I have oil in two of my spark plug tubes??

[ycartf]

I posted this thread last week about having hesitation, rough idling, loss of power, and reduced gas mileage in our 1990 V6 Camry.

1990 V6 LE hesitating, Check Engine Light Codes 25 and 26

Today when I took the plug wires off and removed the plugs, I noticed that the two plugs on the front bank closest to the timing belt (cylinders 2 and 4) had about 3/4 inch of thickened, goopy oil in the lower end of the spark plug tube. This oil had seeped up into the ends of the spark plug wires too. What I don't understand is where this oil came from. The combustion chamber ends of the spark plugs were dry. The spark plug tube seals were dry and clean in both areas: 1. where they broke free from the inside of the valve cover (RTV-ed) when I removed it and 2. where the tubes had fitted into the underside of the seals, so it doesn't appear that oil was getting past the tube seals in either of those areas. They are also still pliable and intact (I did the valve cover gaskets and tube seals in February 2006 - 34,000 miles ago).

My teenage daughter drove for about 6 miles in this car (about 7 months ago) with no coolant or water in it. I had the radiator draining into a catch-bin underneath and went back inside. She came out and put the radiator cap back on, let the hood down, and drove right off with the catch-bin sitting there (in plain sight as she approached the car from the front). So it was driven about 6 miles with no coolant in it whatsover (it had fully drained and the petcock was left open). She said it had just started to read a little above normal temperature when I called her and told her to pull over and turn it off, but there was no coolant for the sensor to detect the temperature of, so I don't know how hot it actually got. I did let it air cool all day with the hood up, then refilled and have not had any problems (that I know of). I just wondered if this might play into oil getting in those two spark plug tubes (something overheating and expanding?). I am at a loss how it got there. Can anyone offer any suggestions or advice? Any suggestions or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Tracy

[ycartf]

Does anyone have any ideas about this? Does it HAVE to have come from the tube seals (they looked good and clean)? Thanks for any help.

Tracy

[Jimnist]

It's usually the sealant on the thread (of the tube) that goes, not the top tube seals. Replace both of them (well one of them, you RTV/gasket goo the thread) and see how it goes.

[mk2-1jz]

change your valve cover gasket again