugs and the spark plug wire set and everything is ok now, back to normal. The engine is running smooth as before. I did drive to several places yesterday and no more sputtering/rough idling.

Look like engine 2 and 3 had some oil at the ceramic area. I did clean all the engine wells. We will see within a few weeks if the problem will come back or not.

Thanks for all replies/comments.