94 5sfe oil/engine problems

[a94autoCamry]

1994 camry 5sfe oil/engine problems plz help, advice needed

hi, my friends 1994 5sfe camry has some problems and i'll need some advice on how to get it fixed or what the exact problem is... yesterday when he started to drive it, the car all of a sudden was sluggish, hesitates, and feels like its running on 3-cylinders...so we check the engine, and we found out that on one of the spark plugs, it was leaking oil on it... and also it was burning oil very fast (cuz we had to drive the car back to my house safely + slowly)
1 guy we talked to said that the car will probably need like a valve, port, head job / head gaskets for 300 bux.... so i'm asking for my friend if there is a cheaper way to fix this....hes here in so cali but needs to go back up north ASAP...but unfortunately this problem had occured... (keep in mind that he drove from san jose to LA on thrusday night) and the problem started to occur on friday night.... he drove the car a bit on friday to a few places and it was totally fine, but after that, this problem had come up...

any help/advice will be helpful... thanks

p.s. we changed the spark plug on the cylinder where it was leaking oil on, but that didnt solve our problem... and only that cylinder(the 3rd one) was leaking the oil..

[Mike Gerber]

Try changing the plug wire on that cylinder. The oil probably got on the plug wire too and destroyed it. Oil will reak havoc with rubber over time. If that does solve the problem, remove the plug again and clean all the oil out of the bottom of that plug well but be carefull not to drop anything into the cylinder. A rag wrapped around a screwdriver should work. Then, reinstall the spark plug and then tighten all the large 30MM or 32MM nuts (can't remember the exact size) to 27 foot pounds. That should stop the oil leak and prevent any more wires form being destroyed by the oil.

Mike

[a94autoCamry]

yep good advice mike...you were right on the dot...
found out that the spark plug wire was shot, so my friend had to replace the spark plug wires, spark plugs, and the cap..... now everything is back to normal for him.... seems like he didnt need a valve job after all....

admin / mod can lock this thread now

[Mike Gerber]

Glad I could help. I would still check for oil down at the bottom of that spark plug well. If oil is present and the large nuts on top of the spark plug tubes are not tightened to 27 foot pounds, the oil will continue to form down there and ruin the new spark plug wires.

Mike

[a94autoCamry]

yep, i told my friend to check for oil leakage ...

[brungold]

Everything worked out! The car is up and running, no oil leaks whatsoever.

[Mike Gerber]

I check for oil leaks periodically down at the bottom of the spark plug wells using a long white wire tie. I just stick it down there once or twice a year, making sure I am getting past the hex on the plug and then pull it back up. It's like my plug well dipstick.

Mike

[Cyorke]

One thing to remember on Toy engines. When you see oil in the spark plug tubes it could also be that those tubes need to be resealed. When I was doing it we used this nasty drown sealer that came in a brown bottle with yellow lettering. Been to long to rememebr the name of it though. Just take a good pair of channel locks and turn them out. Clean the threads with a wire brush or and coat them with some kind of sealer. PUt them back in and you should be ready to go. I bet if you check with your local dealer they may be able to tell you what type of sealer they use for this.

[Mike Gerber]

Cyorke,

The local dealer here once told me they use Loc-Tite for resealing the spark plug tubes. I hope they only use the #242 Blue, because the red requires heat to remove it. Another Toyota tech who worked on these things in the late 80's and early 90's once told me he uses the Toyota brand FIPG to seal most things. Retorqueing the large nuts has always worked for me.