tigwylan

I have a 95 Maxima (325K miles), started running rough recently. I was changing plugs today and one of the plugs was full of oil, up too and including into the wire, so much the wire was toast and needs to be replaced as well. Any ideas what would cause this? NO signs of gas either, just oil all over the place on that plug hole etc.

Thanks Dan

JNCoRacer

Your guide tube seals leaking. To fix this youre going to have to remove the valve cover and replace it. And since you'll have the valve cover off you might as well change all three on that side...and youre going to have to change the valve cover gasket too.

Here's a pic of one of my valve covers with new guide tube seals and valve cover gasket in place.


The guide tube seals will fit over the guide tubes and prevent oil from seeping to your plugs.

tigwylan

Thank you!!!!

seizai

is it posssible diy ?

JNCoRacer

Absolutely. It'll save a butt load of money instead of taking it to a mechanic.

seizai

means i must get engine oil out 1st?

JNCoRacer

No you dont have to drain the oil. All the oil sits in the pan and the motor internals. Just make sure you do it in a clean environment.

The only hard part is that if you have to change the guide tube seals and gasket on the rear valve cover, then you have to remove the upper intake manifold. Its not really hard per-say, but time consuming. It can add about another hour to the job.

But as long as you have the upper intake manifold off the car you might as well do some cleaning on it as well as the throttle body, idle air control valve(IACV), and EGR tube.

seizai

mine was leak at rear side, a lot white smoke produce...

i didn't change the seal, juz replace plug n till now no more white smoke...

planning of clean those part, i think it would consume whole day..

JNCoRacer

Thats how mine is. The rear cylinder 1 leaks bad. I went to change my plugs and the old plug was completely soaked. Got the new plugs in, started the car, and this HUGE white cloud of smoke came out the back.

Its actually pretty common for our cars the have leaks there. Fortunately its a cheap fix. The valve cover gaskets themselves are notorious for leaking too.
If you have a leaking rear valve cover(not just the guide tube seal) try to get it fixed sooner than later. The leaking oil will find a way down to the passenger side lower control arm bushing and the rubber will deteriorate. And that bushing is harder to replace as it has to be pressed on.

tigwylan

I replaced the guide seal and all gaskets while I had it off, however it is still leaking a small amount again on the back rear plug (original), the oil is clean, I double checked the seals again, no leaks that I can detect anywhere but oil is still getting into that one plug - also, I did have to replace the lower control arm as well on that side......any ideas what is still causing the leak?

JNCoRacer

Are you sure its not residual oil left in the coil pack stalk. I had some on mine after I changed my gaskets. It wasnt until about 2 weeks later when I changed injectors and put all new plugs in that it was finally gone.

tigwylan

I thought that may be the issue as well. I will wait it out and see if it gets any better and continue to clean the plug every few days. It is just a little bit of oil now, nothing close to what it was before. Thanks for all your help and info......