2006 Aveo - Plugs Covered with Oil!

[rrb6699]

ok, so decided to change my plug wires due to coil pack failure and every plug was completely covered with oil. the plugs seemed difficult to remove. I cleaned them up and the plug wire sleeves they sit in.
the plugs went in straight and we I made sure they were not cross-threaded. tightened them snug.

car runs fine. I also torqued down the valve cover gasket just a hair.

seems like the plugs jumped their sockets but can't be sure. if so, too much backpressure from exhaust ?

can't think of any other causes. am I close?

update. just thought about this. it's doubtful the plugs jumped thread. car did not smoke at all. but, when I removed and cleaned each plug, oil leaked into combustion area. the car smoked because of that when I started it.

that tells me oil leaked into plug sleeves but did not leak past plug threads. otherwise, car would have been smoking all along.

[Eg.h2o]

You’re valve cover gasket needs to be replaced.

[rrb6699]

agreed. hopefully, the circular seals around each plug tube come with it. will check.

[Brit01]

The original gaskets on these are prone to drying out I see.
I've had oil leaking all over the front of my engine and around the sides. Gasket was replaced by previous owner just 13,000 kms ago!!

I removed the cover this week and also found a significant amount of oil down the plug wells also.
Black gasket was very hard and dry.

I purchased a blue Felpro gasket. Looks much better.
Cleaned up all the surfaces really well removing all old oil deposits etc.

Put a small amount of sealant around the half moon areas then fitted the cover with the new gasket. Tightened to 10Nm.

I am buying new plugs also.

Should have it running in a couple of days.
Let's hope this holds the oil in for longer this time!

Cheers

[rrb6699]

Yes, that's the gasket set I just purchased

[slayerized6]

Time for a new valve cover gasket. Buy a quality gasket, use RTV in the right places, torque to spec from the middle on the valve cover and going outwards.

[rrb6699]

so about 7.4 ft pounds?

[PalouseAveo]

1 Disconnect the cable from the negative battery terminal
2 On L91 and LXT engines, disconnect the spark plug wires from the spark plugs
3 On LXV engines, remove the ignition coil assembly from the valve cover
4 Detach the PCV hose from the valve cover.
5 Detach the electrical connectors to the sensors routed in the main wiring harness and reposition the harness away from the valve cover.
6 Remove the valve cover bolts, then lift the valve cover off. Tap gently with a soft-face hammer, if necessary, to break the gasket seal.
7 Remove the valve cover and the O-rings around each bolt hole opening
8 Clean the gasket surfaces on the intake manifold, cylinder head and valve cover. Use a shop rag and brake cleaner to wipe off all residue and gasket material from the sealing surfaces.
9 Insert a new valve cover gasket into the grooved recess in the valve cover. Make sure the gasket is positioned properly in the groove, then install the O-rings around each of the bolt holes.
10 Apply a bead of RTV sealant to the joints where the front camshaft bearing caps meet the cylinder head and to the semi-circular cutouts

11 The remainder of installation is the reverse of removal. Tighten the valve cover bolts evenly, starting with the center bolts and working outward, torque to 71 inch pounds.

[OG-Lou]

On my 2008 Aveo, I had oil in the spark plug wells and replaced the valve cover gasket and installed new spark plugs at 50K miles.

What I didn't know at the time was the oil inside the spark plug wells allowed a carbon track to develop and let the electrical energy that creates the spark to travel down the inside of the spark plug boot and go to ground under acceleration when there is slightly more resistance for the spark to jump the gap at the center to ground electrode.

I measured the resistance of the spark plug wires and they were all within specifications. What I didn't or couldn't do was measure for external conducting paths to the base (body) od the spark plug boot.

If your engine develops a miss fire, suspect the spark plug wire boots on 2008 and older Aveos, 2009 and newer Aveos also have had defective spark plug boots that were part of a recall.

Take it from me, I replaced several good parts until my MIL light came on and the OBD2 scanner said I had a miss fire on #3 cylinder a year after the problem first started. Yes it took a year for the check engine light to come on.

When I took the newish spark plugs out after the MIL came on I saw a carbon track from the top of the spark plug ceramic body, all of the way to the steel body of the spark plug, where the electricity was traveling on the outside of the spark plug instead of jumping the gap and creating a spark to ignite the fuel and air mixture inside the cylinder.

Another spark plug was just beginning to make an external carbon track so that indicated a second spark plug wire boot had an internal path for the high voltage to go to ground.

I bought a set of spark plug wires for under $20 and replaced 2 spark plugs and now my engine runs great.

I haven't done it, but I did read some valve cover bolts bottom out before securing the valve cover completely. One guy rebuilding his engine put a thin washer under the hear of the bolts that hold the valve cover tightly to the cylinder head.

[Brit01]

Time for a new valve cover gasket. Buy a quality gasket, use RTV in the right places, torque to spec from the middle on the valve cover and going outwards.

Just a warning. I bought a blue felpro gasket expecting it to be of superior quality. Don't buy it.

Look at mine after 18 months! Fell apart, did not withstand the heat. Crumbled away in my fingers.

Put an original GM one back on.