dade Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 (edited) hey guys, any help is appreciated... the car is a 1997 subaru legacy 2.2L the problem is cylinder #1, there is oil just coating the outside of the spark plug and a little small puddle in the bottom of that hole. I'm not a subaru guy, but I am mechanically inclined. I can't for the life of me figure out where the oil is coming from. The threads of the spark plug are clean as well as the electrode, so the plug seems to be firing and possibly burning the oil if there is any on the bottom side of the plug anyway. this is my brother's car, and he said its been running rough so i figured we'd start with a tune up and i ran into this problem. he says it starts running very rough from about 40-65 mph and after that it is smooth. The rpm's don't change with the roughness, this may be a completely unrelated problem? EDIT: a few months back i replaced the knock sensor as the housing was cracked and it was showing up as a code when scanned. the car ran great for a couple months after, then began running rough again, and the code came back up. i read the knock sensor 101 post, and maybe the sensor isn't properly seated but i don't know why it would run fine for a while then go bad again. Thanks for any help! Edited March 11, 2012 by dade more info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I forget but I think the Valve Covers on that 97 the spark plugs have to go through them? If so you need a new VC set. I usually just use Felpro but a lot of folks seem to like especially the OEM Orings for where the spark plugs pass through. That oil gets on the wires and connectors and leads to bad things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dade Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 it appears the spark plugs go through the side of the head from the top. the valve covers are below the spark plug holes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 o.k. on some 2.2's they do and on some they don't and I was too lazy to go to the upper garage and look at a 97 2.2 I have setting on a wagon. My first guess for oil in #1 hole is a power steering reservoir/pump leak and it's working it's way over there. Can you tell if it's PS or oil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dade Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 I'm fairly certain it is oil. it seems far too thick to be ps fluid. here is a pic, not sure it will shed much light on the problem, but you can see how atrociously grimy this engine is. it appears there is a mating surface about halfway down the hole, almost as if it's a 2 piece head. I can't figure out what it is. hopefully you can let me know haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 it's probably power steering fluid which is ATF. is the top of the block under the PS pump wet, dark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dade Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 dave, john thanks for the help. It probably is ps fluid. now that i know that isn't the cause of the problem, i need to track down why the car vibrates/jerks as it does haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now