one oily spark plug, engine about to go?

[cvandiv]

I've got an 88 4cyl camry with 154k miles. The past 6 months or so I've had acceleration issues. I replaced the fuel filter and the coil (which was cracked) yet, my car still sputters when accelerating and sometimes while idling. When idling, it's got a consistent "rhythm" to it (da da da putt da da da putt, and so on) It also leaks a fair amount of oil, maybe a quart every two weeks.

I removed the distributor assembly and the coil is new, as previously mentioned. The cap, rotor, wires and distributor all seem to be in good condition as well. I thought my leak was coming from the distributor, but it seems like it may be based somewhere else.

From there I checked the spark plugs. The first two and the last one (from left to right) looked pretty healthy, with only a slight amount of grey/charcoal residue and the slightest amount of oil in the threads.

Sadly, the third one was covered in oil. The entire plug south of the porcelain had a layer of oil on it. There was some oil on the porcelain as well, but that may have been from holding the plug upside down. There was enough oil on the plug that it was dripping ever so slightly when i removed it from the pipe.

So, on the plus side, I've figured out my issues have something to do with the oil on/around my spark plug in the third cylinder from the left when standing at the front of the car. Unfortunately, I have no clue what it means. This is where you come in hopefully! What am I looking at? FWIW, this car doesn't exactly have a lot going for it (busted springs, rust, needs new brakes) so an engine overhaul is sorta out of the question. I appreciate any suggestions!

[cvandiv]

oh and gas mileage doesn't seem to be an issue, i've gotten 175 miles on my most recent half tank, is that decent?

[atobe]

replace valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals... that's about right if it's mostly freeway i can get 400 a tank if it's mostly freeway miles

[marc780]

Do a compression check. you can rent a compression tester for 10 or 20 bucks or just buy a cheapo at harbor freight for about the same.

Perform the compression check, note readings, compare to specified compression My haynes manual lists minimum acceptable comression at 142 psi to 178 psi.
If any cylinder reads below the minimum you have a decision to make since internal engine work is needed to fix this. But since you get good mileage i'm guessing the rings are probably good. But to find out for certain, you dump in a few squirts of engine oil in each plug hole then take the compression readings again. If compresion reading increases, rings are bad. If they do not change, valves are bad and you can just do a valve job or swap the head for a rebuilt one. To do it yourself (i.e. remove cylinder head yourself, have head rebuilt or replace with rebuilt one) would be $300 - 500,. To have it done by a shop, will cost a lot more.

If compression is good, you may just need to change the valve seals, which can be done with the engine still in the car and the head still on the engine - but the camshaft must come out to change them.

[Mike Gerber]

Try tightening the 4 large nuts on top of the cam cover. You will need a 30MM socket for this. Look up the specs in the manual stickied at the top of the General Camry Discussion Forum. Do this evenly in a couple of passes. Then clean the oil off that one spark plug and out of the spark plug well area. Be sure not to get anything in to the engine. Now reinstall that plug and clean any oil off the wires and reinstall them. Now start the car and go for a ride. This may correct the oil in the spark plug well area and your miss, and it's free to try. If this doesn't work, you may have to replace the cam cover gasket and the spark plug tube seals as Atobe suggested.

Incidently, a visual inspection of the cap and wires is really not a good test. At the very minimum get a DVM and OHM them out. You can also try to spray them down with water from a plant sprayer or some other spray bottle and run the engine at night or in a dark garage and check for sparks or arcing. Another alternative is to switch them out with another known good set of wires from a friends car. Do you know anyone with another 3SFE engine that would let you do this?

Mike

[cvandiv]

update - i'm a poor dumb lazy college student so i took the cheapest/easiest/most short term fix went and bought a "hotter" spark plug for the leaky cylinder, in hopes that it would be able to burn off the oil. right off the bat it worked fantastically, it felt as if i was driving a brand new car. as i continued my test drive, it would miss occassionally, but was still 100x better, as i could actually accellerate uphill and get up to speed on the entrance ramp of the interstate. the only thing that was different was the the car felt a little shaky at times. is this a sign of worse things to come or should i not be worried?

[marc780]

Originally Posted by cvandiv

is this a sign of worse things to come or should i not be worried?

How long do you need to keep the car? Its a toyota and if they dont smog in your state, you can probably get by with the quick fix for a long time. But if they do smog in your state, it's not going to pass, and then what?
I know whats it like to have to throw money at a car and not having it! But yeah, its obviously not gonna fix itself, so if the cash for another car is not there, please refer to my first post above and then make your decision

[cvandiv]

Originally Posted by marc780

How long do you need to keep the car? Its a toyota and if they dont smog in your state, you can probably get by with the quick fix for a long time. But if they do smog in your state, it's not going to pass, and then what?
I know whats it like to have to throw money at a car and not having it! But yeah, its obviously not gonna fix itself, so if the cash for another car is not there, please refer to my first post above and then make your decision

i'm in michigan, so there's no emissions test that i'm aware of.

all i'm looking for is a short term fix. i'm actually saving up for another car, so if i can pour as little money as possible into my current ride, that will mean i'll get a new (to me) car that much sooner. i would sort of prefer to keep this car on the road as long as possible, (spend my savings on beer ) but my parents don't like me driving around in an "unreliable" car.

[joeykrim]

if your parents are so concerned about an "unreliable" car perhaps they are willing to help you purchase a more "reliable" car or, make your current car more "reliable"? Never hurt to ask in my house...haha

Originally Posted by cvandiv

i'm in michigan, so there's no emissions test that i'm aware of.

all i'm looking for is a short term fix. i'm actually saving up for another car, so if i can pour as little money as possible into my current ride, that will mean i'll get a new (to me) car that much sooner. i would sort of prefer to keep this car on the road as long as possible, (spend my savings on beer ) but my parents don't like me driving around in an "unreliable" car.

[Kep]

I'm with Mike. It would make more sense that the oil is leaking down into the spark plug tube as well as being blown around the engine compartment from the seals that he is talking about. His suggestion about the cap and wires (and rotor) is good too. I would recommend checking the new ones out with an ohm meter to make sure the new ones are good. I believe they should read under 20 ohms.

Kep

[Mike Gerber]

Kep,

I'm not sure on the exact spec (I would have to look that up) but I think you meant to say 20,000 ohms.

Mike

[Kep]

Mike,

I expect you are correct. I didn't remember the "k". oops

Kep